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etaylorc.bsky.social
etaylorc
@etaylorc.bsky.social
1K followers 1.6K following 630 posts
The delight is in the finding out.

Inveterate traveler, incorrigible animal rescuer, English teacher by trade. Mostly lurking/liking here. All photos by me unless otherwise stated.
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etaylorc.bsky.social
A bit of the book that is currently making me crazy. Admittedly by choice.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekBforBooks #Music
The photo is of a music book for a traditional Chinese flute - a simple instrument made of a single piece of bamboo with holes cut similar to a western recorder. Except you can play three octaves by tilting the flute in certain ways. In this book, instead of a musical scale, notes are represented by numbers representing notes, with dots above and below indicating the octaves.
January 15, 2026 at 3:19 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
A bit of my own bookshelf at home, including booknook.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekBforBooks
The photo is of a row of books with a booknook between them. The books include Keats, Byron, Kapuscinski, and similar. The booknook is an intricate scene of a Tang dynasty street scene, with the path rising up stone stairs. Traditional buildings and balconies line the sides, and a slanted mirror at the back makes it look like the street extends even further into the distance. Many elegantly-dressed figures are on the path and on the balconies.
January 14, 2026 at 11:38 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Part of the book collection in the English Dept at my school. English language books aren't always easy to get here, so it's actually a treasure chest.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekBforBooks #Books
The photo is off a bookshelf in metal cabinets, with doors with glass. Inside is an eclectic collection in a chaotic arrangement. Books include titles like "Infinite Jest" and "Readings in Philosophy," and there are random items like photographs and a Magic Eight Ball. Magnets on the outside include a Freud finger puppet and one that says "I am silently judging your grammar."
January 13, 2026 at 5:04 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
#Abstract created by lines in a wall beginning to show its age.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekAforAbstract #Minimalism #Photography
The photo is off white with cracks beginning in the paint on the edges of pieces of drywall. One crack is nearly a complete vertical about a third from the left; another is horizontal, starting at the vertical and going right, about a third of the way down.
January 9, 2026 at 1:32 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Ages ago I was playing around with art filters on a photograph I took of a milk factory floor, and it ended up looking like an #abstract city to me. Not a fan of filters as a rule, but I kind of like this one.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekAforAbstract
The picture is mostly beige and tan, with vertical shapes, some black forms towards the bottom, and a few orange, red, and blue shapes scattered throughout.
January 6, 2026 at 12:45 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Oops, missed one. So here is look #down, see #pet.

Tucker is one of my weirder rescue stories, in the ALT.

#Januarty #Januarty2026 #rescue #dogs #adoptdontshop
I was out very early walking four smallish, unruly dogs (so my hands were full), when an old man stopped his motorbike and chased me down a pedestrian path, and handed me a tiny, 5-week-old puppy. I couldn't quite understand whether he had found the puppy in a gutter, or was going to leave it in a gutter (not uncommon), but the man seemed genuinely grateful that I took it, so I'm choosing to assume he had good intentions. It was a challenging walk home, though, with a scared puppy under one arm and four smallish, now curious, dogs in a tangled cloud underfoot. (Tucker has grown into a gangly, goofy bundle of fun, and is still looking for a home.)
January 6, 2026 at 12:25 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Closeup of a 4500 year old cypress #tree at Songyang Academy, in Dengfeng, Henan, China.

#Januarty #Januarty2026 #travelmemories
Closeup of deeply gnarled and twisted bark on a huge ancient tree. In the light, the bark is silvery-grey, with small areas of pale green moss.
January 3, 2026 at 2:59 AM
etaylorc.bsky.social
A #matching pair, both in appearance and level of annoyance at my taking yet another pic.

#JanuArty #JanuArty2026 #cats #adoptdontshop
Two orange tabby cats curl up together on top of a bed on top of the fridge. They both look annoyed that I'm taking yet another photo of them, but Harris (in the back) looks particularly put out. The photo was taken at night, so the shadows are harsher than usual.
January 2, 2026 at 12:26 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Hate to butt into the #birdoftheday, but maybe this works for #reflection?

