Ready for a Nap

Our cat Sam as a kitten sleeping on my legs in January 2008. Original: _MG_7086.cr2

I’ve been editing some old pictures to bring old blog posts back online and was surprised to find this picture of a young Samwise snuggling up on my legs, adopted a month prior, never made it online. He turns 13 this month, with Ellie gone all the pets he grew up with have died. He loved being the youngest so I feel for the tender-hearted little fellow. He’s not wanted Trixie to snuggle up with him lately but that may be more a displeasure with the summer heat, we’ll see in a bit when the worst of the heat breaks for the year.

Trixie’s Second Favorite Orange Tabby

Through my office window our cat Trixie watches a bobcat at the edge of our yard in Scottsdale, Arizona in May 2020

Sunday I woke early enough to go hiking but being tired and knowing I had a long week ahead I went back to sleep for a bit. So I was home but not awake when my wife and Trixie noticed a bobcat sitting on the ledge of my office window. I was up when it made its return hunting rabbits and other prey, though this time it didn’t come quite so close.

Me & the Samwise

A black-and-white picture of our cat Sam snuggled in my lap with his head up and eyes wide open in April 2020

When I get home from work Sam starts giving me the business if I don’t settle down on the couch quickly enough for his liking, as he is waiting to jump into my lap and start purring to beat the band. There are lap cats, and there is Samwise.

Some Assembly Required

A close-up of our cat Emma sleeping on a blanket on my couch with her legs jutting at various angles in October 2014

After belly rubs Emma would collapse into a puddle of joy, her legs jutting out in various directions so that from some angles she seemed like a stack of cat parts waiting to be assembled. Taken in in 2014, I miss the sky blue walls of my office in Portland but not nearly as much as I miss her.