The Beau Man is ensconced on top of a blanket on top of my Cuisinart convection bread maker gazing out the kitchen window. My wife got the Cuisinart for me in 2020, at the start of the serious pandemic lockdown. I baked a few loaves with it, and then cleaned it up from the last loaf and just let it sit there. I put the blanket on top in part to keep it clean, in part to make it comfortable for the cats. As you can see with Beau. His tail is draped across the Cuisinart ice cream maker.

I don’t normally buy kitchen appliances as cat furniture, but that’s how it’s turned out. I need to get back into using both, especially the bread maker. I’ve found some new bread recipes I want to try out. I’m also cleaning up the kitchen to find a better spot for those when they’re not in use, instead of permanently on the kitchen table.

The photo was taken with my iPhone 11 Pro Max as that was all I had when this moment suddenly presented itself. Normally I try to keep the Olympus close at hand, but I’d left it in the dining room while I charged one of its batteries. I’m not a pixel peeper, but I don’t have to enlarge the image very far before I begin to see the “crunchiness” noise that Apple’s camera software imparts to the image due to its “computational” photography. I used the telephoto lens to zoom into the subject, which meant I was using the 6mm lens at f/2 with an ISO of 400. On that tiny sensor that’s pretty bad. I know I’m supposed to stand in awe of all Apple’s Photos by iPhone advertising, but I don’t. I’m not stupid about what the camera will and won’t do. The iPhone is great under very controlled conditions, one of which is sufficient light, usually at the strength of daylight, whether indoors via artificial light or outside in sunlight (shaded or direct). But under conditions such as my darkened kitchen, not so much. I am glad I captured the moment, because it does mean something to me. But still…

I capture these moments because I know that one day Beau will be gone. All creatures have a beginning and an ending. I need to make sure to appreciate as many moments as I possibly can. Retirement affords me the ability to spend far more time with them than I ever could when I was working and commuting. Time is finite and fleeting. Live all the moments left to you that you possibly can.