Tag: Cali

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 29, 20269:34 pm

An Irresistible Moment

Cats are full of surprises. As I opened a package of CAT-branded straps purchased at Costo, Cali noodled her way into the activity, eventually settling onto the empty box; May 5, 2025. She used it as a bed for the next four or five days, until she put her attention elsewhere; then I removed the box from the dining table.

The Featured Image displays the unusual photographic opportunity: A living cat sleeping on a CAT box with a stuffed cat behind. I couldn’t have set up the shot any better than what naturally occurred. Vitals: f/6.3, ISO 3200, 1/80 sec, 98mm; 3:22 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 6, 20268:27 pm

These Eyes

Sitting on the couch, working on Samsung Galaxy4 Edge, I look up and over the screen Cali stares back. She wants on my lap and the computer off it. Look at that face of challenge and jealousy. If looks could kill, I would for sure be a goner.

I used Galaxy S25 Ultra for the Featured Image, tonight. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 1600, 1/30 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 7:58 p.m. PST.

Photo by Joe WilcoxFeb 12, 20269:09 pm

Cali on My Knee

What’s a good cure for clutter? Bokeh! Tortoiseshell Cali sits on my lap in a quickie portrait made yesterday using Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. In the blurred background is my makeshift workspace, with Casabelle Mail Center as a desk alongside six-tier bookcase. I purchased the Casabelle from the now defunct Pier 1 Imports in early 2016. Our daughter may visit soon, compelling self-eviction from my home office for her. The new space is messy, and I am relieved you can make out only the kitty. She is quite the lap cat, and demanding about it, too.

I first encountered Cali on June 4, 2014, shortly after moving our daughter into a house she rented with other coeds nearby San Diego State University. Overnight, Cali would squeeze through an open sliding door and crawl into Molly’s bed. The tortie’s ownership would be disputed over the summer months that followed, and she somehow came to belong to our daughter.

Photo by Joe WilcoxOct 26, 20247:40 pm

Ten Years of Cali

On my twin sisters’ birthday, we pause for another commemoration—this one belated. A decade ago, on Oct. 20, 2014, we inherited Cali. I first met the tortoiseshell across the street from my daughter’s shared college residence on June 4 of that year. The kitten would crawl into our adult child’s bed later that night and come to be contested among coeds living in several houses. None of the women properly cared for the cat, but all of them claimed her.

After some pushing and pulling—with some women moving away and leaving Cali behind—she would become our daughter’s pet. But short-lived. School started and one of the students turned out to be allergic to cats. And so, the skinny, underfed, undernourished Cali came to live with my wife and me.

Photo by Joe WilcoxMar 22, 20249:26 pm

Cali Catnaps

This afternoon, I seized a rare opportunity to take a portrait of Cali sun slumbering on the Katris blocks in my home office. While she sleeps there often enough, the Tortie rarely so perfectly presents herself, and the illumination exposes fine fur detail otherwise obscured.

The Featured Image comes from Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/430 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 3:50 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 15, 20239:26 pm

The Sunbathers

This morning, I poked my head into the bedroom and spied an unusual sight: Our cats Cali and Neko nestled close (enough) together soaking sunlight. Outdoors temperature soared to 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) on this fine Friday before Christmas. I often say San Diego has three seasons: early Summer, mid Summer, and late Summer.

The single shot, quickly taken, comes from Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 50, 1/325 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 11:11 a.m. PST. The Featured Image is composed as shot, but lightly edited. On Samsung Galaxy S9 Ultra, I used Google Photo’s Magic Eraser tool to remove an annoying, and large, tag from the striped blanket.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 29, 20239:56 pm

Careful, Cali

Our Tortoiseshell took a tumble out of the closet tonight—or so it seems. I was in the middle of supper, when a load crash of falling things shook the air. Knowing that Cali had climbed up onto the top shelf, seeking relief from the heat, I rushed into the room to see.

Sure enough, a plastic container containing mom’s devices lay on the floor, emptied of her Chromebook, Nexus 6, and other artifacts. Yep, six years beyond her passing, and I still got `em. The box was quite heavy, so its fall surprised. I can’t imagine how Cali knocked it down, but fortunately she doesn’t appear to be hurt or much fazed by the incident (whew).

Living by Joe WilcoxJul 7, 202312:09 am

Totally Tortie

Last night, while I washed dishes, Cali jumped up on the Casabelle Mail Center that resumed role as my workspace after abandoning my home office for use by our daughter, who stays with us as she recovers from brain trauma.

I used Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra to capture the Featured Image. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 80, 1/60 sec, 70mm (film equivalent); 9:18 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxNov 30, 20228:23 pm

Cali Peeks

The annual eye exam to check my implants leaves me somewhat visually impaired this evening. Nearly 10 hours later, my pupils are still quite dilated, which makes reading and writing somewhat challenging. So I am posting something short but hopefully worthwhile. You tell me.

The Featured Image, taken using iPhone 13 Pro on Oct. 20, 2022, was quickly composed after realizing that from the right vantage Cali appears to be hidden behind the catnip plant. She stretches on the desk beneath our dining room window. Our other kitty is hefty ginger Neko.

Photo by Joe WilcoxAug 2, 202110:12 pm

Make a Wish

I know our daughter feels fairly disheveled on this 27th birthday—kind of like the Featured Image of the cat that we unexpectedly inherited from her in October 2014. I met Cali on June 4 of that year—the evening before she showed up in Molly’s bed. Now Cali is bonded to Neko, but her origin story will always be our recuperating birthday girl.

In the portrait, captured using iPhone XS, Cali sun-sleeps against my home office window on the Katris blocks that sit between the Belham Living Everett Mission Writing Desk with Optional Hutch and Casabelle Mail Center. Vitals: f/2.4, ISO 16, 1/142 sec, 52mm (film equivalent); 3:16 p.m. PDT, June 19, 2021.

Photo by Joe WilcoxJul 1, 20219:27 pm

Neko in the Blades

We let outside one of our two cats for romps in the apartment building courtyard. Neko is older, slower, and too big to fit under the front gate. Cali is younger, quicker, and skinny enough to squeeze through in pursuit of birds or squirrels. He asks to go outdoors, she doesn’t (thankfully). Today, Neko played hide-and-seek, so to speak, among the center area greenery. I happened to be carrying Leica Q2, because we (Annie and me) had prepped for a neighborhood walk before letting the fluffball walkabout; supervised, as usual.

The Featured Image is nearly a 100-percent crop. Yep, the camera captures loads of detail—and I can trust the autofocus, even shooting through foliage. Vitals, aperture manually set: f/5.6, ISO 100, 1/320 sec, 28mm; 1:43 p.m. PDT.

Photo by Joe WilcoxDec 12, 202011:53 pm

The Tree Tragedy

I can’t speak for my wife, but to me a pair of benefits marshaled my interest in choosing our current apartment: The front windows and what I call the “squirrel tree” majestically before them—as expected, providing plentiful wildlife entertainment for our cats Cali and Neko to watch; for the humans, too. Yesterday, the management company overseeing the property snuffed out magic, and life.

Time is immeasurable this year, thanks to triple-P: pandemic, politics, and protests (e.g., SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2, also known as COVID-19; Election 2020; and racial riots). As such, I don’t recall how long ago the building manager spoke to me about the tree—two or more months, seems like). He said that the perennial would likely be dramatically trimmed back; being top heavy, the branches pulled the trunk into brickwork before it (see first photo). Some discussion drifted to removal, which I opposed, promising in threatening tone: “The day they cut down that tree is the day I give notice”.