I do wonder what was in this water to make it look so oilslick-ish. This pic is cropped, but not altered.
The picture is mostly of the unsettled surface of a pond, reflecting mostly the blues of the sky, but with the green of a tree appearing fragmented towards the right side. About a third of the way from the left is a black duck and its reflection in the blues.
December 31, 2025 at 6:37 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
I think I misunderstood this week's assignment, and was collecting ideas to send as options for the next cycle - starting the year off confused 🙃. Here is #WeekBforBuried, with ample proof that there's a dog in there somewhere.

#AlphabetChallenge #Dogs #AdoptDontShop #Cold
The picture is almost all gold tones, in low light. Most of the gold is blankets - above, a blanket is folded into wrinkled mounds; below, there is another fairly smooth blanket. Tucked into this mound is the face of a small gold and white dog, facing towards the right side, and looking generally skeptical about things.
December 31, 2025 at 4:44 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
The best of wishes for a brilliant New Year to you all, from the pure hearts of my rescue dogs in Shanghai. And me too.

(The cats will probably have comments tomorrow.)

#HappyNewYear #Dogs #AdoptDontShop
The picture is a collage of 30 dogs, pictured individually in a grid with some spaces for text. The text reads: Wishing you Peace, love, and joy 2026 and hoping this year brings every stray home The pictures of the dogs are mostly closeups of their faces; most are smiling, with tongues out. The dogs are all mixed breeds, of every size, shape, and color. Left to right, top to bottom they are: Tucker, Xiaoyu, Shitou Botas, Tanner, Aimee, Banjo, Bea, Bruno Lucky, Rayo, Aubrey, Sabry Daijin, Big Lucky, Happy, Nash Shadow, Midge, Lumi, Howl Kichiro, Fuzz & Grizzle, J.R., Ingot, Wicket, Manman Hurong, Millie They all have different pasts, from feral-born to abandoned pets; hopefully they will have similar futures, in loving homes.
December 31, 2025 at 1:28 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Happy times long past, in the winter forests of Quebec.

#ForestFriday #EastCoastKin #Hiking #Nature #Outdoors #Photography
A narrow, snowy path winds through hills covered in a mix of mostly low evergreen trees and taller deciduous trees. The day is bright and sunny, but cold, and snow stays also on the branches of the trees.
December 26, 2025 at 12:00 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Bit of my WIP New Years flyer from and for my rescue guys. (They use 0 in China, but mostly in things like phone numbers and license plates - in non-official things often it's a complicated non-Arabic-numeral character.)(So post-able 0s are hard to find.)

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekZforZero
Crop of a larger image with the number 0 in gold on the left. On the right are several small photos of dogs with big smiles. I will post the whole thing later, with more description.
December 25, 2025 at 10:40 AM
etaylorc.bsky.social
A tiny break in the monsoon season sky - cloud #scape over #AngkorWat at a stupidly early hour.

#Cambodia #SiemReap #Clouds #Photography #EastCoastKin
The well-known silhouette of the very top of Angkor Wat (temple and palm trees) sits at the very bottom of the image; most of the pic is of the sky - bright blue, but mostly covered with clouds in bands that range from dark grey to pure white.
December 19, 2025 at 10:55 AM
etaylorc.bsky.social
This year hasn't been great for me, so here are 12 of my guys rescued and/or adopted this year. Their lives are better, at least. Green checks mean adopted. Mini bios in the ALT.

(No pics of the newest, or the turtles.)

