boolie

The Unexpected M

I’ve mostly used SLR’s for everything I shoot but for a while now I’ve suspected I’d be happier with multiple cameras targeted at different uses. Most of all I wanted something less obtrusive than my SLR for shooting the pets, or possibly something with better quality in the low light I shoot them in. There were a number of potential candidates amongst full-frame cameras, quality fixed-lens compacts, or mirrorless cameras.

On the day we adopted shy little Boo I could wait no longer so it was time to choose. That choice was Canon’s EOS M, surprisingly so since I was rather disappointed with it when it launched the previous year. But the price had plummeted to less than $300 for the camera and its 22mm pancake lens, and at that price the flaws of the camera suddenly became easier to bear. I’ve never spent so little on photography and received so much in return.

I’ve rarely shot with my SLR since. I still use it for wildlife shooting and anything that requires fast camera work, but for nearly everything else it’s been the charming little M.

Am I glad I waited so long to order it? Yes and no. On the one hand, the camera’s flaws would have been hard to live with at its debut price. On the other, perhaps I could have gotten a picture of Scout sleeping on me like this. But such is the clarity of hindsight, I had no reason to expect she’d die so relatively young.

I can’t change the past, only learn from it, and so by now I have pictures of all the pets sleeping on me. Sometimes all at once. On this occasion it was just me and Boo, snuggled in between my legs, one of my favorite shots of him.

The Unexpected Upgrade

You’ve by now noticed that updates here slowed dramatically this year, and while there are many reasons for that, one major reason was rather prosaic: my laptop kept dying.

For many years I’ve been a laptop-only user, and while I did add a desktop late last year, I still use my laptop for nearly everything. Unfortunately it developed intermittent failures which were hard to diagnose and it became frustrating enough that I used the laptop less and less as the year wore on. On its latest visit to Apple a couple of weeks ago they started to check it in for repairs, but then looked at its repair history and wondered if I’d mind if they gave me a new one instead.

Would I mind?

I was a little puzzled until I realized they wanted to replace it with a new new one, as in the laptops that were announced just a few weeks earlier. Apple had discontinued the regular MacBook Pro like mine so they wanted to give me the newest Retina model. It doesn’t have some features my old one had, but I didn’t need them, so they custom ordered one for me and it came in late last week.

I loved that old laptop and would have preferred that it had never developed problems in the first place, but given that it did, the timing worked out well. It’s hard to believe that laptops have progressed so far in less than three years.

It’s noticeably thinner, and more importantly, lighter. Faster, yet quieter. With a much better display, and much faster storage. And yet also with much better battery life.

It’s delightful.

Anxious

We kept Boo isolated from the other pets in his first days with us by putting him in my wife’s large office in the basement and, since it doesn’t have a door, blocking the large opening into the room with a long piece of plywood. These pictures are from his second day with us, up top you can see him sleeping under the far corner of the futon, which for him was progress as he spent much of those early days hiding completely out of sight behind the desk.

Boo was already anxious and stressed from his weeks at the shelter and adjusting to a new home wasn’t going to be easy for the shy little fellow. But he was anxious in another way too — anxious to meet the other pets. The plywood blocked the exit but he could still hear and smell the pets on the other side, so right from the get go we had to be quick when entering or leaving the room, as a little black-and-white shadow might follow underfoot.

The Best Dog Ever

Ellie gazes into my eyes as she lays with her head in my lap. We were so excited when we adopted Ellie almost five years ago, but even so she’s been more wonderful than I could have hoped.

Flippity Floppity Boo

We have a cat for M. C. Escher, so why not one for Salvador Dali too? Taken one day shy of his one month anniversary with us, still skinny enough that he could pull off poses like this when he slept.

The Occasional No

Last fall I experimented with taking pictures out of my office window of the birds that visit the backyard, such as this female flicker at the suet feeder. At first I tried shooting through the glass but the pictures were far too soft, so I opened the window just enough for the big telephoto to fit through.

The smells and sounds of the outdoors brought the cats over to investigate, one by one, but I shooed them away so I wouldn’t have to worry about them jumping through the opening to freedom, sweet freedom. Scout grunted when I pushed her back, looking puzzled. We were so rarely at cross purposes that she had to be sure I hadn’t mistaken her for one of the other cats. She tried for the window again and I gently pushed her back, then again, and again, before she finally wheeled about and walked out of the room with her tail raised high.

She asked for so little, but what she wanted, she wanted. Usually what she wanted I was happy to give her, but even I sometimes had to tell my beloved Scout, “no”.

As soon as I closed the window and returned to the couch, having forgiven my insolence, she jumped onto my chest and purred.

She was the best.

That Last Step is a Doozy

After we adopted Boo in early in July, we kept him in isolation for a while in my wife’s office in the basement. After a couple of weeks we allowed him limited time upstairs with the rest of the pets. He was eager to meet the others and explore the rest of the house but after a while the shy little fellow would get overwhelmed and retreat to the comfort of the basement. At times you could see the conflict writ across his face as he hung out in the landing between the basement and main floor, screwing up the courage to climb that last step and venture forth.

Scout & Boo

While Boo’s black-and-white coat resembles Scout’s in some ways, it was his early attempts to get up into the ceiling and ducts that reminded me most of her. Up above you can see a board above the circuit breakers, placed there when we moved in over a decade ago to keep Scout out. It was a constant battle in those early days, we’d block off access to one spot and she’d find another. She was crafty so it usually took multiple attempts to block her out for good.

Scout was already full grown when we moved in so skinny little Boo was able to find one spot into the ducts that we hadn’t blocked off but that was soon rectified. He got dirty during his foray but we had learned from past experience to let him clean himself. I didn’t use to believe in superheroes, ordinary people one moment who in a flash could transform into something greater. But one day after sneaking into the ducts Scout came out looking like a furry little coal miner, so I gave her a bath in the same utility sink Boo is standing in above. The moment the water hit her fur, my sweet little girl grew ten legs, each ending in a paw with a hundred claws. Some sought for purchase as she tried to wiggle from my grasp, leaving the others free to flail wildly and attack whatever they could. She dug into my hands, my arms, my chest, and rather painfully into my nose.

That’s me below holding Scout after her bath, drying her off with a towel. Fortunately Scout couldn’t hold a grudge, not even for a moment, so she quickly forgave me and we never spoke of it again.

I hold our cat Scout as she grooms herself after getting a bath

Shy

After living in isolation in my wife’s office during his first two weeks with us, we slowly let Boo expand both his contact with the other pets and his exposure to the rest of the house. He was more than ready to start exploring but still rather nervous about it and sought out safety zones where he could retreat when he got overwhelmed. He soon discovered the gap behind the washer and dryer could fit a Boo but not a Boolie.

The Healing Game

This year has been a painful lesson in how long it can take a broken heart to heal. And yet how quickly, when the time is right, it can fall in love again. I didn’t want to fall for Boo in his first few weeks with us, he was shy and stressed from his time in the shelter and we didn’t know well he’d integrate with the dog and two cats, one of whom wasn’t at all happy with his arrival.

We always introduce new pets slowly but took extra time with Boo and while not always easy, it paid off in the long run. Boo grabbed hold of his second chance at life and has grown so much, both physically and emotionally, in his three months with us.

Which is fortunate, as I fell for him immediately.

This picture is from his fourth day with us.

📷: Canon M | Canon 22mm
🗓️: July 8, 2013