Rainy color

Here's another shot of the fall colors as seen through my rain-covered windshield on the way to work the other morning:

Rain

We've been getting a lot of rain lately in St. Louis. I usually don't take any outdoor pictures when it's raining. But yesterday on the way to work, I decided to take advantage of the rain. Here is a photo taken from inside my car, looking through my rain-covered windshield at some vibrant fall color:

What a difference a week makes

The fall colors in St. Louis are either at or just past their peak. Below are two photos taken from a window at work, the first taken this past Friday and the other one taken seven days before that.

iPhone photography

I'm am really getting into the camera on my iPhone. The iPhone is almost always with me, and the best camera is the one that's with you. There are some incredible iPhone apps to enhance photos by the iPhone. Here are two images I took yesterday of some beautiful fall color. Click on each image to read about how I processed the original image taken by the iPhone into what you see here.

Lucky dog

Regarding Dawson, my beagle with cancer, this past week started off pretty rough but has gotten much better.

I thought that Monday was going to be his last day. His walking had deteriorated over the weekend to the point where he was barely able to get up. And he was barely eating anything. So I asked his vet (my friend and neighbor Julie) to come over to look at him, assuming it was time to let him go. She diagnosed his difficulty walking as a problem with his spine, not something related to his cancer. She increased his pain medicine and on Tuesday evening, put him on a steroid, prednisone.

On Wednesday morning, he ate. And since then, he hasn't missed a meal. And he's getting around much better. And, very importantly, he seems very happy.

So, while he still has cancer, the cancer is not yet getting the better of him.

And something else happened this week that has been wonderful. While I'm at work during the daytime, Dawson stays at my friend Cherry's house. I drop him off on my way to work and pick him up on my way home. Cherry is the person who had Dawson for his first ten or so years. I adopted him when Cherry got very sick 3-4 years ago. I am extremely grateful to Cherry for her help and for being so good to Dawson. Yesterday, for example, he seemed quite full when I picked him up. Cherry had fed him a huge bowl of food -- and a hot dog!

Here's a photo of Dawson taken this morning on this first sunny day all week. Dawson is flanked by Bose (left) and Oliver.

The best camera is the one that's with you

There's a book on my amazon.com wishlist called The Best Camera Is The One That's With You by Chase Jarvis. The photos in the book were all taken with Jarvis' iPhone over the past year. As stated on amazon.com: "This book is geared to inspire everyone, regardless of their level of photography knowledge, that you can capture moments and share them with our friends, families, loved ones, or the world at the press of a button."

While I love my new camera (a Nikon D40) and the sharp, beautiful photos it takes, this afternoon it did me no good, sitting at home on my kitchen table as the beautiful, fall-colored tree outside my office was screaming at me to take its photo.

With my iPhone in hand, I got a nice photo, and with the new Photoshop Mobile app for the iPhone, I was able to make the photo even nicer before uploading it to Flickr to share with the world.

I hope you like the following moment that I captured:

Dawson's cancer

My beagle, Dawson, has cancer. I haven't written about this on my blog until now.

I found out about Dawson's condition several weeks ago. He looked like he'd lost some weight, was moving around a little slower and was experiencing some back pain. I asked his vet (who is my friend and neighbor, Julie) to come over and take a look at him, and she suggested some medical tests.

The back pain turned out to be severe arthritis, but an x-ray and ultrasound revealed tumors outside of his heart and also within his spleen. I don't recall the technical name of the cancer, but it's a kind that comes on very quickly. And unfortunately, kills very quickly.

I was told that Dawson has a couple of days to a couple of months left.

There are no treatment options for his cancer, and even if there were, I don't think I'd put him through that, especially given his age. He's somewhere between 12-14.

I asked my vet what to do. Her advice: Give him whatever he wants. Make him comfortable. And appreciate each day with him.

That's what I've been trying to do. I've taken him on more walks than we've gone on all year. He gets lots of yummy treats. I take him with me on errands, as he loves to ride in the car, especially in this cool fall weather we're having.

And with my renewed passion for photography, he's become my favorite photography subject of late. Fortunately for him and his eyes, I've been doing a lot of no-flash photography.

Dawson's spirits seem pretty good. He seems to be enjoying life. I worry that he may be in discomfort from time to time, but I'm told that this type of cancer shouldn't cause him to be in pain. Instead, he'll just continue to slow down until he reaches a point where he has almost no energy. That will be when it's time to help him out.

This experience with Dawson is reminding me to truly enjoy and appreciate life, one day at a time. That's certainly what I'm trying to do, for both Dawson and myself.

Monarch

A monarch butterfly hanging out in my herb garden from a few Saturdays ago:



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