From the Archives: January Light

This is one of the photos I mentioned in my post earlier today, “Darling Clementine”. Is Namir posing, or what? He had complete physical awareness. I am convinced he was a great stage actor in one of his incarnations. He certainly played the part here.

I will point out one thing to you—look at his neck, on the right side, in the white area. You see a square outline in his fur, and looking a little closer you will see that he is shaved there. Namir was the cat with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and who occasionally slipped into congestive heart failure (CHF). He saw a cardiologist once or twice a year and no matter the medications or treatments he also slipped into congestive heart failure once or twice a year, for the entire five years he lived after his first trip to the emergency clinic. He had apparently been in for a tune-up, either planned or emergency within the month previous to this photo. But Namir didn’t care that, because of his condition, his life could end suddenly in four or five different ways, none of them very pleasant. He made the best use of every moment, including striking a dramatic pose in morning sunlight. He knew exactly what he wanted this shot to look like.

He has his toys there, the sisal mouse and a milk bottle ring, and he is ready for his closeup, but as animals, and humans, do when they meet up with the relaxing effect of warm winter sun, a contemplative stillness falls, and perhaps a nap ensues, and I’d better hurry and get the shot.

Namir was so graceful and dignified and obviously knew how to strike a pose, even though he was a total goof and in another moment could be on his back with his legs impossibly twisted, or toss that mouse up in the air and do a back flip right after it. I love his pose, and also the little touches of home, my home, the canning jars, honey jar, oatmeal container; perhaps I only love it so much because it was one of those complete moments that we all experience now and then, where every familiar thing is in its place and all is warm and safe and filled with love.

Namir was 13 here. He lived every moment to its complete fullness until he was 15.

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