Last night, as my wife and I walked along Golden Gate Drive, we spotted two felines—one (white) lay across the entryway, and the other (smokey) sat sphinx-like on the steps—at a beautiful home with open-wide front door. As we passed, the grey kitty got up and stretched, and I thought surely he would come out to the sidewalk for attention. I beckoned Anne to stop, and as she turned back he strutted across the lawn.

The iPhone 7 Plus in hand, I had been trying to get a closer on-the-steps shot; the second lens acts as 2x optical zoom.  Hence, the Featured Image, which I almost discarded because it isn’t sharp and reminds me of the mushy output quality I would get from 3-megapixel cameras more than a decade ago. Is it coincidental, or something more, that my last few evenings of low-light photos are similarly noisy, all after upgrading to iOS 11, where HEIC (so called High Efficiency Image File) replaces JPEG as default camera capture format. 

What’s the deal with Alabama Street? For three days in a row, this series has presented a trio of felines—Itchy Valentino, Goldie, and Anthony—seen within minutes of one another on the sidewalk between Adams and Madison. Later the same day, Sept. 5, 2017, at 6:59 p.m. PDT, I met another furball two blocks further, on Meade between Alabama and Florida. Where there are four, there are more. I will return to the area soon to scout for others.

Amanda (her real name) is a thin beauty, who waited before a door to be let in when I walked by. She immediately sprinted over, looking for attention, which she got—and I had to stop her from following me when we parted. My destination, the local Pizza Hut, beckoned more than 2 km (1.3 miles) away. Call me a marketing glutton; I cashed in on a National Pizza Day special (who comes up with these non-holidays, anyways). 

The next three felines featured in this series were all seen yesterday, on Alabama Street between Adams and Madison. We start with one of the scrawniest-looking kitties that I have ever seen. But the beastie is loved, and cared for, despite giving first-impression of being a feral in poor health.

Meet Itchy Valentino, who, as you can see, is quite thin—and the meaning is for some of the patches of scant or missing fur, too. He has a collar, with tag that reads: “I have allergies and take meds & special food. I’m OK!” Yes, but someone isn’t keeping to his strict diet, because Itchy meowed like a distressed female in heat before coughing up something. Twice. I thought maybe a furball, but on examination more likely grass or plant matter ingested as roughage.