Vintage Photo: The Old Man in the Garden, Vintage Photo Edition, 2006

May 24, 2026 Bernadette

Stanley's sweet face. — Stanley’s sweet face.

My “old man”, Stanley, at the age of about 24, enjoying the warm bricks and sun in the garden on April 30, 2006, only one of several film photos of this scene.

For years I’ve shared a digital photo of Stanley in the garden from my original 2MP digital camera on April 30, 2006. I had the feeling I’d taken film photos at the same time but I never found them on any of my disorganized searches. Well I did finally find them—while looking for something else, of course. It helped that I’ve been spending time every so often to organize them. I had the feeling I’d like the film photos better, and yes, I do!

Immediately below are the 2MP digital photos I’ve shared before:

"My old man", Stanley, dozing in my garden while I work. — “My old man”, Stanley, dozing in my garden while I work.

tabby cat in garden — The whole picture, looking very much like yesterday except that Mimi was strolling down the brick path.

Now for the film photos. Stanley started out in the grass with forget-me-nots behind him, then he moved onto the path. Apparently I was slithering along on my belly to get him at eye level in these photos, planting my tomatoes forgotten. From here I’m going to share my film photos of this scene with Stanley, interspersed into the original text of that post.

Spending more and more time in my garden in spring, a bright and warm day much like the one you see here and my garden pretty much the same as well, I’ve been remembering the parade of my garden sprites. I love my garden nearly as much as I love my cats, and putting the two together made the whole experience a joy for me.

Stanley is supervising my planting of tomatoes while much of the garden is still filled with clumps of forget-me-nots between the beds and around the edges, his nose to the spring breeze. He was with me for 21 years, passing in January 2007. When I took him to my veterinarian in 1986 he said Stanley was between three and five years old, so we took the average and said he was four.

In his last year he was still vital though relatively thin, and I had given him occasional therapeutic doses of subcutaneous fluids for his chronic renal failure since his diagnosis in February 2004, but he had no problems walking or getting around. His eyes were cloudy with cataracts and his hearing wasn’t the best, but his sense of smell was unparalleled as he had made his way around the yard downloading his pee-mail and uploading responses, then decided to settle on the bricks, warm from a long sunny afternoon, to doze and watch me.

His best buddy, and my other long-time garden sprite, Moses, had passed earlier that year, in February, and I know his backyard sojourns were never as enjoyable as when quiet gray Moses was there to share them with him. I know my place, I am not as good as another cat, but I will do in a pinch. (Moses is in the photos in the next section down.)

The image below shows more of the whole scene, looking very much like later days when Mimi was strolling down the brick path while I was turning soil in that spot. Some things never change. Read more about Stanley.

Right in the middle of the path;. — Right in the middle of the path.

Vintage Photos in Previous Years

Moses A Little Wild, 2002

Moses takes a little tour of the woodland garden, having a little bit of a wild time…for Moses.

I’ve often called Moses my “little garden sprite” because she loved to be out in the sun and the vegetable garden with its brick paths and courtyard has always been the sunniest area of the yard. But mostly, she’s having a good nap or a rollabout on warm bricks. A nearly starved feral kitten we discovered later that her hind legs were hobbled by incomplete joints in her knees and hips. When she was young she played when no one was looking and moved around the house to sleep with me at night and find sunny spots during the day. As she aged she moved less and more slowly, but always in pursuit of the next good sunny spot, or next to me on the bed at night.

She liked her natural sunshine best, so a daily trip to the outdoors, even just onto the deck, was mandatory, even if only for 10 minutes or so to warm her hips and back. A nap on sunwarmed bricks was best, though. She could really toast herself that way.

But now and then she wanted to go exploring around the yard. On this day in 2002 I had my film camera with me and followed her around the woodland garden, the spring plants finished and the summer plants not yet begun blooming. It was not surprising that she chose the woodland garden. At this time of the year it’s more developed than the vegetable garden with evergreen groundcovers and other plants that stand all year round. Moses always felt safest when something “had her back”, like a big rhododendron or some tall phlox stems getting ready to bloom.

I’ve moved a large portion of my photo prints on film to a place that’s more accessible than before, and recently I took some time to sit and look through a portion of the envelopes of prints to refresh my memory of that’s there. I found these, and had no idea I had taken them. I knew I’d taken some photos of Moses outdoors, but had no memory of this little sojourn of hers at age 15, wandering among the woodland plants where Mimi does today, and Cookie and Namir and Kublai and Sally, and even a few others once or twice.

At the time I rescued her, and even at the time I took these photos, I knew little of feral cats compared to today, even though I’d rescued several in addition to her. I remember her quiet nature, never a meow, and gentle personality no matter how frightened she was, and this moment of trust when she followed an unfamiliar path in the yard without fear and came to me with love in her eyes and confidence in her step. For all the times socialized cats slather affection all over me and I love it, these moments of quiet trust with a former feral kitten give me just the same reaction.

You can read Moses’ rescue story in “My First Feral, and My Enlightenment”.

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.

Art and Gifts featuring cats you know! Visit Portraits of Animals

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Feline Images from Portraits of Animals!

I always have a keepsake on hand with Stanley’s portrait, “After Dinner Nap.” You can read more and purchase.

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.