Category: Apple

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 17, 20228:41 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Pudding

A sudden surge in kitty sightings is creating a backlog for the series. My apologies, then, if they overwhelm the site for awhile. For reasons that make no sense to me, they cluster around Alabama and Louisiana, which, coincidentally or not, are also where are the new traffic circles at Meade.

We begin with a black and white seen on the latter of the two streets. This fine feline, who earns nickname Pudding (for something about those cute ears), is the eighty-third behind door or window. I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image on Dec. 17, 2021. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/602 sec; 9:22 a.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 14, 20229:05 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Kittens

While walking along Mississippi Street, between El Cajon and Meade, today, I spotted a four-to-six-week-old kitten scurrying among an apartment building’s greenery then passing through the lattice panels beneath a corner cottage. Not long later, the tyke looked out suspiciously long enough for me to approach and capture the Featured Image, using iPhone 13 Pro. Do you see the rascal? Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/2273 sec, 77mm; 12:02 p.m. PST.

When the shorthair vamoosed, so did I—only to see an adult black across the manicured space of an adjacent apartment building. The mom, perhaps? She hung out closer to the alley, so I walked around for a look (and some portraits).

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 11, 20229:16 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Smokey (Maine Coon)

What a surprise! Today, when walking along Alabama, on a grocery run to Smart and Final, my wife and I met a gentleman and his two-year-old Maine Coon. While the gentle giant likely lives somewhere else in the neighborhood (I forgot to ask where), sighting location makes him the seventy-ninth kitty observed on the street between boundaries Adams and Lincoln.

Five features physically define Maine Coons: Ear tuffs and points, facial structure, fur coat, paws (big), and size (huge)—the latter they tend to reach at around age five or so. Smokey is classically Coon by all appearances, and I am not surprised: His owner says that the cat comes from Russia, because finding a purebred locally is challenging.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 9, 202210:37 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Happy

The eighty-second feline found behind door or window lives on Lincoln Street, just inside the neighborhood border. I used iPhone 13 Pro to capture the Featured Image on Dec. 19, 2021. Vitals: f/2.8, ISO 32, 1/1107 sec, 77mm; 10 a.m. PST.

This slumbering shorthair earns nickname Happy, because that’s what he (or she) appears to be and how I feel looking at him (or her). I wanted to use Nappy, referring to napping, before doing a dictionary check and learning that the word is an American axiom for diaper.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 4, 20227:49 pm

Lemons and Oranges

Winter, or what I call late Summer, is when citrus trees bear luscious fruit in Southern California. Consider this lovely lemon tree that greets residents of quaint cottages along the Alabama-Florida alley. Who wouldn’t want to live in such a charming retreat, tucked away and lush?

But bring your high-paying job. Charm isn’t cheap in San Diego, given rising real estate costs. Median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $2,095, according to Zumper (about which I am largely unfamiliar). When I last cited the company’s data, February 2021, the median was $1,810. Yikes! Two bedroom: $2,895.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJan 1, 20228:58 pm

The Cats of University Heights: Gazer

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.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 31, 20219:27 pm

We End Twenty-Twenty-One with an Electric Story

The last post of the year fulfills one of my personal resolutions for 2021: Publish something here every day, and I have. The process proved beneficial for honing storytelling, which often constructed around one (or more) of my photographs. Rarely did I sit down to write with clear topic in mind; often the prose unfolded as a storytelling process anchored, sometimes loosely, by the illustration.

Similarly, my continual need to have something to write about encouraged me to look for objects to be topics, improving my photographic craft, too. I lack the sense of composition and style necessary to be a professional shooter. My eyes instead see stories in the things I capture. I stare in awe at the pros producing photos as art; I can’t.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 30, 20219:27 pm

Leave It Be

Wet weather welcomed the last week of the year, here in San Diego, with sporadic rain showers. Today, for awhile, the sun emerged from behind scattered clouds and I took advantage for several, desperately wanted […]

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 29, 20218:16 pm

In the Dumpster

End of year is a good time to take out the trash, so to speak, to clear out the past and prepare for the future—opportunity to start Jan. 1, 2022 fresh and tidy. That’s where I am on this wet Wednesday evening. But what if you literally can’t take out the garbage, as is the case for many San Diego County residents? Teamsters Local 542 is on strike with Republic Services, which my landlord unfortunately uses.

The Featured Image, taken today with iPhone 13 Pro, is outside the apartment building where we live. (Vitals: f/1.5, ISO 50, 1/2994 sec, 26mm; 11:22 a.m. PST.) I would like to thank my immediate neighbors for not massively overflowing the dumpster. You might think, looking at the pile, that I am being facetious. Not so. The sentiment is sincerely expressed. Stacks of bags and refuse elsewhere exponentially exceed this modest mess. My fellow residents show remarkable restraint.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 25, 202111:59 am

Annie and the Snowman

Merry Christmas! My wife poses with an inflatable along Madison Avenue, between Georgia Street and Park Blvd, in our neighborhood. I photographed kitty nicknamed Alcatraz nearby the same spot 10 months ago; early March 2021, the black and white appeared in my “Cats of University Heights” series.

I left Leica Q2 at home and so used iPhone 13 Pro to take the Featured Image—first of four and best of the lot. Vitals: f/1.8, ISO 32, 1/328 sec, 13mm; 10:31 a.m. PST, today. As you can see, the snowman is quite large, and the smartphone’s wide-angle lens let me capture the inflatable and surrounding scene for context. We had heavy rain for the holiday. I’m dreaming of a wet Christmas…

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 21, 20219:20 pm

I Don’t Long for Them Beyond Nostalgia

Go ahead and scold me for this being one of the most pointless of posts. But before changing my diet in July 2013—foresaking all confections and largely reducing processed carbohydrates—MoonPie was among my top choices for cheap treats (I couldn’t find Devil Dogs outside the Northeast United States).

My wife and I passed by a massive display of the Double-Decker variety, in boxes of 24, for $9.49—that’s 39.5 cents each—at Costco Business Center today. Best price for the same thing from Amazon sellers: $23.79. That’s a helluva markup, if Costco’s considered more wholesale.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 20, 20219:17 pm

The (Honorary) Cats of University Heights: Queenie

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.