R.I.P. Teewinot...2007 - 2022

The news was not what we wanted to hear, but deep down, we all knew it was the news we were going to get. Today we said good-bye to an incredible cat...more than a family pet.

In 2007 my family decided to visit my cousin Brent and his wife Sheila. They live on the family farm in Driggs, Idaho, God's Country (If God likes amazing summers and hellish winters...). While we were there our kids played in the pure air and open spaces a farm affords. They also had a blast chasing around a litter of kittens that ran around the farm with them.

Pure joy.

We had a few years earlier moved into a house and we needed a cat. We asked if they wouldn't mind parting with one, to which they agreed. We chose the only male kitten and we called him Teewinot because he was a climber and Teewinot Mountain can be found a few miles from my cousin's house.

Man...what a great cat.

I know many are not cat people and others downright hate cats. I can understand that, but I'll bet they'd like this one. We was cool, not uppity. And he owned the cul-de-sac where we used to live. He'd lay down in the middle of the street and give anyone passing by a nonchalant glance. He got in fights--we think he won many, but lost many, too. He was also a tremendous hunter, bringing victims of his skills home...everything from mice to squirrels and even bats and bunnies.

As he got older he even took on the neighbor dogs. He was fearless. Except for marring up the siding under our bedroom window and destroying countless window screens, Teewinot had few faults. And he even accompanied me on many a mountain hike. I blogged about one such adventure: HERE.

Last week, everything changed. He barely moved, wouldn't eat or drink...so unlike his normal curious self. Yesterday we took him to an E.R. vet and they diagnosed kidney failure...we could spend thousands of dollars for treatment, but the result would be the same...he would not survive. We made the agonizing decision to end his pain. We brought him home, sedated and lethargic, and put him in the back yard. He sat in the sun with my youngest, the two of them spending their last afternoon together.

Pets are amazing, not just for the companionship, but in what they teach us. They teach us patience, discipline, responsibility, and they continue to teach in death. We learn the value of life, the selflessness of some of God's amazing creatures.

I'll be spending the next few days searching my photos for classic pictures of our beloved cat. We're planning on compiling a book. Yes, he's gone and we remain, but hopefully, the memories will linger still.

R.I.P. Teewinot...a great cat.

This Summer's Been A Season Of Firsts...In The Back Yard

I don't know what it is about this summer, but there's been several "firsts" occurring in our back yard.

The first, was the rattlesnake. 

That was big. Well, big for me, anyway. Like I blogged about when it happened, it was the first time I had seen a rattlesnake on the hill. Thankfully, it was in a protective bottle. Otherwise, I would not have gotten anywhere near it. Snakes, in general, don't freak me out too much. As a kid, I even caught a gopher snake and kept it as a kid for a month or so. I had it in a fish tank on our back porch and it escaped. Just as well. But rattlesnakes...no thank you.

The next surprise came in bird form. 

I saw a raptor hanging out on our neighbor's playhouse. I snapped a few pictures and was lucky enough to get it in-flight. I posted the picture, saying I did not know what kind of bird it was, and the consensus from more knowledgable friends identified it to be a Cooper's hawk. To my knowledge I've never seen a Cooper's hawk before. It's likely I have, but didn't know what it was.

Then came death.

The last event--and these all took place within a few days--was our hunter cat stalking and eating a baby quail. We've had the cat for more than a decade and over the years I've seen corpses of animals unfortunate enough to be slower than our cat. I've seen bits of mice, rats, squirrels, bats, even a bunny. But, I've never caught him in the act.

The wonder and danger and death happened weeks ago. Since then, it's been pretty quiet. At least, I think so. Maybe I'm just unconsciously avoiding the area. Who knows what's going to happen next?

I Heard The Squawking...Didn't Know Our Cat Was To Blame

I heard the quails squawking. I've heard birds squawk before, mostly because of predators.

I didn't realize our cat was the cause.

