Thanks camerapapi for your kind comment... Yes I know about the tears... I have lost too many loved pets lately... it is like losing children because they were children to us... I asked the question before, how many times can a heart be broken...???

Yes Chewy was so precious to us... we miss him dearly with broken hearts...

Thank you tradio for your kind comment... sorry for the late response but a lot of crazy things going on right now...

Thought that I would recycle these shots for those that may have missed them the first time around...!!!

Thanks Nikonbob for your comment... yes a 10" Newtonian F5.7 is a good manageable size and relatively fast!
I have to use a polarizing filter to reduce the light when viewing directly by eye... What I like about a polarizer is that you can vary the brightness by adjusting the filter rotation... only need to do it about once a night as soon as it gets totally dark... It depends on what phase the Moon is in to adjust the filter for that phase.

Thanks rockdog for your comment... this is my best shot of the moon to date and I have taken many...!!!

Thanks for your comment UTMike... My lost was painful... each lost seems to be greater than the last...
I try to live in the moment trying not to dwell on any sad future events to follow... my pets are getting older as I am also... but my pets are passing before me and the thought, I try to avoid, is losing them one by one since the youngest is 8, the next 11, then two at 12, and the oldest being 13... again.. how many times can a heart be broken...???

Thank you for your kind thoughts wdross... I have changed a lot in the last 10-15 years... I guess I slowed down enough for wisdom to finally catch up with me... I hope...!!!

Thanks NMGal for your kind words... unfortunately I didn't become a pet lover until late in life... it happened after I retired in 2011... my better half, against my best wishes got one Yorkie, and then another about 2 years before I retired! She got Chewy first and later she got Leia... and then there were 6...!!!!! I soon grew attached to the dogs because they were so cute and funny... but after retiring I was with them 24/7 and to my surprise I really got close to them... after awhile they became more like children that never grew up... they were so loving and we all became best buddies! I learned about each one of them... they were much smarter than I initially realized... but after I retired and was with them so much on a daily basis I soon discovered how bright each one of them were... I quickly learned to understand their request and they learned mine... what an awakening they were for me...!!! Loving them brought me so much happiness but at a great cost... losing them is and will be so painful... a pain that I never thought that I would know... I regret the day when I lose another and again feel the pain of lost... how many times can a heart be broken...???!!!

The 1st Photo of Chewy as a pup was taken in 2015, and the second photo of Chewy was taken in my livingroom in 2007 while he and his buddy shared a drink...

"I had to grab my camera really quick to get this shot of my drinking buddies! I almost missed it!
I did NOT have time to set the camera mode because I knew the moment would end and that
I may never get another chance at this priceless moment. As soon as I started shooting they stopped!"
Yes I know... it is out of focus and it is not the best quality but it is the theme and subject matter
that counts the most to me.

Sad Note:
I unexpectedly lost my buddy Chewy, pictured on the right side sharing a drink below, on 07/17/2019.
Chewy's passing broke my heart once again by losing a dear pet... I didn't write a story about losing Chewy like I did when I lost my dear cat Snowy (see "my loving pet"), which is still posted. I started to write about losing Chewy but I couldn't do it from being blinded by tears each time that I tried to write about him... Chewy was my soul mate, Chewy was my shadow and I was his...!!! Just how many times can a heart be broken...??? Maybe someday I'll try again to write about Chewy, but now it is still too soon, too vivid, and too painful. Whomever said that "a dog is man's best friend" was an understatement...!!!

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Here is another repost of mine that I wanted to share with those pet owners that haven't seen it before...

I thought that I would share this moment once again although Christmas is a way off, but what the heck Christmas only comes once a year and to me that isn't often enough...!!!Ho, ho, ho...!!!

Nice capture... a popular bird in my neck of the woods... one of many bird species in my back yard.
I have a Dogwood tree with a couple of bird feeders and it attracts several different species of birds all year round...!!! I live in the south west corner of Ohio about a mile from the Ohio River with Kentucky on the far bank of the river... Indiana is about 10-15 minutes west of here... also have several parks near by by my backyard is the best locations for birding... I can open my back window and photograph birds from inside of my house...!!!

Thanks "b top gun" for your comment... sorry for the late response... I have been busy studying and preparing for the Coronavirus for the last 2 months... been hiding out before they publicly said to stay home as much as possible... heck I was doing that before the Coronavirus but got stock up little by little before the hoarding frenzy started... glad that I did... I knew that it was coming and couldn't understand why the government was sitting lazy doing nothing... it could have been nipped in the bud if they got moving way back during the first week in January if not the first week in December...!!! Well take care, take plenty of vitamins, antioxidants, and any other supplement to boost you immune system... and plenty of rest which I find is the most difficult thing to do...!!! Take care...

Well I hope Erv is doing ok... everyone likes Erv... such a nice guy... If you get a chance to talk to him tell him that Bruce, with the Dogwood trees out back, said hello and I hope that he is doing good.