Monday, October 6, 2008

Of Cats and Men



From the Hebrides, c. 1930, Iain the herd boy with his cat, Eachunn.

A friend in Scotland sent me this postcard last week. For framing, definitely. If he is still alive, Iain would be very old now.

It reminded me of a June evening in Italy ten years ago ...



... when the man behind the counter of a small hardware shop - I was trying to buy batteries - allowed me to take a snap of him and his cat. He nodded when I asked if I could photograph the animal, scooped up the sleeping feline from his place on the counter and led us outside.

Not a good shot, technically speaking (what is that thing that seems to be coming out of the young man’s ears?). The day was fading fast and the cat was struggling to get down. I think the obliging shopkeeper was happy though and I certainly was.

Something about this combination of men (or boys) and cats undoes me. The two cats appear to be startled and pissed-off respectively, but look at the expressions on the faces of the humans .....

7 comments:

Everydaythings said...

love the old sepia one. Thanks for bringing back my thoughts to the old days with that old photo. The boy looks very happy doesnt he?

Zhoen said...

"Hey, it's NOT picking-up-the-cat time! Oh, well, fine then..."

Love seeing guys who like cats, or at least their cat.

Dale said...

Yes, magical. I love these. Thank you.

leslee said...

These are great, mm!

Anonymous said...

Love these, and yes, there is something about men and cats. Seeing "my" cat cuddle up on my fiance's shoulder and nuzzle into his neck is a delight. So is my son's brinkmanship with the new rescue cat.

Jan

Anonymous said...

. . . there is something so private, so personal about our love with our cats . . . the humans want to proclaim: look, see our love! the cats say: ummm, what are we, brangelina? :)

and yes, men with cats are beautiful . . . i especially love the first one . . . sat here and wondered about his life . . . he and the cat snuggled up at night to fend off the cold together . . . :)

mm said...

Thanks everyone. Delighted you liked these as much as I did.A pleasure sharing them with you.