I couldn't resist...

I called my friend Kathy one day to tell her to look at a beautiful sunset as well and she snapped these photos from her apartment. I forgot to include them in the previous post, and they're so pretty, I couldn't resist.

The REAL wildlife around here...

Hey there! For all of you who don't know yet... (and how could you NOT ;-) we have chinchillas. We used to have 3, but Papa, the eldest, passed away this year at the age of 18. We were very lucky to have him that long and for him to be that healthy. The other two are Nino, who just turned 12 on the 7th, and Roo, who will be 8 at the end of this month.

We allow ours to have a supervised run every night, and got to thinking about how they are the "wildlife" we observe the most often. So I thought I'd post some info about our boys!

Most chinchillas anyone will ever see are somewhat domesticated. Wild chinchillas are very rare in the world now. They are found in high, arid regions in South America. The original cause of their steep decline was the fur trade. It can take up to 100 animals to make one coat. Since it took so many, the animals became more rare. As the animals became more rare, the value of the coats went up. It was a viscious cycle. I'm not passing judgement on those who wear fur, though I choose otherwise. Most furs worn today are from animals ranched on farms. However, there are still problems with that method. Although this site is strictly against fur farming, the descriptions in it are accurate to my knowledge. Warning: Some photos on this site are disturbing. The link in the title of this blog leads to more information about the conservation of wild chinchilla populations.

Now of course, much of the chinchilla's threats are due to human encroachment. There are considered to be two separate species, both of which are listed as CITES I (no trade allowed). One is considered critically endangered, and the other vulnerable by the IUCN. For more information on these organizations, I've included links to the right side of my blog.

Now on to the HAPPY stuff!! Photos of my boys!!

They do some really cute and silly things. You would never imagine a rodent with so much personality. Roo loves this little stuffed fleece kitty. He sleeps with it, grooms it, and even carries it around from shelf to shelf.

Nino (as in El Nino), loves to chew... anything. We have to watch him constantly. He also sleeps in a lot of really weird positions. We happened to catch one in his old cage.

Nino is adjusting now to having the cage all to himself, but we have lots of cute Papa memories too!

Papa chewing on a cardboard ring crunchy.

Taken at age 17... Still handsome! :)

Florida Sunsets

One of the things we really love about living here is the gorgeous Florida sky. The ceiling just seems so high. The colors here are also uplifting. During a bright sunny day, I joke that the sky looks like the walls in the room in Toy Story; that perfect sky blue with big fluffy clouds that you want to sit on. Even during a storm, the sky is amazingly beautiful. The clouds almost seem to boil and turn black, while bright patches of yellow and deep green streak through the clear patches. It's truly amazing, and a little scary. :) The night skies aren't as clear and big and beautiful as they are up north, but the daytime skies make up for it.

One of our favorite things to see is the world famous beautiful Florida sunset. It never gets old! The colors are like no sunset I've ever seen! (even in the Caribbean!) So, I thought I'd share some of our favorite sunset photos with you. There are going to be a lot, so hold on! :)

This is one of our first photos at the apartment. It was really hard to capture, but the clouds were a very light purple with light streaming beneath.

This is one of the most dramatic ones we've seen. Taken from our balcony, we caught it even after its most intense color.

The same sunset as above, viewed through a cutout in the stairwell.

Same angle, lighter colors, different day.

Marina in Islamorada, Florida Keys.

St. Pete Beach - Gulf Coast


Same sunset a few minutes later.



This next photo is not a sunset, but has the sun in it and was a fun send off...

South Beach