Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
… so I can overlook the fact that there are two cats on the kitchen counter. This little window nook provides an excellent view of the squirrels that run up and down the fence to move between the front yard and back. Boo and Trixie are genuinely becoming friends, this morning as I was getting ready for work they were happily chasing each other from bedroom to bedroom.
Sam, on the other hand, is very much a work in progress.
She’s a quick learner.
Don’t worry Trixie, Boo didn’t exactly get it right his first time either.
A picture from a couple of years ago of our cat Emma with eyes wide open, keeping an eye on young Boo who we had adopted three weeks prior. We were just starting to give him limited time into the house at large and Emma was not happy about it, following him around wherever he went. In a year and a half disease would steal Emma from us and we found ourselves introducing another young cat, Trixie, but this time it was Boo (and Sam) who were not happy about the new arrival and we were in for another slow introduction.
I had just gotten my Canon M, their little mirrorless camera, when we got Boo and was taking most of my pet pictures (then and now) with it. While it was a very flawed camera, I got it on a fire sale so there was little financial risk and I treated it as an experiment to see if I would like mirrorless cameras (I did) and with the hope that Canon would get more serious about mirrorless (they didn’t). I loved how I didn’t have to hold the camera to my eye, which not only let me get a lot of shots of the pets I wouldn’t have otherwise, but Emma was also a lot more tolerant of being photographed since she could still see my face.
I’ve been thinking for a while now about moving to a mirrorless system that would better fit my needs, or possibly going to a larger full-frame sensor, and this morning two pretty groundbreaking cameras got announced that would allow me to do both with one camera, and best of all each offers built-in image stabilization. I haven’t had much time to read up on them and, unlike my little M, either would require a massive investment in a camera I haven’t made since my first digital camera.
Right before I left for work Leica announced the Q, a gorgeous little fixed lens camera. I’ve never shot with anything as wide as its 28mm lens, nor anything as fast as it’s f/1.7 lens, but at first glance a lot of thought went into its design. I’ve always wanted to own a Leica but never have, much like in cars I’ve always wanted a Volvo, Mazda, or Alfa Romeo. This one has my interest, but on the other hand, I’m not sure I’d use it enough to justify its price tag.
While I was at work Sony announced their latest interchangeable lens full-frame camera, the A7R II. While it had been rumored for a while, they upgraded more from the original A7R than I was expecting (a camera that intrigued me but had too many foibles to seriously tempt me). This one seems to have fixed many of my issues with the previous model, and rather curiously, there are reports that Sony was demonstrating that with an adapter you could attach Canon lenses and still get autofocus. Not sure how well it would work, but if I could use my existing lenses with it …
This is the look of a dog who heard the refrigerator door open and is using her ears and nose to determine if the cheese drawer is being opened (cheese, yummy cheese!) or her hot dog container is being taken out (she gets her medicine stuffed in hot dog slices). In her younger years when I’d close the fridge door she’d just magically be there, making me wonder if she was using wormholes to silently move from wherever she was sleeping to the fridge.
When I walk her and see how much she smells and hears that I can’t, I can’t help but ponder how much of the wonder of the world I’m missing even though it is literally under my nose.
Sam in the cat tree, looking out of the window in my office, taken on the day after we adopted Boo in 2013. My mirrorless camera had just arrived so I was able to set it on the window sill and take the picture, I really like the freedom of camera placement that mirrorless cameras offer.
Watching my favorite show, Adventure Time, with my sweet pup.
On our walk this evening a little boy up the block asked if he could pet Ellie and I said yes, she’s a pretty gentle soul. He was squealing in delight and couldn’t stop hugging her until his mom eventually pulled him away so we could continue on our walk.
Across the street we could see Yum Yum, a sweet puppy who may be Ellie’s biggest fan, she just desperately wants to come say hi to Ellie whenever she sees us. She used to pretend she had to go the bathroom so her owners would let her outside, and then she’d run over and mob Ellie with licks to the face, but they eventually got wise to her little deception. I can’t blame you Yum Yum, Ellie is pretty great.
A couple of years ago at the dog park we met a woman for the first time and as Ellie went up to her (surreptitiously sniffing her pockets to see if she was carrying treats) the woman started petting Ellie and crying, she said Ellie reminded her of her dog who had died earlier in the year. I understood all too well, the death of our cat Scout was still fresh in my mind, and I started to offer to take Ellie to a different part of the park when I noticed she was smiling through her tears and wanted to pet Ellie for a while longer.
On two occasions I’ve had teenagers, after watching Ellie and I play in the park, separate from their friends to come over to tell me what a wonderful dog Ellie is. I don’t have kids of my own so I don’t normally get to see teens in such unguarded moments, but it’s very sweet.
It’s a little funny how someone as painfully shy as I am ended up with a gregarious dog that spreads happiness wherever she goes. I sometimes wonder if she gets a gray hair for every moment of joy she brings into the world, the price she pays for being such a great dog, it would certainly explain the many gray hairs. If so, I hope she gets many more.
Back in March I was photographing Boo resting on the heating vent when we experienced the Trixie Maneuver, where she approached and backed up and sat down right in front of him, anxiously waiting to see if he would attack her. She had been trying these submissive approaches with Boo, mostly unsuccessfully, but while his eyes went wide for a moment, he did allow her to stay, and she leaned over on her side with her feet and tail overlapping his hands.
While it took a couple of months for Boo to accept Trixie, peace does not yet reign among the cats in our household. Boo and Sam have been at odds since Emma died and Trixie arrived, and Sam has had enough of both the young cats. He’s fine if they are on their own but swats them if they try to snuggle with him.
These things take time, and to help normalize relations I’ve been lining the three of them up each day to give them some cat treats, and they all get along fine then. Sam will be a lot happier when he relents, as he’ll love having extra snuggling partners, but for the moment he’s curled up in my lap and happy to be on his own.
Templeton does a little bird watching from one of the rear windows in our old house. That house was much more modern than our current house, one of the things I miss is the many windows and the great views into the backyard. And the air conditioning. And the two-car garage. While we had nice neighbors on either side, in general I much prefer our current neighborhood, and I certainly don’t miss the commute.
A picture from 2001 of our cat Templeton, this picture has been offline since I took my old site down a while back. He was a handsome little fellow in a gray tuxedo coat and would transform my thinking about cats. What a blessing it was to have known him.
Boolie 