my moose ... in print!

I'm just now getting around to sharing some fun news. That's because it all happened while we were in the midst of Buddy's health crisis.

It was Easter Sunday morning. I opened my e-mail and noticed a message from the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, one of our local newspapers. It was about an Alaska photo that I submitted last December for their "Your Best Shot" feature, where locals submit a favorite photo from a recent trip ... and the best ones get published in the paper's Travel section, only one per week! A few months had passed, so I had given up that mine would be chosen. But the e-mail was from the Features Photo Editor, and she said "...Thank you for submitting. This is a great photograph. It is running in the paper [on] Easter Sunday...". Sal bolted out to the driveway to grab our copy!

So I excitedly opened the Travel section, and there it was ... smack in the middle of the page, in living color ... and BIG too! My favorite photo from Alaska! Here's the shot; you may recall it from when I was blogging during our trip in June 08:

And a bonus: the Photos Editor even blogged about it on the Sentinel's photography blog!!! I was totally stunned. And flattered.

I even received e-mail from other local paper readers, they had looked me up! They complimented me on the shot and wanted to chat about Alaska. It was all great fun.

It was a real boost to my spirit, and came at a time when I really needed it. Things were not looking good for Buddy then, and I was so down.

Buddy's doing well today tho! Last night, we took him back to the clinic because his bandage was slipping off ... now he's sporting a brand-new, better-fitting, bright purple bandage! So stylin' !!!