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekYforYearPast #Rescue #AdoptDontShop #Dogs #Cats
Top to bottom, left to right. Age is when I got them. Happy, ~1 year old. Living outside a restaurant; they said they loved him, but left him alone for a month. I took him to the vet - they never wanted him back. Ricky, 5-6 weeks old. Hanging out with Happy in the bushes. Anan, 3-4 months old. Found her running in and out of traffic. She turned into a lovely girl, with a foster turning into a foster fail. Minuet, ~1 year old. Found her hiding under a bush along a busy road. She had advanced wet FIP, and was probably thrown out by a breeder or a pet shop because she was sick. Devon (Rex), ~1 year old. Found huddled next to a tree on the sidewalk along the same busy road as Minuet, a few minutes later. Also probably thrown out by a breeder or a pet shop because she was sick. Chichi. I caught his mother ~12 hours after he was born. Long, sad story about both his mother and about why he was adopted and named Chichi, but his life is wonderful now. Viva, 3-4 months old. Found in a tiny cage outside an empty shop literally next to the road. Living her best life in the UK now. Schatzi, ~2-3 years old, and mom to Chichi and 7 other puppies. I had seen her looking okay in early summer 2024, then less okay as the summer waned; then she disappeared for a while. She reappeared the day before she gave birth, and I caught her the next day. Now living her best life in the UK. Harley, ~1 year old. Appeared in a wooded highway underpass area just as the dog beat team was coming to kill them all. We got a bunch of them first, including him. Adopted with a fellow underpass rescue, and living well in Europe. Midge, 3-4 months old. Found her in a garbage can. She didn't get in there herself. Tucker, ~5 weeks old. An old man ran up to me and handed me a puppy. Unclear if he had found him in the gutter, or was going to leave him in the gutter if I didn't take him. Chandi, ~1 year old. Found hiding under a car. Lost, or abandoned, or dumped, no idea.
December 17, 2025 at 1:54 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
China doesn't officially do Christmas (even less so since the post-Covid exodus), but it sneaks in, especially in areas with more expat stuff. This mall had a lot of international restaurants, including a French cafe.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXmas #UrbanGaze
The picture looks almost straight up from below a very tall skyscraper and a small metal Eiffel Tower, against a clear blue sky. The skyscraper has curved corners, with bands of blue glass and grey metal. It is positioned such that it appears to rise from the bottom left corner towards the top left, with the weight of the building in the top left. The Eiffel Tower is less dramatically angled, and has a a subtle decoration of a large red band, with gold ball ornaments, spiraling up to a star at the top. At the bottom are hints of the mall itself, as well as a gold-tone metal structure that might have been an abstract boxed present (I don't remember).
December 11, 2025 at 12:01 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
One tiny corner of a huge Christmas market in Vienna, many years ago.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXmas #TravelMemories #ColorADay #RedWed
The photo is of a market stall displaying and selling hundreds of wooden ornaments hanging from bright red strings. The ornaments are dolls with moveable arms and legs, shaped like girls and boys and Santas, painted in bright reds and greens. There are a few other shapes mixed in that look like rocking horses and gingerbread trees, and a few other things.
December 10, 2025 at 1:20 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
A colleague gave me this ornament two years ago and I took it as a sign for upcoming travel. But to actually go, I need to find homes for my rescue dogs, and I don't know how that will happen yet. High hopes for this year.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekXforXmas #TravelDreams #Rescue #Dogs #AdoptDontShop
A Christmas ornament held against a bright blue sky. The ornament is an propeller airplane with a green body and red wings, with large white stars painted all over. A large Santa sits in the single-person cockpit.
December 9, 2025 at 11:35 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Early morning walk on a #StunDay.

(I may have found things more stunning this morning because of the cold medicine.)

