Vintage Photo: Moses in Her Secret Window, Summer 1988

We’re going back to the house I rented before I moved here for this vintage memory. That house was a big square house with lots of space and lots of windows, enough for all the cats and then some! But this secret window belonged to Moses who I often found enjoying the morning and early afternoon sun on the windowsill. The window is open and she’s lying in the track, getting the most sunlight available right up against the screen. From the tree outside and the photos of my garden from this roll I think this was probably June, but summer is summer.

Moses was, unbeknownst to me, my first feral rescue in autumn 1987. She adapted well though I had no idea I was working with a cat who had had no socialization. The other cats, Stanley especially, made it much easier for her, and just a month or so before I took this photo the kitty who would become her best friend was born, Fawn. But in this time, early 1988, she was still finding her way and finding her safe spots. This window was in a little 5′ x 8′ room at the end of the upstairs hall which had probably been a nursery. It was painted bright yellow, had an old push-button light switch for a ceiling fixture but no outlets and was right next door to the largest bedroom. An access door to the attic was in the ceiling and a handmade ladder that the cats used more than me for sure, running up and down and scratching on it.

Here is the full photo I took. At the top are the very bottom fronds of my huge spider plant, loving the light in there, the window seat below the windowsill, the ladder is hidden behind the chair on the right, which was there for me to take it up to the attic for storage.

For a while I used this room as my foster room, but this room, with Moses, was also where I began the bond including me, my work and my cats.  I had initially set it up as my writing room with my big tank of a 1950s desk at one end of the room with my portable electric typewriter and office supplies, and a large and deep shelving unit against the wall with my reference books. I converted the outlet to one with a switch on the top and an outlet on the bottom so I could plug in said typewriter and at least a desk lamp. I spent time in there every day to help myself build the habit of writing and regularly totally lost track of time, and she embraced that with me right away, me quietly working and she quietly enjoying my company at arm’s length but purring. Depending on the time of day she would settle on the window seat, or on my big desk under my work lamp—a replacement for the sun that had moved over the house, or during one of those late nights that have been such a big part of my life, and which my cats have always shared.

But I loved seeing her there, posed just like that, those curtains, the sunlight falling on her winter and summer, bright colors, and I remember making a point of getting this photo of her there, and that I might make that photo into a painting someday…one of my early inspirations. In 1988 I was still working in pencil but moving toward pastel; it was later that year I’d go to it in earnest. I’m surprised I haven’t shared this photo before—I never forgot it and I’ve bypassed it several times over the years. But maybe Moses’ time has come with this image.

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Below, I must be destined to always have a tabby and white and tortie who kind of pal around with each other—in the same places and poses!

 

Vintage photos from previous years

Tabby and White and Tortie, 1994 and 2021

The onlookers at the basement door have evolved as my family of felines has evolved. Very soon after I moved in here I put a screen door on the outside and opened the basement door whenever possible. Initially it was for me because, aside from the glass block window, there were no windows in the basement, and I don’t like rooms without windows. I knew when I opened it for myself that my cats would gather there, but I didn’t anticipate what an important gathering place that would become for them. Soon I was leaving the basement door open in good weather whenever I was home, and it’s been that way ever since.

When I’m in the kitchen I’ve always loved to look down the steps and watch them enjoying this special space, then and today. Mariposa loves it and she’s there first thing when I open it. And just the other day when I looked down the steps I saw this scene, which reminded me of the photo above.

I had a photo where they were in the same positions as Cookie and Sophie, but the camera couldn’t focus in time. I’ll keep working on that though, just because!

In 1994, Cookie and Sophie were inseparable, and if one was at the door, the other one was there too; I have photos of them supurrvising me while outside in the garden from 1997 and later. A year or two after the photo of Cookie and Sophie above I replaced that gray five-panel door with my back door which had a window, and which I painted bright blue, the one you see now, another window for me and for the kitties. I replaced the back door with the 15-lite door you see today, and that also became another favorite of felines for morning birdwatching. Of course, I liked it too, and still do, but with the parade of fosters and my larger feline household, feline enrichment in a small house like this is a serious matter.

While I saw other cats at the door back in the day no one really paired off or grouped together. Kublai was often there and learned how to cut through the screen, which resulted in the hardware cloth I have always used to keep that from happening again. Later, after we lost Sophie in 2006, Namir joined Cookie at the door and we’d all go out in the back yard together. Kelly loved the door and would often nap on the steps between trips to the door; I have photos of her there because I wanted to remember. Moses slept in the square of sunshine made by the window in the door every day when we weren’t outside already, especially in winter. And Lucy loved to sun herself there, even up to her last day.

Today, Bella and Hamlet are close behind Mariposa, and sometimes I’ll see the three of them gathered at the door intent on something they see outside, as you’ve seen in many photos.

Vintage photos from previous years

Vintage Photo and Today: Must Be a Tabby and White Thing, 1994 and Last Week

Sophie had a lot of totally endearing habits, and combined with her totally unselfconscious nature you knew she had no idea how cute she was. And she was cute all the time.

One of her habits that was totally unique at that time was to sit on my desk and rest her arms on the windowsill to look outside, kind of an upright meatloaf position. I am always happy when my cats choose to be near me while I’m working because I’d get awfully lonely without company, and what would I do without supurrvision? Sophie would settle here even when the window was closed because of the bird feeders and bird bath and trees and so much to see, and it was also cooler in the summer. Friends remarked on it, so I knew it was sufficiently unique, although Sophie took that position in other places too. I think she just liked it. Mimi sleeps there regularly, and it’s kind of been her spot off and on, but she stretches out from the upper shelf that holds the monitor to the windowsill and reclines.

So who do I see sitting in that upright meatloaf position now?

Mariposa! She is much, much smaller than Sophie, and I really think Mariposa is fully aware of her cuteness, but she is nonetheless totally cute when she settles into the spot and rests her rolled up arms on the windowsill to watch the bird feeder and bird bath and all the wildlife (in fact, that’s what she was doing the other day when we saw the baby groundhog). I got these photos of her just a week ago today, when I knew I’d want to dig out those photos of Sophie in the same position and do a comparison.

And not only that position, but this one too!

The two of them are really quite different, but it’s still funny to see them both, at the same window, with their butts on the same desk, and even the same tape dispenser, 25 years later. And it’s just coincidence that they are both long-haired tabby and white cats! What a collection of office cats to remember.

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Photos From the Archives and Vintage Photos

Photos pulled “From the Archives” were taken by one or another digital camera of mine between 2002 and, well, yesterday, but usually they are older than that, and I had never had the chance to feature them. Vintage Photos are from my film archives back to 1983 when I purchased my Pentax K-1000 camera. They’re a fun way to “introduce” other members of my feline family who came and went before I began blogging, and to illustrate my feline family in general from days gone by.

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Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

Fine Art • Photography • Gifts • Greeting Cards • Books • Commissioned Portraits & Artwork

Usually I have several gift items with Moses’ image on them but I am between processes with tiles and votives, but she is in this collection of cards, “My Cats in the Sun.” Read more and purchase.

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Copyright

All images and text used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission, although links to your site are more than welcome and are shared. Please ask if you are interested in using and image or story in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of an image or a product including it, check my animal and nature website Portraits of Animals to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

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