Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
Trixie seems a little angry in this picture but she wasn’t. It’s normal for her to be stretched down the length of my legs but usually her head is pointed towards my toes so I was thankful I had a camera at hand in January she was turned the other way round.
📷: Nikon Z fc | Nikon DX 16-50
Date: January 26, 2023
Since it’s Halloween how can I not post pictures of a cat named Boo? This was about six weeks after we adopted him in 2013, playing in my office atop the cat tree. The slow introduction paid off, the terrified kitten transformed when he knew he was safe, knew he was loved, knew he was home.
📷: Canon M | Canon 18-55mm
Date: August 18, 2013
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
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
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.
They may not be the best for exercise or for feeling like you’re alone in the wilderness, but I’m a huge fan of nature / interpretive trails. They’re accessible to a wide range of people and are great if you’re short on time, and often have a good sampling of the local flora. This is Bear at the Jane Rau Trail in February, I wanted to see how he’d do going over the bridge over the wash (he was unfazed). This loop is really short but a nice addition to the start or end of a longer hike and can offer up some pretty cool wildlife, I’ve seen a bobcat and a gila monster here.
As part of getting Bear ready for hiking again I took him for the first time to the short trail up the hill in Cavalliere Park. He loves looking out from up high so I gave him a moment to take in the view. I always try to sneak in the four mountains that helped me get my bearings when we moved here, especially Brown’s Mountain just above his nose as well as Cholla Mountain above his shoulders and Granite Mountain above his rump. Cone Mountain is blocked by vegetation but would be to his left.
On a couple of recent hikes Bear picked up some large prickers that took a while to remove, we may have to try again to get him to wear shoes on his hikes. We tried in April but he just lay there in his humiliation, whispering “Don’t let the cats see me like this.” You have my word Bear, you have my word.
It’s Fat Bear Week at the National Park Service where you can vote for your favorite chonk fattened up for the Alaskan winter. No matter how much you love him you can’t vote for this Bear however as he’s lost over 20 pounds since we adopted him. I didn’t take him hiking much over the summer since you have to be up pretty early to beat the heat and I couldn’t manage it. We’re back at it now but he’s gotten pretty out of shape and is gassed by the end of our normal hikes, so I’ve switched him to shorter hikes while he builds back his endurance.
Thankfully he does ask to lie down when he wants a break and on this occasion when we stopped for water it gave me a chance to photograph him as though he was paying homage to my favorite saguaro, which I call The Green Elephant. In truth he still isn’t interested in her, putting her in good company as he’s also not interested in bobcats, rattlesnakes, and tarantulas. He is interested in just about anything that moves in front of him but I’ll say this for the great matriarch, she doesn’t move much.
Boolie 