Photography, Life

A Bobcat Sighting, Miss Uma Zooma Angelwings, Pink Martini, a Magic Heart Balloon, a Smiley Face on the Hillside, and the Santa Barbara Sea Center

My “week in photos”

Miss Uma Zooma Angelwings has declared her happiness that the weather is changing. Decked out in all that fur, she can get a little over-heated in the summer and tends to spend her days lounging in a patch of sunshine cascading through the french doors into the air-conditioned dining room. But now that the first tinge of fall is in the air, Uma is back out in the garden, doing her belly-up rolls with joy.

The highlight of my week was an encounter with a very curious bobcat while out mountain biking in the hills. I ride these trails almost every day and, yet, I’ve never seen a bobcat here before. Coyotes, yes. Quail, roadrunners, rabbits, lizards — yes. But this was a magical moment, one which I will never forget.

My husband and I also went to our first indoor musical event since the pandemic began. Pink Martini has long been one of my favorite bands, and China Forbes, the lead singer, still gives me goosebumps when she sings. We first encountered them purely by accident many years ago when we bought tickets for one of their concerts at Disney Hall, in Los Angeles, and we’ve been smitten ever since.

It was interesting being at in indoor event again. But Segerstrom Hall and the Pacific Symphony did a fantastic job of keeping the attendees of the event well-spaced out and of requiring proof of vaccination and a mask in order to enter.

When we arrived home from our “date night,” we found this red heart balloon on our doorstep. It blew in from “who-knows-where.” But it seemed rather magical.

We drove up to Santa Barbara for our daughter’s birthday party, and to see our little twenty-month-old granddaughter. On the way up, we spotted this smiley face etched into the hillside alongside the freeway.

We took our little granddaughter to the Santa Barbara Sea Center, a “touch” aquarium for little ones. It’s a small center, on the wharf in Santa Barbara, but the displays are fantastic. I thought the corals were quite beautiful.

Upon our return home, we were greeted by Freyja and Emerson, who were both quite ready for a little “kitty love.”

It wasn't quite as action-packed of a week as the previous few, but it has been nice to be home for a bit. I’m headed to Minnesota in a couple of days to visit my mother, who is in a nursing home. She has had COVID and is fully-vaccinated, so my sister and I are taking her to the Van Gogh Immersive Exhibit, which I am really looking forward to.

I hope that you all had lovely weeks. As always, I thank you Dennett for creating this SNAPSHOTS “week in photos” challenge. It’s so fun to share about the week and to read about so many other photographers’ weeks around the world.

You might want to check out a few of the others who participate:

Dennett Anne Bonfert Eileen Vorbach Lisa Bolin Tracy Aston David Wade Chambers Mia Verita Kim Zuch Barbara Radisavljevic LensAfield Barbara Dalton Sasha Meyer Susan Alison Diana Lotti Barbara Dalton K. Barrett June Nguyen Juan O. Aguilera and more…

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.