The series‘ sixth New Years kitty is not the one originally planned. While walking this morning with my wife, I spied a ginger gawking above us; what a vantage to survey and sun. This fine feline joins Lovely (2021), Gem (2020), Storm (2019), Norman (2018), and Chub (2017).
The Featured Image and companion come from iPhone 13 Pro. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/499 sec, 77mm; 9:27 a.m. PST. The other is same but 1/513 sec, 10 seconds earlier.
For reasons, I can’t guess, most of the kitties seen along Cleveland Avenue and profiled in this series are gone. Let’s review them. Those known to have moved away: Fresh; Levi; Mika; Mini; Misty; and Pepe. Likely moved: Black; Black and White; Leery; and Mellow. Not seen recently: Clover: Lilo; Pepper; and Sleepy. Status unknown: Bell; Hunter; and Mandy. Missing: Fess (sad story). Special mention: Roly Poly; (second cat to appear in the series; presumed moved); Priscilla (who disappeared before the series started). Still resident: Tortie. That’s only one for certain among 21, plus our newest inductee.
I used Leica Q2 to capture the Featured Image on Dec. 23, 2021. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6. ISO 100, 1/80 sec, 28mm; 9:08 am. PST. For color, this fine feline earns nickname Cinnamon
One-and-a-half blocks beyond the neighborhood’s boundary at Texas Street, my wife and I spotted a pretty kitty on Dec. 6, 2021. Months earlier, we first saw the beauty jump to the fence on the same property. As I crossed the street for a photo-op, someone else moved up the sidewalk, scaring off the fluffball. Lucky: What a lovely pose presented for my second portrait attempt (and success).
In the spirit of the holiday, this fine feline is nicknamed for the nearby candy cane decorations. She joins just eight other honorary cats, among the 448 profiles (including this one). They are: Buddies, Chill, Envy, Mona, Moophie, Ninja, Promise, and Sammy. Darth Mew initially belonged to the group, until later turning up in University Heights, where he now lives.
As my wife and I walked back from Smart and Final on Dec. 9, 2021, we passed by a shorthair along Polk between Alabama and Mississippi. The kitty is the eightieth seen behind door or window. That works out to 18 percent of the total profiles.
I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/231 sec, 77mm; 10:30 a.m. PST. This fine feline earns nickname Tinsel, for the Christmas lights and decorations for the time of year.
The second of two kittens seen frolicking on Nov. 22, 2021 crouched beneath a car after another vehicle passed loudly by—hence nickname Scooch. I stooped low with iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/314 sec, 77mm; 11:35 a.m. PST.
My wife and I each separately spotted one of the kittens; my eyes followed Springer. We have yet to see them again. But we’re watching!
Where Cliff Street and Panorama Drive meet, my wife and I independently each spotted a kitten on Nov. 22, 2021. Our approach along the sidewalk separated the two frolickers, unintentionally. I barely managed to snag portraits of both, using iPhone 13 Pro. Today we present the first; tomorrow the other.
The tiger tabby earns nickname Springer, for the position of its back legs as seen in the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/234 sec, 77mm; 11:33 a.m. PST.
While walking along Louisiana today, Annie and I came across two of our neighbors tending their flower garden. Gracie, one of the “Cats of University Heights“, belonged to them before she passed away at age 19. Seeing my camera, the wife turned my attention to three caterpillars munching leaves.
I immediately exclaimed “Woolly Bear caterpillars!”—for their colors and fuzziness. But the resemblance ended there. My memory is a larva with orange band in the middle and black at both ends. If I rightly recall, and please correct me if mistaken, that caterpillar eventually becomes the Isabella tiger moth.
Day before yesterday, in the alley separating Alabama and Mississippi, not far from cross-street Meade, a black-and-white kitten approached my wife and I—and, oh, what constant meowing; hence the nickname. From apparent age, colorization, and vocalization, I wondered if Squeaky had wandered over from Louisiana. But quick photo comparison unquestionably identifies two different kitties.
Today, we saw the youngster yet again, but on the front-side of the apartment building, facing Mississippi. But unlike the Featured Image and companion, where Meowy wears a collar, there was none today. The cat clearly wanted something; perhaps food, its human caretaker, or both. We couldn’t guess, even after the kitten settled down on a welcome mat outside an apartment door.
For the first post-Thanksgiving Caturday, we present a kitten nicknamed Squeaky for its high-pitched mewing. I met the little squirt once, and not since, on Oct. 20, 2021, along the same stretch of Louisiana where lives Honcho.
The Featured Image and companion come from iPhone 13 Pro, captured in Apple ProRAW and converted to JPEG after being cropped 3:2 and modestly tweaked. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 50, 1/122 sec, 77mm; 2:37 p.m. PDT. The other: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/283 sec, 77mm; 2:38 p.m. Squeaky came close for a visit, but we never connected; a roaring vehicle scared back the kitten.
Our seventy-eighth kitty from Alabama, between boundaries Adams and Lincoln, is also the seventy-ninth seen behind door or window. Meet Parker—and, yes, that is the kitten’s real name. In the Featured Image, he sits overlooking the alley that separates the street from Mississippi.
I used Leica Q2 to capture the portrait, on Oct. 3, 2021. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/1000 sec, 28mm; 9:14 a.m. PDT.
I presume, but cannot yet confirm, that the kitty seen on several occasions in the window of the property where roams Boxer is this pretty Tortie, who earns nickname Pixie for no particular reason. My wife and I first saw her on Halloween, along with Boxer. The Featured Image, taken on Nov. 6, 2021, is from when I spotted her alone. The alley house has an Alabama address, making Pixie the seventy-seventh feline found on the street between boundaries Adams and Lincoln.
The first photo comes from Leica Q2. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/250 sec, 28mm; 12:19 p.m. PDT. The second uses the iPhone 13 Pro telephoto lens. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/1623 sec, 77mm; 3:02 p.m. PDT, October 31.
This is what knowing you’re handsome looks like. The Featured Image comes from iPhone 13 Pro on Nov. 4, 2021. Vitals: f/1.5, ISO 50, 1/1209 sec, 26mm; 10:07 a.m. PDT.