There are quail in the neighborhood. We see them occasionally. Mostly, they're scurrying across the street as we drive down the road. I don't know where they nest, but it seems they don't nest at our house. Of course, they might--I just don't see them.

The other day I was out in the yard and the quail were chirping. It didn't seem to be a panicked chirp, but more a friendly one. I did see our cat walking around, following me as I photographed the birds. The cat does that--he's followed me on a hike up the mountain before.

I went inside, then came out about twenty minutes later.

The cat sat on the lawn and I notice he was chomping something. Upon closer examination, I found what the cat was eating...a baby quail. If you look closely at the photo, there's a foot under the cat. Now, I've seen birds go crazy when their nest or babies are in danger. I watched robins go nuts when a snake was climbing up a tree to their next. I've seen magpies attack our cat when it got too close to a nest. So, it surprised me when I watched the quail seem not so bothered that a cat was in the area.

It's the way of things, birds eat bugs, cats eat birds. It's the circle of life. Still, it's interesting to see it first hand.

Hiking...With A Cat And The Moon

Yesterday, after dinner, the cat and I took a little hike. We are fortunate enough to live at the base of a mountain--not the highest mountain around, but high enough, and where we live, we can't see the top. Yesterday, as it has happened in the past, our cat followed me up the hill.

A nearly full moon rose above the mountain line and I snapped a few pictures. I also tried capturing the cat as he followed me. Cat's a wily one, and he's getting over a battle wound. I took a few shots.

Of course, the purpose of going up is to see the world below. The sky wasn't the prettiest, nor was it in full sunset mode, but it was beautiful up there, looking down on the valley, at my home, at a place where I grew up and that has changed so much.

Here's just a snippet of what I saw, the valley, the cat, and the moon.

Going On A Hike...With A Cat

Living on the side of a mountain and at the head of a very popular hiking trail, I see hikers trek up and down the mountain all the time.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone take their cat along...

But last week, I did.

It was me.

It was after work and I wanted to see if I could get any pictures of the colors before storms erased it all. I loaded up my nice camera and I began my hike.

Teewinot, our cat, started following me.

It's not unusual for him to do this. If I'm out and I decided to walk to the end of our street or around my yard, many times he'll follow me. When I started out on my hike, I didn't know how far I'd go or how long I'd be gone, so when he started following me, I thought it was cute. I didn't expect he'd stay with me the entire time.

I hiked about a half a mile up the hill. There's a road we call the Fire Break Road that far away. I wasn't sure I'd end up there, but it was such a beautiful afternoon, that became my goal. Teewinot kept up with me the entire time.

Our cat's been with us for years. I'm sure he's been up and down that mountain and where we went was nothing new to him. Still, it was fun to watch an aging cat make the hike. He was much quicker going down--aren't we all? 

It's getting colder--it even snowed last weekend, not enough to stick around, but it will, eventually. I don't do a lot of hikes anyway so I'm probably not going to be up the hill again much any time soon. But, last week, on a nice Utah autumn afternoon, me and the cat had a good time.

Being Thankful In 2018...

This morning, before I went to work, I spotted one of our cats in the sink waiting for us to turn on the water so he could get a drink.

What does this have to do with Thanksgiving?

Good question.

We have four pets living under our roof, four animals that are under our care. Without us, the cats might be able to survive on their own--cats are good at things like that. The dogs, however, well...they seem to need people more than the cats.

I have no idea what the pets think about us. If they even understand the concept of thankfulness, it's on a very basic level. But we're thankful for them. They can be pains sometimes, but their good points far exceed their bad. 

That's the way things go. We appreciate things, but only so far. We probably won't appreciate the pets until they're no longer with us. The trick is to be grateful for what you have while you have it.

Tomorrow we gather and eat and talk and nap and maybe watch some football on TV. The cats and dogs will do all that, too. Except they won't understand football and they'll nap more than we will. I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving, everyone, including your furry ones.

