Scratcher of heads, rubber of bellies
After walking Ellie and working in the yard this morning, I came in after noon and stretched out on the couch while enjoying a cool drink. Boo came over and fell asleep on my legs, and I’ve been debating whether or not to wake him so I can refill my drink and get some lunch. This picture is from April but is playing out again at this moment, same pose, same slippers, same jeans.
Back in March, shortly after the new Sony camera arrived, I looked up to see Boo standing amidst cameras and lenses stacked on my desk, some rather close to the edge. On the left was an old, well-used and well-loved Canon lens (the original 24-105mm) that I was trading in as part of a special to get the lens on the right, the Sony Zeiss 55mm 1.8 prime. Back behind him was the Canon mirrorless camera that was also being replaced with the Sony. I didn’t open the new lens until I was sure the old one had been received and evaluated, but I drew my breath in at the thought if Trixie jumped up and startled him the new lens might go tumbling before ever being used. Rather than risk startling him myself I did the next logical thing, took his picture with the new camera, and he soon hopped down without incident and I moved the lenses back from the edge.
… but I might put them on a stool. This picture of Boo is from March, I had just received my Sony A6500 camera and wanted to give it a quick test. Having only shot with Canon for a couple of decades I didn’t know how to do much other than press the shutter, but I put Boo and Sam up on the stool for some quick test shots. I tried Trixie too but she was not so willing to pose. Taken with the Sony Zeiss 24mm f/1.8 lens, which I thought would be a favorite, and it is. Lighting is a mix of late afternoon light coming from the big picture window behind me and room lighting from the room to my left.
Boo and I have to enjoy this snow at a distance. Though inches apart Boo was separated from the snow by many degrees as he enjoyed the start of a rare heavy snowstorm from the warmth of one of our picture windows. For me I went out into the snow the next morning when Ellie and I took our walk, but am now separated by time. I can but look back and try to remember the cold and the quiet as we are in the midst of a long dry and hot spell in summer, surely as close to the sun as Boo was to the snow, the snowy night but a distant memory.
Provisions replenished, he’ll be back sailing the hardwood.
Two cats emerged in a window, and I —
I took their picture by and by,
And that has made all the difference.
One of the downsides to getting older is seeing your vision get worse and worse. The latest example for me personally was believing I saw Boo on the kitchen counter, right next to the stove, but knowing this could not be the case. Boo is not allowed on the kitchen counters and knows he is not allowed on the kitchen counters. I’ve had such visions before, but they usually vanish as I approach, a form of far-sightedness I suppose. This time the vision stayed until I was so close I could have reached out and touched him.
My eyes betray me.
Boolie 