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Repeating the adventure

Repeating the adventure

Marty’s photo of the day #4440: For the North American continent adventure in my first book, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents, Deb and I and our two dogs drove from Montana all the way to the top of Canada and back. That drive was longer than driving from Los Angeles to New […]

Nellie’s playpen

Nellie’s playpen

Marty’s photo of the day #4416: Deb and I built our house in the mountains of Montana back in 1996. Deb designed it, with a little input from me here and there. All these years later we still love our house, and even though it’s more than quadrupled in value, we wouldn’t sell it for […]

The killer chipmunk

The killer chipmunk

Marty’s photo of the day #4399: Nelle: “Don’t just stand there laughing at me, Dad. I’ve herded the killer chipmunk between the big boobs. All you have to do is scare it from the opposite side, and I’ll catch it. Then―finally―our property will be secure!”

Dogs and tools

Dogs and tools

Marty’s photos of the day #4395-4396: I tend to frown at stick-up-their-ass people who refuse to give animals the credit they deserve for both emotions and intelligence. And when I read articles about animals using tools, dogs are never included. One such article claimed, “In some cases, the objects are merely toys—but they become tools […]

Everything was cool until . . .

Everything was cool until . . .

Marty’s photos of the day #4383-4385: These photos are from Deb’s, Nellie’s, and my adventure last night. As we do every evening, we walked the path that follows the perimeter of the Essen Wildlife Refuge. We were on the far side, when this moose burst through the trees and cut onto the path―just in front […]

My honey comes home today!

My honey comes home today!

Marty’s photo of the day #4379: My honey comes home today! Deb and I have been married for thirty-eight years (I was five and she was eight on our wedding day), and since we’re both self-employed we are around each other all the time. Yeah, there are times when some little quirk bothers one or […]

Bachelor efficiency

Bachelor efficiency

Marty’s photo of the day #4369: My wife, Deb, and I have been apart for more than two weeks before, but it was always because I was on a college speaking tour. This time, for the first time, we are apart for two weeks, because she is the one on a speaking tour. I haven’t […]

Greetings from Cortland, NY

Greetings from Cortland, NY

Marty’s photo of the day #4353: Greetings from Cortland, New York! Tonight I perform the last show of my Northeastern United States Tour, at the State University of New York Cortland (SUNY Cortland). The last show of a tour always gives me mixed feelings: I’m sad that the tour will soon be over, but excited […]

Surrounded by wolves!

Surrounded by wolves!

Marty’s photo of the day #4306: Now that I have my brand new Ford Maverick truck, Deb, Nellie, and I are planning to head into far north Canada this fall. I took this photo the last time Deb and I made the trip. This is the 362-mile-long Campbell Highway, a gravel road that crosses the […]

The brunch show

The brunch show

Marty’s photos of the day #4279-4781: Today, I’m featuring three pictures from my weekend in Chattanooga, Tennessee: 1. This morning I performed Around the World in 50 Minutes for the Parent’s Weekend Brunch at Southern Adventist University. Meal shows are usually death. For those of you who have watched the Amazon Prime series, The Marvelous […]

Nellie takes over

Nellie takes over

Marty’s photo of the day #4266: Hey! It’s me, Nellie, taking over Dad’s morning post. I’ve been looking at the photos of the day Dad has been posting lately—residents of the Essen Wildlife Refuge, exotic animals from all over the world, and even a dog who lived at my house before me who could jump […]

Baby moose on the way!

Baby moose on the way!

Marty’s photos of the day #4259-4262: We could have a baby moose at the Essen Wildlife Refuge this spring! Every morning my dog, Nellie, enters my writing room and stares at me until I take her outside to play. Yesterday morning we followed our usual routine. In addition to playing ball, Nellie thoroughly sniffs and […]

Even sweet Nellie can be naughty

Even sweet Nellie can be naughty

Marty’s photo of the day #4243: Sometimes even sweet Nellie can be a bad girl. Because we live on 25 acres of protected mountain forest (affectionately called the Essen Wildlife Refuge), we have mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, porcupines, skunks, and other animals around that Nellie shouldn’t mess with. And the only safe way for her […]

Pure doggie joy

Pure doggie joy

It has been a beautiful 10 degrees below zero day here at the Essen Wildlife Refuge. The clouds moved out, and the sun was at the perfect angle to catch the snow glistening on all the trees with a tall mountain peak in the background. I’ve fallen in love with my Panasonic Lumix DMC-ZS100 large-chip […]

The true test of character

The true test of character

Marty’s photo of the day #4204: Some people say religion makes a person good. That’s bullshit. Practically without exception, the most awful people I know—and know of—are the most religious. No, the true test of a person’s character is how they treat their dogs (or cats, if they swing that way). Yeah, I’m not guided […]