The Stare Down...

If you've followed this blog for any length of time, you know we have two cats, one we brought home as a kitten from my cousin's farm in Idaho, and the second, we rescued from off the street.

They do not get along.

We keep them separated.

It's not as hard as it seems. The tabby--a male--sleeps most of the day upstairs in the kids' rooms behind a door. He then likes to go outside in the evening or late afternoon to hunt or do whatever cats do outside at night.

Our other cat--the female long hair--stays inside, mostly. She sleeps in various places throughout the day, and we put her in the laundry room at night behind a closed door. There have been times, very few times, when both felines have been together. It does not go well. It is the family consensus that the tabby is the instigator. 

The Taylor family has kept up this cat cold war since January 2012. Like I said, once you have a system it works out.

Last fall we introduced a new wrinkle in the system. It's a door. Normally, doors are a good way to separate the cats. This door, however, is different. It's transparent and the animals can see each other through it. We got the door last fall and didn't have many opportunities to use it before it got too cold. This spring we've used it a lot. When we first put it up, we had animals running through it. Thankfully, it's easy to fix. Still, I wonder what the cats think of the door. Do they think it will stop them? With enough speed they can go through it.

Tonight I watched a stare down. The tabby was outside and the other was in. I took out my camera and began taking pictures. My son built a box house for the cats and they've used it to a degree. The female sat inside staring out at the tabby.

My youngest thinks that if both cats could be near each other more, they might end up liking each other. I'm no cat expert, but I don't think that will happen, no matter how many stare downs the cats have. Still, it was fun watching our two cats interact, even though it was on opposite sides of a screen door.

Do Cats Know...They Can Climb Trees?

Do cats know they can climb trees? I've watched our outdoor cat, our "hunter," climb trees again and again. He even climbs up our back deck, a deck with no stairs. He just shimmies right up the posts.

Do they know they can do that? Do they understand that eons of evolution (or some other way...) have bestowed cats with retractable claws that are sharp enough to dig into bark and wood enabling them to cheat gravity and rise to a height where they can observe the world below. Can they comprehend that this ability gives them advantages, both defensive and offensive when it comes to survival? Do they appreciate this talent?

Personally, I don't think they think about it at all. They go about, hunting, acting aloof, resting in the sun--all the while oblivious to the fact that some humans would love to have the natural abilities possessed by our hairy pets. Maybe it's like humans and our ability to drive, or cook, or build a civilization.

Or do our taxes.

I guess there's some things all of us don't think much about.

New Camera...New Pictures

I've written several blog posts concerning cameras. Back in 2011 I made the decision to post one picture every day on Facebook, Google +, and my blog. I believe I've also used at least one photo in each of my daily blogs. Since then I've gone through several cameras--not that I've destroyed those cameras--they work perfectly fine. It's just that I've upgraded the equipment on which I shoot.

The first camera I used when I began my photographic adventure was a Kodak MX 1063 Digital Point-And-Shoot. I loved that camera. It wasn't the best, but I think I utilized every function of that little camera. And it was red, which is always a bonus.

With a heavy heart I traded in my trusty Kodak for an iPhone. When I bought my first smartphone, an iPhone 4, I used that for my daily pictures. Since then I upgraded my phone from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 4s and finally an iPhone SE, which has an amazing camera, by the way.

In 2014 I bought my first serious camera, a Nikon D60. I still have that camera and I love it, even though it was several years old when I got it. And up until last week, that was my workhorse, my trusted friend to capture what my eye saw and hopefully, some of the emotion as well.

Last week I picked up a new camera, and even though I've loved all my cameras, this one is flat-out beautiful! It's another Nikon, this time the D3300 model. Oh, and it's also red. The photos on this blog that aren't of the new camera were taken with the D3300 today. I've only had it a week, but I took it to Comic Con and tried it out. My pictures were okay--I'm still learning how the thing operates, but I look forward to experimenting and taking a lot of pictures and video. 

