New Photo Collection - "Abandoned"

I am excited to announce that I have a new photo collection posted at Flickr. It has been way too long, without my equipment and proper frame of mind, since I produced any decent art. This batch I think is my favorite so far!

With the help of my photo-mentor, Carnealian, we found an old creepy burned-out abandoned house deep in the woods flanked by a junk-ridden singlewide trailer. An old decrepit man came slithering out of there while we were sneaking around his property taking these interesting pics. To me it was a scene right out of a Rob Zombie movie. We got away unnoticed and with some IMHO incredible shots. Go see!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/bestraft/

The Cause of Death

I am just putting this information out for any of you who are dog owners or are friends with someone who owns dogs. I have determined the cause of Zero's death. Lyme Disease.

On Thursday, my dog, Abby, had a black bump on her ear that looked like a skin tag. My first thought was that it was a tick and we should remove it but we did not see any legs. Zero had a skin tag that looked similar so we didn't think much of it. The next day it ballooned and fell off. That told me definitely it was a tick.

Saturday, Abby began to limp on her front leg without any obvious sign of injury or tenderness to the touch. That scared me because it was the same symptoms Zero exhibited in June, 5 months before he suddenly died. That night I put 2 and 2 together and thought maybe it was lyme disease. The next morning when I got home, I looked up lyme disease in dogs and found that indeed forepaw limping and soreness is a determining symptom in canine lyme disease!

We took her to the vet that day and told them my concerns. She tested positive for lyme, moderately progressed. Though the tick recently could not have been the carrier, we knew that both dogs must have had ticks all year that we did not find. She is doing better on antibiotics now and should make a full recovery.

Check your dogs for ticks often and be aware of the telltale signs before you lose a loved one like I did.