Squeaks in the Window

Our cat Trixie rests behind the wooden shutters of the window in my office on July 15, 2022. Original: _Z723567.NEF

Boo spent much of the summer behind the wooden shutters in my office but on this occasion Trixie gave it a try. Generally if she’s by the window she prefers the pillow, though at the moment she’s sprawled down my legs with Boo curled up tight against me.

Blackout Shades

The tail of our cat Trixie is visible behind a blackout shade in our bedroom on July 22, 2022. Original: _ZF23653.NEF

One nice thing while I was quarantined in July is the bedroom has blackout shades on its windows, so I could keep the room dark to make it easier to try and sleep off the illness. It’s hard to get them to come down the last little bit to the window sill but sometimes I leave some extra room regardless, to allow curious cats to sneak in behind them for backyard birdwatching. Trixie was one of my convalescence companions, though at times it was hard to tell if my fever had returned or I was just feeling flush from the heat of Little Furnace sleeping on my legs.

It’s the first time I’ve appreciated the bedroom being so big, normally it’s just wasted space for us but it was nice while it was my home inside our home for a couple of weeks. It gave me plenty of room to play with Bear when he was allowed in, it was nice to have time to bond with the pup, normally hard to do except on the weekends.

The Night Watch

Our cats Trixe and Boo sit behind the wooden shutters of my office window at night on January 30, 2021. Original: _CAM9513.arw

Boo has spent a lot of time with me this winter and at night has been trying to figure out how to open the window shutters after I close them. I suppose he has figured it out since after he starts rattling them I give up and open them enough so he can get behind them. On this night in January Trixie joined him for his watch. A couple of weeks later he sprang off my legs where he had been sleeping and ran to the window, this time I grabbed a flashlight and when I opened the shutters saw the local javelina family was paying us a visit. I went and woke Trixie and Sam and brought them in, Trixie squirmed and protested until she saw why I had disturbed her slumber. Boo had seen them before, not sure about Sam and Trixie, but they all sat transfixed as the family rooted around for mesquite seeds on the other side of the window.

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.