I Wish I Had a Camera

It' gonna be a long winter. The cold temperatures and snow have already made their presence known and winter starts next Friday. Okay, for upstate New York, this is normal, but I don't have to like it.

For the first time in years, I have a group of cats who are feeling the cabin fever already. In the past, my felines generally didn't start to feel it until sometime in January. The two older ones, 5 and 7 years old, have settled in for the long winter haul. But, the rest of the brood, between ten months and two years, have been showing signs of boredom with the great indoors since around Thanksgiving. For the younger cats, though, there's just so much semi-hibernating that can be done and so, cat playtimes are frequent. There's FWW (Feline World Wrestling), Train (chasing after one another from one side of the house to the other), there's Get Outta There (exploring regions of the house that were ignored all summer until the owner yells), and there's Hide 'N Seek (knock something off somewhere and push to hide where the owner must seek, grumble and retrieve). Every once in a while, there's venturing out into the winter world. I enjoyed watching one cat playing with the snow the other day. But, those moments are few and far between.

Then, there's the activity that I wish I had the camera for. Every year, I put up a feeder at the window near my computer desk. It's convenient to fill and I like watching the birds come to the feeder. I also put seed on the window sill for birds who can't deal with my squirrel-resistant (notice I didn't say squirrel-proof, as there is no such thing) feeder. I start in November and go through March. Just within the last two weeks, the cats have discovered the activity of Watch and Whump (watch the birds and occasionally crash (whump!) into the window trying to get to them). The birds really don't pay much attention anymore. The ones at the feeder barely react and the ones that come to the sill now grab seed and take off instead of staying for the leisurely meal while cat faces are staring at them from the other side of the glass.

Here's the simplicity of the photo: a rear shot of three cats (sometimes four) sitting absolutely side-by-side, staring out the window toward the ice and snow, watching birds take off and land from feeder and sill, occasionally semi-crouched, waiting in frustrated delight for their "prey" to linger just a little too long. Shot would be taken just before the crash into the window occurred yet again.

Okay, I'm composing shots of bored cats watching birds. Is the cabin fever starting to get to me, too? Time to go do something productive, like shovel snow and sleet.

Okay, maybe not.