Boolie

To The M

In 2013 we adopted Boo, described as “a shy sweetie who’s feeling overwhelmed at the shelter and very much hopes to be part of a warm, loving home once again … the transition to the unfamiliarity of shelter life has been emotionally rough … he will require a period of transition in his new home if he is to blossom into his former self”. He shook in fear when we met him and I knew I’d need a quiet and unobtrusive camera to avoid further stressing the little fellow. I picked up the Canon M as they were having a fire sale, practically giving away the camera with their delightful pancake lens.

I read Canon recently discontinued the M mount, the M was my last Canon but I will always have a soft spot for it. As for Boo, his introduction was our longest at about a month as we slowly integrated him into the family and we worked on building up his confidence and getting Emma to accept him. I have lots of photographs along the way thanks to the little M. He’s been curled up tight beside me all day, as he often is, I’m so thankful we were able to give the terrified fellow a happy home.

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

Pull For Service

One of the rare pictures I prefer in black-and-white, the black tail of our black-and-white cat Boo. Taken in 2013 but never edited, I’m a little confused by the shot. The background looks like the painted wallpaper in my old office but it looks white in the original file and not blue. The ceiling was white but since Boo and I are both wingless that wouldn’t have been an option. Plus I’m not sure where he would have been that his tail would have been flush with the wall. Perhaps we lost gravity for a short while a decade ago and my brain is blocking it out.

📷: Canon M | Canon 18-55
Date: August 18, 2013

Frozen

Another reason to mourn the end of our preposterous summers is it marks the end of swimming season for someone who doesn’t like to be cold. I’m not sure what the water temperature is right now since the string on the thermometer broke but I did just take this picture of the pool so …

The Reflecting Tide Pool

A buffet of barnacles and limpets for a hungry sea star, with a subtle reflection in the tide pool below. It could just have well been a portrait of me as a child visiting the city pool where my grandma lived that had a high dive, I’d probably still be up there trying to convince myself to jump if not for the social pressure of knowing other people were waiting behind me.

The Hitchhiker

Thumbs up, looking for a ride, sometimes you can’t wait on plate tectonics to take you where you need to go.

A Welcome Return

I would have thought most desert animals would go into hiding during the hottest months and only emerge when the temperatures cooled but for some of my favorites it’s the other way round, so the arrival of more comfortable weather carries some sadness alongside. A notable exception are phainopepla who fly in for the fall and fill me with such delight, they’re here in numbers now and quietly encourage me on my hikes from many a palo verde or ocotillo. Yesterday this male was stretching and showing off the white bars on the underside of his primary wing feathers, I almost got a shot with his wings fully extended above his head but the tiny buffer on my Sony filled and it couldn’t take any more pictures.

Keeping One Eye Open

Thousands of years ago a visiting Cyclops commemorated their love of the Pacific Northwest by crafting a self-portrait, the only known example still in existence today. I had the pleasure of photographing it in 2013 and was surprised by how delicate and fragile it was given the powerful force that created it, suggesting Homer’s portrayal of the Cyclopes as ignorant brutes in The Odyssey was little more than slander.

Rising, Setting

A quick snapshot while hiking out of the park, the moon rising behind saguaros in the east, the sun minutes from setting in the west. In a world that can be so relentlessly awful I’m thankful for the places that cradle me in its beauty.

In the Shadows

When I passed a gap in the boulders this owl appeared as a silhouette to my naked eyes as the sun hung low and bathed my pupils in its glory, leaving the shadows an inky darkness. Even though I liked the look of the silhouette and a much brighter version, I settled on this exposure with the shadows lightly raised as I think it speaks to the reality of what I saw. The owl and its mate (on a different rock) were using the boulders to shield the sun’s intense gaze, the approaching sunset meaning I was on my way out of the park but for the owls the desert was about to become their hunting ground.

You Can Get Just About Anything Delivered These Days

From last year. Boo had a vet visit yesterday to get his teeth cleaned and has been a little leery since but came out from under the bed and is snoozing beside me at the moment.