We'll see how it all develops.

Took A Photowalk...In My Yard

Yesterday we the H.D.O.T.Y., or hottest day of the year (so far...). I did not want to even go outside. It should not be in the 90s this years, even though some of you prefer that sort of thing. No, I remained inside my little house.

I did, however, venture out into the yard in the late afternoon because I knew there'd be things to photograph.

And I was right.

Here's some of what I saw on my old little Photowalk Around My Yard.

Thoughts...During A Wind Storm...In The Middle Of The Night

Our cat kept us up last night. Of course, he's not the only thing. The near hurricane east wind shares much of the blame. If there had been no east wind, the cat would have gladly strolled around the house in the middle of the night. This picture shows how the wind carved up the newly-fallen snow.

However, with a howling wind, that darn cat just didn't want to go outside. So he would hiss and carry on and not allow us to sleep. Eventually, the wind died down and the cat went out. But as I sat up around 3 a.m., I had a couple thoughts creep into my mind.

I started thinking about cancer. I read a Facebook post about a friend of many of my friends passed away yesterday from cancer. Cancer's been in the news a lot this year; it's taken many from us, both famous and the everyday. Personally I've lost good friends and friends of friends recently. When I was eight it took my father, and almost nine years ago (I can't believe it's been that long...) it claimed my mom.

Maybe it was that Facebook post, maybe it was because it was the middle of the night and I hadn't gotten a lot of sleep, but cancer was on my mind. Cancer doesn't work well in today's culture, a culture of fairness and equity and feeling good and having nothing bad happen. No, there's no room for diseases that attack both the innocent and the guilty in our modern world, for those who've taken care of themselves and done everything right or those who didn't care at all. 

The thing about cancer is, cancer is 100% honest. It doesn't lie. It just is. It doesn't follow any fairness doctrine. It doesn't care what you think about it. Sometimes it goes away but most times it completes its mission. It's as natural as a tree or a squirrel or a weather system. I'm no doctor or scientist, so I have no scientific claims to back up my statements--I'm sure those who are will say that cancer is not natural. Maybe they're right...maybe.

I wished I could control the wind last night. It would meant getting more sleep. I wish I could take away these cancers that are killing us. I have as much power to do one ask I do the other. I don't know if we'll ever cure cancer. I know many have dedicated their lives to finding out. Personally, I don't think it will ever happen. Cancer exists to prove to mankind that life not only isn't fair, but that it's never really been, no matter how often we tell ourselves it should be...

How Did You Spend Your Friday The 13th? We Looked For Our Cat...

Those of you who share a residence with a cat will understand when I say that our cat has a mind of his own. He's also got his own schedule, a schedule we've done well to accommodate. Our cat's also a hunter and he spends a large chunk of the day in the fields around our house and on the mountain on which we live.

Of course, when you live on the mountain and you're a domesticated cat, there are lots of other animals that hunt, too...animals that hunt domesticated cats.

So when the cat deviated from his well-established schedule today, I've got to tell you, I was a little worried. There's so many things that can get a cat, not to mention cars or dogs. Every couple of hours I opened the front door to see if he was out there.

A few months after we picked up this cat from my cousin's farm in Idaho he went missing for a day. We've had cats before that disappeared and we thought the same thing happened to him. Luckily a neighbor said he heard a cat meowing in an old unused garage. I looked and found our cat cold, hungry and glad someone came along to let him out.

Today we kept checking and the cat had not shown up, so we told the kids we were worried about him. We asked them to say a little prayer for his return. The thought of having to tell the kids that one of our pets was gone for good breaks my heart just thinking of it.

This afternoon I decided to check one more time and there, coming up the stairs was our cat. I have no idea where he spent the night last night, but I hope he doesn't decide to make this a common occurrence. But, at least for today, he's back. 

And we're glad.