Happy New Year! I am surprised there are enough furballs in the neighborhood to keep this series going, but here we are—after a month break—with the eighth consecutive beastie since Christmas. Today’s find is a […]
Category: Photo
The Cats of University Heights: Willow
Willow approaches me meowing, as her housemate Roman circles behind. She is the only female among owner JoAnn’s four felines, whom I met on Christmas Day 2016, while walking down Campus Ave. from my father-in-law’s apartment.
The 65 year-old accountant describes her brood as “friendly”, and I absolutely agree. She expresses dismay at the disregard of some folks moving around the animals on the sidewalk. “People walk by and ignore the cats. How can you not want to stop?” She waves her arms: “All around you is life”.
The Cats of University Heights: Roman
The third cat in JoAnn’s troupe is Roman. If you missed them, Herman and Comet are the other two of the four. I met her and the friendly furballs on Christmas Day this year. They get four hours of outdoor run-around time each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. That’s regardless of weather!
The shelter called the cat something else. “Roman I thought was such a prestigious name”, she says. “Almond was such a stupid name”. I agree, and what is there almond-like about this white kitty with distinctive tiger-stripe tail? He is eldest of her brood but least in pecking order. When giving out Christmas treats, JoAnn observes that he waits until the other animals finish before eating.
The Cats of University Heights: Comet
Comet (his real name) approaches Herman on Christmas Day 2016 in a courtyard off Campus Ave. Owner JoAnn named him before his white coat took on an orange tint. The energetic feline is about one year old. She adopted him from the local shelter when a four-month kitten.
I met JoAnn and her four furballs, while walking from my father-in-law’s apartment. She gives them four hours of outdoor time, regardless of weather, each Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The accountant perennially keeps the same number of cats. Comet replaced another animal hit and killed by a car.
The Cats of University Heights: Herman
On Christmas Day, while walking down Campus Ave. from my father-in-law’s apartment, I spotted a kitty. Then another. And another. And another. Their owner, JoAnn, lets outside her four furballs for four hours three days a week—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. She sits in the courtyard with them, as they race around chasing and playing. Look for the others tomorrow and rest of the week.
Her favorite is Herman, who may be the cat I previously featured as Frisky. He visited me on a June Saturday across the street but down the block from JoAnn’s studio apartment. She thinks it is, although there are few identifying features in my photo.
The Cats of University Heights: Watcher
Several days of torrential rains, unusual for San Diego, broke on Christmas Eve. Mid-morning, my wife and I took advantage of the brisk, but dry, weather to walk to Trader Joe’s. Down Maryland Ave., a […]
The Cats of University Heights: Grey and White
On, Dec. 17, 2016, at 11:57 a.m. PST, as I walked down Maryland Ave., headed to The Hub, where there is Trader Joe’s, movement in a roomy front yard caused me to stop and look. I had not seen this grey and white furball before; too bad, the beastie sat in contrasting areas of light and shadow. Worse, prescription sunglasses and glare from overhead obliterated the iPhone 7 Plus screen to darkness. I shot this and subsequent portraits blind.
The Featured Image is a crop, and it’s the best—and not that great—from the dozen captured. The second photo is the uncropped but tweaked original, which gives good perspective of feline and habitat. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 20, 1/290 sec, 6.6mm
The Cats of University Heights: Star
Merry Christmas! More than a month has passed since the last furball featured in this series spread across my InterWebs. Meet a kitty I call Star, who punctuates one of the neighborhoods’s better holiday homes. I […]
She’s Such the Owl
Cali perches. Her expression is priceless, which makes this otherwise photographically odd portrait a keeper. The converging lines going different directions unbalances the setting. (BTW, that taped-over cord is cat-proofed; the kitty has a taste […]
Cali is a Fan
Happy Caturday! The wayward Dyson fan-heater I wrote about yesterday finally arrived—and, of course, Cali claimed immediate ownership over the box. Hours later she vacated, and the thing is set up by my desk. I […]
The Cats of University Heights: Poser
There is nothing like lush greenery and ground following heavy rains. Yesterday morning, between downpours, I walked down Campus, where beyond Van Dyke a black-and-white surprise waited. Such a beauty she is, too. The tuxedo furball posed for me and iPhone 7 Plus.
Against the clinging vine and fresh grass, one could easily mistake this Southern California home for the side of a French farmhouse. But the Bird of Paradise creeping in the upper right hints at more tropical locale.
The Cats of University Heights: Scratch
Yesterday, while taking a break from writing analysis “You’ve Been Misled About Fake News“, I walked to clear my thinking. I turned down Delaware for a looksee into the canyon, when white flashed in my […]