#EastCoastKin #Photography #SunBeams
The photo is of sun beams from behind trees with leaves changing colors. The sun is about halfway down on the right side, and is directly behind a tree trunk, making the beams and shadows on that side quite dramatic. On the left are some red and orange Japanese maples. The trees are mostly green with some yellow leaves, but is mostly washed out by the sunlight on that side.
December 7, 2025 at 6:28 AM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Morning #window, with bonus #cats.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekWforWindows #Caturday #Rescue #AdoptDontShop
The picture is looking out of a large window. Inside, the light is warm yellow. On the left is a simple cat tree with a wooden platform at the bottom and a clear plastic bowl on top. Inside the bowl, an orange cat lies with his head hanging over the edge. Attached to the window with suction cups is a cat shelf, with another orange cat lying on it. Outside the window it is bright but cold and somewhat faded, but the sky is clear and blue. Below, there is the roof of a large building; beyond that is a large city block of low houses; in the far distance are much taller buildings.
December 6, 2025 at 11:32 AM
etaylorc.bsky.social
A whole week of #windows in a high-rise hotel.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekWforWindows #UrbanGaze #Architecture
The entire photo is the side of a multistory building, completely glass in a regular framework, in blueish tints. Since this is a hotel, the contents of rooms tends to repeat; where there are reflections, they are of more windows in the building opposite (where I am). About halfway down, on the left side, the small figure of a man in red hangs outside, cleaning the windows.
December 4, 2025 at 11:32 AM
etaylorc.bsky.social
So torn between being not-keen-on-commercial and needing customers. I support a lot of rescue animals from my little online shops. I HATE self-promotion, but rely on them for food and boarding and vet care. Begging a bit? Maybe 🙃

#rescue #dogs #cats #adoptdontshop #starvingartist #starvingrescuer
My little online shops are my own photos and doodles and designs from my spare time; they support about 40 animals at the moment, and have saved some hundreds by now. Here are some links to my own designs and photos printed on things: https://www.zazzle.com/store/straysetc/products Mostly simple designs, mostly because I could never find things I liked related to rescue - they were always too cutesy for my taste. https://www.zazzle.com/store/travelsetc/products The most random of the randomness. erintaylor-connaughton.pixels.com Photos I'm actually proud of. and my PayPal purely for donations: etc@email.com For any graphics posted to 3rd party sites, I'm also happy to send files directly, and/or can customize colors for graphics on request.
November 30, 2025 at 6:31 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Essence of adorable.

Hard to believe something this cute is real. This is Cola, representing Shanghai Eleventh-Hour Rescues at a Christmas Fair on Saturday.

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekVforVowels #Dogs #Rescue #AdoptDontShop
A tiny shaggy yellow dog sits in a Christmas-themed red-and-white dog bed. She has bright button eyes and perfect scruffy-dog ears, and is wearing a knitted shirt collar with blue tie. Eleventh-Hour Rescues is a small group that takes dogs that are headed for the infamous kill pounds of Shanghai, but also helps individual rescuers like me. Many of my rescues have found homes on Shanghai and abroad through their connections, and I am delighted that several of my dogs (now in happy homes) made it into in their 2026 fundraising calendar. You can find them here: IG eleventhhourrescues
November 29, 2025 at 9:11 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
Angels, almost always. Eh, usually. Often enough?

#AlphabetChallenge #WeekVforVowels #Dogs #DogsOfBluesky #Rescue #AdoptDontShop
Three small dogs lie in various poses on a red couch with the back cushions removed. There are gold-colored blankets draped over the bottom cushions. All the dogs' noses are facing the camera. About in the middle, one of the back cushions is lying on the couch proper, adding a level. On the left is a mostly black dog with tan highlights, sprawling with her back end sitting on the middle cushion. On the cushion itself is a smaller, mostly tan dog with a black back, lying with her head draped over the edge of the cushion. On the right is the smallest dog, white, tightly curled into a ball.
November 26, 2025 at 1:28 PM
etaylorc.bsky.social
I don't usually have photos for #BirdOfTheDay, but I like this one #OnTheEdge. No idea what it is (some sort of duck?), from a park in Johannesburg, South Africa.

#birds #birding #birdphotography #photography #PhotographersUnited #nature #outdoors #EastCoastKin
A duck facing away, to a pond with ripples and reflection of the sky and trees on the opposite side. The duck stands on a rock at the water's edge. The pond is pale blue; the rock and ground are reddish. The duck has a reddish-brown head and back, but with half white and dark greenish-blue feathers on its wings and tail. Its legs and feet are bright red.
November 26, 2025 at 9:00 AM