Day 10: Waiting

Unfortunately, I didn't grab an opportunity when I had it last week. Coming back from Atlanta the traffic came to a complete standstill on I-85 on a rainy Friday nite. One by one the cars had their engines shut off and then an eerie stillness came over the southbound lanes as people turned their headlights off as well. A few people got out of their cars and it was like an episode of "The Twilight Zone"...and something I will probably never be a party to ever again. With my camera in the trunk, not holding a charge, I thought it was futile to get it out and snap some shots, but at least I should have tried as it would have made the perfect photograph to depict "waiting". But, alas, I didn't. After a couple hours, the wrecks a few miles up were cleared and they let us get on our way again.

Naturally, when I later saw the themes here at Ziva's...I could have kicked myself...but since I recently had ingrown toenail surgery...I didn't. I instead looked around for something else which might portray "waiting"...so I waited...until another opportunity would come along.

While you're waiting to read what I came up with...check out these other participants and don't make them wait too long before you do: MikeWJ, Nicky and Mike, Mo, Meleah, John, aka nonamedufus, Bryan, aka Unfinished Person, Malisa, Nora, LaughingMom, Tanya, Elizabeth A., 00dozo, Cheryl, Kristen, Katherine, and Ziva.


Day 10: Waiting

This is our cat, Chupie (short for Chupacabra). Chupie, since he is orange and I hold a disdain for all orange cats, he doesn't get a whole lot of attention here. You see, we have a bunch of cuter cats and they end up "winning" us over based on looks alone...so, yes, the orange cat comes in last...there's always a cat that comes in last and in our house, it's poor Chupie. Because of this, Chupie swells with happiness if we even look at him...and he can purr so loudly, I swear it can be heard from a couple rooms away.

So the other evening as it was getting late, I noticed him just staring forward, not moving a muscle. Usually, if I would have called his name - he would have come running...because any opportunity to be pet is foremost on this cat's list. But he just stayed...eyes fixated in front. I got a little worried that maybe he was hurt in some way...maybe an animal attacked him - or maybe he was hit by a car...or maybe he was just waiting for something to pop out of a little hole which was about one foot directly in front of him.

For at least three hours he sat and waited. Persistence like this, I thought, should not go unnoticed...so I finally grabbed my camera and took about 10 shots of him before the battery died. He, staying true to cat stalker protocol, didn't budge an inch. He might have looked at me a little...but only his eyeballs moved. His head stayed steadfast and unwavering...waiting...waiting.

Me...I gave up after the shots - but he remained for a couple more hours. Whatever was in that hole must have been the stuff that cat dreams are made of...and, the next day...he was at his post again. Now, that is quiet determination.

Whether this is a better shot than the I-85 standstill would have been...eh, I have my doubts; but this one (yes, wait for it) was definitely the more purrfect.


(The hole, if you cannot find it...is the dug up bit straight ahead of his gaze...next to the tiny clump of grass.)