Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Stalking Kittehs At Sunset Après le Déluge


After Dinner Whiskey Hour was most pleasant this evening.  Ya know how the air is so very crisp and clean after a rain?  It's the same here on the High Plains o' New Mexico, yet different.  The rain brings out scents... amplifies them... when you're in the city.  The diesel smells from the buses and trucks recede and the odors from that bakery down the street or the coffee aroma from Starbucks next door suddenly overwhelm you, or it might be the perfume from that sweet young thang that just walked by, or it's simply the absence of nasty city smells that affects your olfactory nerves.  On the other hand, if you're in the woods the smell of leaves and/or pine needles overpower you.  If you're in farm country the fields overwhelm the senses with fresh aromas... sometimes its damp breathing earth, other times it's a young cornfield exhaling promise.  You know what I'm on about if you've been there.

It's different here.  There's not a lot of pollution, so you don't sense its absence.  There aren't many trees, so the smells of freshly watered pine, oak, or aspen don't come into play.  But water... standing water, water that's accumulated in every low spot after a hard rain... is a rarity in this part of the world, and it has its own distinctive aroma.  I can't quite put my finger on what it is, but what it is is wonderful.  So... that's why we threw our windows and door open, turned up the stereo, and sat out on the verandah this evening... just to take in the wonderfulness of the sunset after a long-awaited rain in this parched, dry land.  It was a multimedia show of the senses of magnificent proportions, Gentle Reader.  My windows are still wide open and I'm reveling in the coolness.

But... earlier.  Here's another sunset shot:


And yet another, this time looking towards town:


And then there were the kittehs.  I did mention we were stalking kittehs, right?  They've adopted that feral cat wariness, which is to say they really scatter, and quickly, whenever I appear.  But we did get a couple o' few shots...




They're cute lil buggers.

10 comments:

  1. Having fun with the new toy, I see. Pretty nice shots!

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  2. oui, déluge!

    My cousin in Lorraine says they are getting a lot of rain (must be all the nice trees that generate - require - it).

    She is an old lady now, and doesn't like walking to the market in the rain much, so when I tell her I can cook eggs on my car hood, she just gets jealous.

    I have a few more that she passes on for your vocabulary: pluie diluvienne, très abondante, torrentielle, etc...

    Them frogs have a word for everything.

    Here's a neat story: did you ever wonder where "it's raining cats and dogs" comes from?

    Well, in the not too distant past when the French opened their front door and threw out their toilet buckets on the street, it would really get kind of ripe if it didn't rain. Sometimes it didn't rain for quite awhile. Then they would have a torrential downpour that would make the streets look like a river. Washing everything clean.

    Anyway, in this river would be dead cats and dogs. So a good rain that could wash all the cats and dogs down the street became Pleut des chats et des chiens!

    ...and now you know the rest of the story. Good day!

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  3. You hit upon one of my favorite olfactory delights, which is the smell after a cleansing city rain. You nailed all of them, actually. Nice job.

    And those are some sweet little cats.

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  4. If you're in farm country the fields overwhelm the senses with fresh aromas... sometimes its damp breathing earth, other times it's a young cornfield exhaling promise. Ah, you nailed that one. Better even than the smell of a freshly cut hay field drying and waiting to be baled. Thanks for the memory.
    The second kitteh shot is the best of the bunch.

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  5. Lou: Yeah, I'm slowly gettin' used to the slightly different characteristics of the new toy. I like it.

    Them frogs have a word for everything.

    Which got me to thinkin'. I've heard/read that English has more words than any other language, so I googled it (of course). This short lil blurb (and its embedded link) is interesting. And thanks for the "cats and dogs" story!

    Jim: Thank ya, Sir.

    Deb: Thank you too! Would you believe I took 35 shots last evening... roughly divided between kittehs and the sunset?

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  6. Oh, I can smell it! Artful description, Buck.

    Cute kitties, but they're becoming cats. Feral cats that kill my baby songbirds.

    Glorious skies!

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  7. Ah - the kittehs are adorable.

    Cleansing rains and the smells they leave behind - much as I hate them especially after thunderstorms.

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  8. Moogie: Mama cat is doin' some SERIOUS damage to the bird population here in BLHPT. She's a killin' MACHINE.

    Kris: Smelling the rain smell doesn't happen NEAR enough in these parts of late.

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  9. Sorry I'm late reading this one.

    A beautifully written and refreshing post. I wish I'd been there to smell the freshness and see that sunset.

    You are doing well with that new camera despite your complaints.

    Sometimes you display a lovely poetic & artistic flair in your posts. I do think that you could create somewhat of an online cigar bar with your blog. Get creative and colorful with your Happy Hour pictures.

    ...not that I have any damn right to tell you what to do with your blog and your time...i'm so burned out these days that i don't even have time to read blogs...i'm just enjoying what you create and present...thank you.

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  10. Sometimes you display a lovely poetic & artistic flair in your posts.

    Which only goes to show ya never know WHAT you're gonna get around here. ;-)

    But seriously... thank ya, Red. I'm thinkin' about ways to pretty up the place, but it's mostly about more flamingos.

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