It occurred to me last night while taking Nell on a long walk; frankly, she’s designed quite a bit longer than she needs to be. She’s also typically associated with old world elegance, and behaves so well on leash that you can simply “steer” her with just one finger through the loop of her leash.

Why was this experience feeling familiar… what was this reminding me of?

Oh yeah! Grandpa Bob and Grandma Re’s Town Car! They’d lend it to me for all my high school dances. That Lincoln had a long, limousine-like feel about it, and the power steering was so fluid that you could cruise around the Ed Debevic’s parking lot using one finger. (We always ended up at Ed’s after school dances – it was the thing to do in Deerfield, Illinois.)

Coincidently, (or perhaps not) the greyhound was the original hood ornament for several of Lincoln’s early automobiles, like this one from 1931.

Melissa and I are heading to California to see Mom and Dad next week, but I have to admit: it’s been hanging over my head that I still haven’t shared posted pictures from our last trip to the coast, when we spent a few wonderful days in Oregon in November.

I guess there’s just something overwhelming about combing through hundreds of shots to show friends. Who’d wanna be “Uncle Hank and Aunt Ethel”, force-feeding 6 carousels of slides to a bored audience, right? Note: Any resemblance to Hanks or Ethels out there, alive or deceased, is purely coincidental.

Anyhow, I’ve finally gotten around to uploading a set of 35 photos from that visit, so take a look at those – hopefully you’ll find the enjoyment when looking at them that I had when shooting ‘em. We feel quite at home out west, and can’t wait to go back for another visit with our wonderful pals Laura and Sasha (who treat us like guests at a little 5-star bed and breakfast each and every time). They provide thought-stimulating conversation as well, too… as can be evidenced in my post from a few days ago.

I don’t know about the rest of you out there, but we here in Chicago have gorgeous, crisp skies tonight to view the lunar eclipse.

I was able to grab this shot right through our window, while sitting on the floor of our darkened living room. I snapped away with tripod, remote shutter cable and a used 300 mm lens… as Nell lay nearby – growling and yipping in her sleep.

Just glad I didn’t look down and see a werewolf.