There is always that five-day interlude between any given Christmas and New Years, when very little work gets done in the office if you’re required to work those days, and if you’ve taken them off you spend that time running around visiting, returning gift items you received but don’t want, or else looking for any special sales for items you do want. In between are the visits to and from relatives and friends.

Or else, nothing special happens because you’re retired and that’s the way life roles these days.

This past few weeks have been wet here in central Florida. We’ve had cloudy days, followed by days of lingering rain. Today for example the rain started yesterday around 5 pm, and continued through the night and intermittently through today. We need the rain because we always need the water to filter down and recharge the Floridan Aquifer. This state’s industries pump out so much as it is, followed by a growing population that demands we waste drinking water on our manicured lawns. Except for me; as a bonus of retirement I’ve let the lawn slowly turn back to a “natural” state where the only lawn mowing I do is with an old-style hand push mower. No gas, no rechargeable batteries. Just me getting out and pushing.

In a rare day of cool temperatures and sunshine I managed to snag a photo of Beau lounging on the lounger near the pool. It was sundown and Beau decided (I guess) that the lounger was just the right spot for a cat to … lounge about.

This photo was taken with my Olympus OM-D EM-1.2 and the PRO 2.8/40-150mm zoom. I own it, it’s paid for, so I might as well pull it out of the bag and work with it. If nothing else the zoom range gives me enough distance to photograph squirrelly cats. And it gives me opportunities to practice using this more-than-competent camera/lens combination.