On Sept. 4, 2026, I stopped to chat with one of my neighbors as she walked her dog on leash and pushed a mesh carrier carrying a cat. Choppy is his given name.
I used Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/1.4, ISO 25, 1/359 sec, 23mm; 6:47 p.m. PDT,
This cat is where it needs to be: indoors. Two phenomena are playing out across Nextdoor this year: The overwhelming increase in missing cat posts and, similarly, the number of coyote sightings. Interestingly, this cottage […]
Who knew that Mango, one of the “Cats of University Heights“, was so popular? He speaks—eh, meows—to a captive audience on International Cat Day. His new political party, the Gingers—not to be confused with the Green Party—promises free Kibble for all.
The Featured Image is obviously fake, something slapped together using Galaxy AI on the S26 Ultra to celebrate the real feline holiday. The concoction began with a photo taken by me. I instructed the AI tool to place the cat on the green of the Washington Mall. Secondly, to put a podium in front of him. Finally, to add 1,000 cats.
I see plenty of self-serve car washes around San Diego. But a place to scrub your dog, in the open-air and just off the street? Who could imagine such a thing? Obviously, its owners for sure. Turns out there are four locations. I passed by the one in North Park on July 19, 2026.
“Each wash includes warm water, professional shampoo and conditioner, flea rinse treatment, and a powerful dog dryer—all for just $16”, according to the company’s website. You provide the muscle and put in the sweat equity.
One-eyed Warrior and this blackie playfully chased one another on May 22, 2026. I have seen neither since. Both stopped and rested under the same car. They could easily be a bonded pair, for there was no territorial tension between them,
I used Nikon Zf and NIKKOR Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR lens to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/8, ISO 100, 1/500 sec, 400mm; 9:58 a.m. PDT. Nickname: Pango, which is Māori for black.
Happy Caturday! I held back this kitty, thinking that the Featured Image was Donuts, because of fur markings, size, and location seen. But on closer inspection, they are different animals.
The portrait comes from Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, on April 1, 2026. Vitals: f/2.9, ISO 25, 1/135 sec; 7:44 a.m. PDT. Nickname: Jolie, which is French for Pretty.
My cousin Dan routinely sends family photos from the 1960’s and 70’s. Few of them are as surprising, and enchanting, as the Featured Image, from 1968. He says that’s a photo of a “bear cub taken in our backyard in Fort Kent”—one of the major Northern Maine towns on the Canadian border.
“Dad later gave it to the Houlton animal farm”, Dan explains. Oh, yeah? That wouldn’t be the first time. In November 2005 missive “Somewhere Between Dickey and Rivière-Bleue“, I tell the story of another bear cub—captured in the Maine North Woods and also sent to an animal farm in Houlton; 1966. So, it definitely wasn’t the same animal.
Today, the portrait used to illustrate this 2021 post popped up in my photo memories from June 19, 2013. Well, where is one, what about another? Digging through an old external hard drive I found several and chose the Featured Image.
The photo is a reminder of what I liked and loathed about the Fujifilm FinePix X100, which I acquired in May 2011, soon after its launch availability. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 1000, 1/60 sec, 23mm (35mm film equivalent); 7:13 a.m. PDT. Composed as shot; unedited.
This morning my wife rang, unexpectedly. After a brisk morning of cooking, she had gone out for an unwinding walk. I stayed behind to clean up the kitchen and wash dishes. She called after coming upon a wayward rabbit. By fur color, this was a wild bunny. But another characteristic revealed a domesticated animal. Somebody’s pet.
When living in the Washington, DC area, our family owned two bunnies: Daisy and Mayflower. Both had floppy ears, which is not a trait exhibited in nature. As you can see from the Featured Image and companions, this rabbit has floppy ears, which are a product of domestication and selective breeding.
This fine feline is the eighty-sixth found behind door or window. I spotted him on June 12, 2026, during an early morning walk, and used Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra to shoot the Featured Image.
Vitals: f/2.9, ISO 25, 1/2000 sec, 230mm (film equivalent); 8:17 a.m. PDT. Nickname: Gingerbread.
The Wilcox family’s San Diego Zoo membership may be expired, but unpublished photos remain—and there are still experiences for us to share together. For example: This lovely giraffe gazelle obscured by the foliage it eats.
What makes the Featured Image work for me, and may or may not for you, is the illusion of being in the wild—helped by the blurred leaf across the eye.
Meet the one-hundred twelfth kitty—out 642 profiled, including this one—seen on Alabama between boundaries Adams and Lincoln. Cosmo is the eighty-fifth feline found behind door or window.
The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy s25 Ultra. Vitals: f/3.4, ISO 125, 1/100 sec, 230mm; 6:28 p.m. EDT. Cosmo is companion to Comet, whom we shared yesterday.