Tag: cat

Between Shadow & Light

Our cat Sam in the picture window in the dining room of our house in Portland in March 2017

Sam in the picture window in the dining room of our house in Portland in March 2017. My Sony camera arrived a couple of weeks prior and on this day I photographed all the pets with a few of the new lenses, in this case Sony’s lovely 55mm f/1.8.

I LOVE BIRDS SO MUCH!

Our tortoiseshell cat Trixie yawns while sitting in the cat tree

You know little Squeaks, the birds might come closer if you could restrain your enthusiasm a little bit. There’s a brave mourning dove that comes close to the sliding glass door that really gets her going, she flattens herself to the floor and whips her tail back and forth and chirps at her feathered friend.

At the Edge of Freedom

Our cat Sam sleeps as a kitten in 2007 on a colorful quilt

Sam on New Year’s Eve in 2007, a week and a half after we adopted him. He was on the brink of being given freedom to roam the house at large and thus meet Scout, who he adored all her life.

The In-Between Time

Our cat Sam sleeps atop the cat tree

I took many pictures of Sam sleeping atop the cat tree over the years and only through the greatest restraint have I avoided sharing each and every one of them with you. It is the day this picture was taken that packs the emotional punch for me, two days before the movers were to pack our things and load them onto a truck, three days before we would leave for Arizona, five days before we would arrive. He knew something was up but he had no idea how much I was about to upend his world.

Our cat Sam wearing a collar with his name on it in large letters

A simple picture of Sam sitting in a chair with his name writ large on his collar. But I know the chair was in my office because the junk haulers took away my old couch that morning and I brought down my old chair from our bedroom, a chair we bought when we moved into the house and which served me well for many years (and serves us well even now). It was a delight to photograph Sam in it as it reminded me of when Templeton loved to sleep there, especially after he lured me out of it so he could steal my spot. The collar though he and the other cats only had to wear in the days leading up to the move, and during, and after, in case they got loose during the confusion.

Thankfully they did not. This story ends in joy not tragedy.

Our cat Sam sleeps on a bed at a La Quinta Inn in Redding, California

A picture of Sam sleeping on the bed, I took many of those too, but it was only our bed for a night as this was the hotel in California on our first night, the in-between place in the in-between time. A reminder of a long trip, especially for the little ones, but a reminder too that as long as we were together we would be all right.

Our dog Ellie relaxes in the backyard in front of the swimming pool on the day we arrived at our rental house in Scottsdale, Arizona in March 2018

A quick picture of Ellie that I snapped after we arrived at our rental house in Arizona at the end of March. The house will be home for a year, Arizona for much longer, and I am so thankful we found the house and that our lovely landlords accepted all the pets. All of the hiking and swimming has been great for me, I’m in the best shape I’ve been for a long time. The one story house has been great for Ellie as she can now follow us everywhere we go. As for Sam, well, our little snuggler has been putting on weight as he no longer has to go to the basement to use the litter box, the main floor to hang out in my office, and upstairs to join us at night. He’s getting a reduction in food to slowly bring his weight back down. Trixie and Boo are doing just fine, they love watching the wildlife in our back yard.

I’m Not the Only One Fascinated by Arizona’s Wildlife

Our tortoiseshell cat Trixie watches wildlife in our backyard through the sliding glass door

Trixie is rather obsessed by the wildlife in the backyard of our rental house and is often joined by brother Boo at the sliding glass door as they watch the doves, quail, finches, woodpeckers, rabbits, lizards, and the like. I can’t help but think of Emma as I watch them and wonder what she would have made of all this, I could almost identify what bird had flown into our yard in Portland by the nature of her chirps.