Chewing on a Pen

Chessie was just over four weeks old when we got her as a kitten in June 1995. She was quite active from the first day we brought her home and continued to be that way through the last days of her life in August 2013. In the image above she is lying on a placement chewing on a pen. It didn’t take much to entertain her. The image was scanned from color negative film.

Let Me In

This cat showed up on our deck one morning as we were eating breakfast. We initially thought it was Cedric, a cat that lives a few units away. But the more we looked at it the more we could see that although it had similar markings to Cedric it wasn’t him.

This cat was rather vocal about wanting to come inside our condo, which we didn’t want to allow because we have a cat of own. But it kept meowing and pawing at the patio door. We finally had to draw the shades to encourage this cat to move along.

We found out later this cat, whose name we never did learn, belongs to someone a couple of blocks away in our development.

Sleeping With Her Teddy Bear

Our cat Chessie had a teddy bear of which she was quite fond of throughout her life. I don’t know what it was about teddy bear that attracted Chessie, but it was for her a security object of sorts. She is shown here even sleeping with teddy bear.

Familiar Cat Pose

I’m not sure why they do it but every cat I’ve ever known will sometimes place a paw over its eyes while napping. Presumably they want to shut out the light but cats don’t do this all the time while sleeping. Whatever the case, it gave me an opportunity to make a photograph of Tiger at rest. The image was made in March 1980 and scanned from a Kodachrome slide.

Sure as I’m Sittin’ Here

Every cat I’ve ever known sits in this position at least once a day. It is part of a grooming ritual. I was surprised that Suki sat here long enough for me to get my phone, open the camera app and make this image. She just sat there the whole time and even looked at me.

Cat in a Box

Put an empty box on the floor and a cat will find it and get in it.

She Likes It

We recently got a new “blanket” for Suki’s bed. She seemed to immediately take to it and now spends a lot of her nap time there. I think we can say she likes it.

What Are You Looking at?

Suki had probably been napping when I came along with my camera. She just seems to have a look that says “I didn’t want to be disturbed.” Of course she might not be thinking any such thing or maybe isn’t thinking much at all. I distracted her and she’s looking up to see what was making that noise. I’m sure after I walked away she went back to napping. Cats are like that you know.

Happiness Is

Having a warm comforter in which you can bury your face on a cold winter’s day.

Me and My Teddy Bear

Shortly after we got Chessie as a four-week old kittten, my wife bought her a teddy bear at Marc’s, a Northeast Ohio discount store. It would prove to be Chessie’s favorite toy throughout her 18-year life.

It was more than a plaything, it also was a security object.

We would leave to go somewhere and we would find Chessie has left Teddy Bear on the floor of the kitchen, the living room or at the top of the stairs.

Shortly after leaving we would talk about how Chessie was probably going to get her Teddy Bear.

Sometimes we would be sitting at the dining room table and we’d hear Chessie making a low distressed type meow. We would investigate and she’d have her Teddy Bear in her mouth and bringing it down the stairs from the second floor.

Chessie carried Teddy Bear around so much that she eventually punctured a hole in the bear’s side and its stuffings were coming out.

Teddy Bear also got dirty over the years but it didn’t matter. This was Chessie’s favorite toy.

Neither of us knew when we got her that Teddy Bear that that would be the case. Unlike a child outgrowing a toy received at a very early age, Chessie never lost affection for her Teddy Bear.