In January 2005 I finally got around to cleaning my dusty hiking boots and gaiters, which had been coated with sandstone dust the previous summer while hiking in Moab, Utah. The boots sit upon a yard waste container, which is emptied weekly by Waste Management, Inc. It holds leaves, branches, etc. In this scene it acted as a work table.

The fuzziness of the image is not my fault: I focused the camera carefully (as always!). A magnetic bubble rolled through Renton while this picture was taken, causing the otherwise sharp image to become out-of-focus. It also changed my pleasing smile to this stupid expression.

Ralph Tripod didn’t notice the stupid expression because he was concentrating on holding my camera steady. The magnetic bubble did not affect him in any way.