One of the neat things about living out here in Acker Woods is never knowing what you will find. Or what your mind will suddenly realize is there. Such was the case this morning on my Dukie Dog Walk!

I’m not sure how many times I’ve walked around the corner and seen this Tiger Lilly growing wild on the edge of the wooded area between two dead-end roads, but there it was this morning in full bloom! Thankfully I had the camera and was able to take a few shots before Duke convinced me he had more pressing business down the road.

When Shirlee saw the images she really loved them, so to surprise her while she was napping, I’ve done a little work on one of them and posted it here. I cloned some of the background woods to the right of the image to remove the house that was in the background, did an S curve and sharpen before cropping it into a square image. Shades of my old, long gone Mamiya C33!

Late last winter a young, grey female cat decided to adopt us. Never mind that we already had 3 indoor/outdoor felines, 1 full-time indoor cat plus 2 other puss kat friends who decided that the back deck was their feeding station for the season. Soon after she started hanging around for food I noticed that her belly seemed to be growing and it was soon obvious that it wasn’t from the food she was eating. She was with kittens!

To make a long story short when she showed up one morning looking like she had lost some weight we knew that she had a litter of kittens, probably somewhere in the woods. She was a good mom and would come to the back deck to eat, then return to her babies. After a few more weeks she decided to move the babies and take up residence under the back deck. To make sure they were all safe she told the two feral males that had spent most of the winter out back they had to go. The deck was now her territory!

Now she and her three kittens have the run of the back yard. She polices her area and makes sure our three indoor/outdoor cats stay away as she brings up her brood.

It is so much fun to watch the kittens as they grow up and discover their world. They roll and romp, chase each other, climb trees and stumps and enjoy life. They have met Big Duke, our 100 pound black lab mix and Buster the cheagle and have decided that since mom thinks the dogs are okay they will too. We have named mother “Smokie” and she goes out of her way to follow the dogs when they’re outside. She even followed us back in the woods on one of our morning dog walks.

Since the kittens are still a little skittish, I shot this photo through the back door glass the other morning. This little one had been laying with mom and looked up to see what I was doing. What a cutie!

Yesterday morning was a foggy one here at Acker Lake when the dogs and I took our morning walk. It was quiet as the fog enveloped the woods and the only sounds we heard were the occasional bird calls. One of those surreal times when you can let your imagination run away with you while you imagine all sorts of creatures that might be hiding in the fog ready to jump out at you.

But, like every other foggy morning, as the morning wore on, the fog lost it’s grip on our world and slowly faded away until it was only a morning memory. And watching the fog disappear made me think about life.

Right now Shirlee and I are going through the foggy part of our lives. As she struggles with her lung cancer it is hard to remember that someday the struggle will be over and she will be at peace once again, able to take a deep breath again, able to run again, free from pain and suffering. Someday she will see her beloved son who passed from this life way too soon, her parents and other loved ones who, along with her Saviour Jesus Christ will be there to greet her as she steps out of this earth’s foggy morning into the bright sunlight of eternity.

The fog only lasts for a little while in the scheme of life. And while it envelopes our world it may be frightening and we are unable to see only a few feet ahead, however we know that it’s only a temporary distraction. It will soon be over and the sun will shine again. And that, my friends, keeps us going.