Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
I took this picture of Boo on the last day of the year. He had been with us for almost six months and had grown so much physically and emotionally that it was hard to remember the terrified little kitten who trembled in fear at our introduction. Within the past couple of weeks he’s started curling up beside me on the couch and when I go to bed at night. It’s been heartwarming to see how much Boo has embraced his second chance at life.
My sweet Scout died a year ago today and not a day has gone by that I haven’t thought of her. The healing process took much longer than I expected, and while there are still times I miss her intensely, mostly I’m filled with fond memories rather than grief over what I lost. I didn’t photograph her a lot in her last year as she hated the camera, but thankfully on this day in the fall I went and got my camera when I saw her resting on the guest bed with our youngest cat Sam (she’s looking at him just out of frame, he was curled up in a sunbeam under the window).
Sam and our oldest cat Scout used to sleep on me every night and I’d fall asleep to the sounds of their purrs as the two friends snuggled in the darkness. Scout died almost a year ago and it’s been a tough year for Sam without her. Even many months after her death he was tense and easily disturbed but he has started to relax more and more, and even gets playful at times. He curled up on me as I watched football this fall, but he only sometimes joins me at night, but at least now he sometimes purrs with abandon when he does come. I don’t know if we’ll ever fully get back the happy-go-lucky snuggle fiend he once was, but time is slowly healing his wounds.
While he’s worn this bewildered expression many times over the past year, this picture is from a year and a half ago when Scout was alive and well. He had been sleeping on our bed and the noise of the camera woke him, which he was understandably not too happy about. Thankfully now I have a quieter camera for shots like these.
Our master dog bed stealer on Christmas Eve. My wife made this bed years ago out of pillows when we first got our dog Ellie. It is also a favorite of our cat Sam who likes the crevices the pillows create.
We don’t know Boo’s birthday but he was probably a little over one year old when I took this picture of him as he snuggled in my lap in early December. He’s doubled in weight since we got him but more importantly, the once terrified little fellow is now a happy part of our family.
I got the Canon EOS M mirrorless camera specifically for pictures like this, the little snapshots that won’t mean much to most but mean a lot to me. Composing through the screen instead of a viewfinder meant I could put the camera where I wanted it, so the camera could be at Boo’s eye level instead of mine. The compact 22mm pancake lens is also surprisingly good, although the lack of image stabilization in either the body or the lens limits how much I use it.
Play Simon Says with Ellie and you will not win. She’s good, oh but she’s good.
You can tell Emma is enjoying a belly rub when she extends one of her front legs high into the air, then lets it slowly fall as she collapses into a puddle of happiness.
This is Boo at the end of August, he was about 9 months old and had been with us for just under two months. His sleeping position didn’t look comfortable to me but it was one of his favorites. He was skinny enough then to pull it off but it’s not so easy now that he’s grown to full-size.
While our oldest cat Emma remains our photobomber extraordinaire, young Boo is learning fast.
Our sweet Ellie, taken on the day my Canon EOS M arrived.
Boolie 