Our townhouse in Portland, Oregon, is surrounded by highways and roads, but we’re located in an area that was once a great forest. All that remains of that forest is a creek and a grove of trees maintained by our local park district. Aside from a hawk or two, I’ve never spotted anything interesting in these trees, until yesterday.
I’m not much of a photographer (If you like inspiring pictures I encourage you to visit my friends at Daniel’s View or The Smitten Image) but I managed to snap these fuzzy shots of something I encountered on my way home from getting a haircut.
I’d just turned the corner leading to my garage when I saw a strange animal with prey in it’s mouth. The prey was instantly dropped as the beastie dove into the underbrush. It happened so quickly I couldn’t be certain what I’d seen. I parked my car in the garage and went to check out what had been dropped in the street—a squirrel, still twitching. I returned to the house, grabbed my camera and waited to see what would return for its meal. The wait was short.
This is what emerged from the bushes. I’ve never seen one of these before. I think I know what it is, but I bet some of you out there in Blogger Land have more experience with these than me. Is this the chupacabra I’ve heard so much about?
My New friend at Joey’s Pad was kind enough to give me this award. I’m just getting to know LL Cool’s fine blog and I encourage you to check it out. I’m supposed to answer two questions.
#1 Why did I decide to start a blog?
I’ve always loved telling stories but I couldn’t get agents or publishers interested in my mystery/thriller novels. Our son suggested I start a blog to share my story-telling skills with others. I’m about to reach the first year anniversary of Chubby Chatterbox and the response to my work has been greater than I could have imagined. Evidently I’m an unconvincing international man of mystery, but no one seems to have trouble accepting me as a chubby chatterbox.
#2 What do you find is the hardest aspect of blogging?
I never fail to be impressed by the wit and intelligence of those leavingme comments. I make a point of responding to these comments because I want my readers to know how much I respect and appreciate them. But this is beginning to take up more and more of my time and sometimes Mrs. Chatterbox feels like a Blogger’s widow. I need to do a better job of balancing my home life with my blogging pursuits.
Recent reader discussion...