Day 45: Stop that fly!

Between You, Me and the Lamp Post

Day 45: Stop that fly!

People often comment on how lazy cats are. Never have I heard someone say how patient they can be.

While it’s true that cats sleep a lot, if awake and they’ve spotted a fly (or another bug) I’m amazed at their perseverance to catch the intruder.

Yesterday a fly zipped past my nose, but by the time I swatted at it, it was long gone. The fly kept pestering me again and again though, and while at one point one of my fingers did make contact, the fly kept coming back for more.

It didn’t take long for Greyson to spot the fly too and she made it his mission to be its terminator. He positioned himself on the side table near the sliding door, ready to attack anything that came in or went out.

At first, the fly stayed out of Greyson’s way, but eventually his curiosity or foolish playfulness got the better of him and the fly did a fly-by right under Greyson’s nose.

Greyson’s attention which, after half an hour of no action, was slacking, was suddenly on high alert. His head turned from left to right and up and down, following the fly wherever it went.

A few times, when within reach, Greyson made a grab for it but came up empty-handed. Still, he didn’t give up. Again and again and again he tried to catch that buzzer.

At some point, he almost succeeded. He sat on the floor by the door, the fly flew over his head, Greyson reached up with both paws and … while failing to catch the fly, he did manage to throw it out with a gesture of ‘Get out and stay out!’

The fly, clearly knocked senseless and perhaps suffering a headache, sat on the tiles for a few seconds before taking off.

We thought that was the end of it, but we were wrong, today the fly (or another fly) was back. Greyson, who so far had slept peacefully, woke up and kept an eye on his fast food (or afternoon snack). He sat on the table, followed the fly with his eyes wherever it went and waited patiently. So patiently in fact that I started to wonder how much longer he was going to sit there, not moving, not even his ears or tail.

Having practiced his swing the previous day the fly didn’t stand a chance. After having buzzed around the chandelier for a while, it came down for landing and … zap, Greyson’s paw shot out, he grabbed it out of thin air and smacked the fly on the table, covered it with his other paw and bend down to eat it.

Unfortunately, the fly was no dummy and it played dead under Greyson’s paw. The moment Greyson bend down and lifted his paw slightly to eat it, the fly flew away.

While I can only imagine that Greyson yelled “STOP THAT FLY!” the fly from his side shouted, “SEE YAA!” 

How close it too close

Many years ago, taking a picture took time and a good deal of precision. Film and developing wasn’t exactly cheap and people couldn’t afford to waste their shots.

With the digital camera, shooting images became a whole lot easier. If a shot went wrong, the image could just be deleted. Still, not everyone carried a camera with him and beautiful opportunities were often missed.

With the arrival of the camera-equipped cellphone, amateur photographers were in seventh heaven, they could now photograph anything and everything to their heart’s content. I’m one of those people.

Animals are by far my favorite subject. Not only do they not mind being photographed, they don’t fuss that they have they change their outfit, brush their hair, or touch up makeup. One can capture them any time of the day, whether when they just get up or about to go to sleep and they always look good.

Over the years I’ve snapped hundreds of pictures of various pets and not one has ever complained about how he or she looks.

Other than pets I’ve photographed other creatures too: ostriches, ducks, swans, pigeons, raccoons, squirrels and even butterflies (if they would sit still long enough).

Today I wanted to take advantage of one of the last warm days of the year and decided to have my lunch in the swing set on the balcony. When I got there, plate of spaghetti and glass of juice in hand, I noticed that someone (or shall I say something) had the same idea as me.

Right smack in the middle of the swing set sat a bug. It wasn’t a big fly, and it wasn’t a bee or a wasp, it was something else. It was black and grey, with six legs and wings. It wasn’t a dragonfly, it was smaller than that but still big enough to make me think twice of sitting next to it or shooing it away.

So I did the next best thing … I got my phone and was going to snap a picture of it. Phone in hand I came back outside and aimed the lens. The view wasn’t good enough so I zoomed in.

Apparently, the bug was camera shy because it slightly moved. Sit still, I thought, just sit still long enough for me to get this shot so I can show you on Facebook.

Suddenly the lens went black, I didn’t see a thing anymore.

I turned my phone over to find out what the problem was, and right there, on the lens sat the bug. He must have thought … You want a close up, I’ll give you a close up.

With a blood-curdling scream, I threw the phone from my hands. Fortunately, my phone landed on the seat of the swing set. Unfortunately, I’ll never know what this UFB (unidentified flying bug) was.

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STOP THAT FLY!

People often comment how lazy cats are. Never have I heard someone say how patient they can be.

While it’s true that cats sleep a lot, if awake and they’ve spotted a fly (or another bug) I’m amazed at their perseverance to catch the intruder.

Yesterday a fly zipped past my nose, but by the time I swatted at it, it was long gone. The fly kept pestering me again and again, and while at one point one of my fingers did make contact, the fly kept coming back for more.

It didn’t take long for Holly to spot the fly too and she made it her mission to be its terminator. She positioned herself on a side table near the sliding door, ready to attack anything that came in or went out.

At first the fly stayed out of Holly’s way, but eventually his curiosity or foolish playfulness got the better of him and the fly did a fly by right under Holly’s nose.

Holly’s attention which, after half an hour of no action, was slacking, was suddenly on high alert. Her head turned from left to right and up and down, following the fly wherever he went.

A few times, when within reach, Holly made a grab for it, but came up empty handed. Still, she didn’t give up. Again and again and again she tried to catch that buzzer.

At some point, she almost succeeded. She sat on the floor by the door, the fly flew over her head, Holly reached up with both paws and … while failing to catch the fly, she did manage to throw it out.

The fly, clearly knocked senseless and perhaps suffering a headache, sat on the tiles for a few seconds before taking off.

We thought that was the end of it, but we were wrong, today the fly (or another fly) was back. Holly, who so far had slept peacefully, woke up and kept an eye on her fast food (or afternoon snack). She sat on the table, followed the fly with her eyes wherever it went and waited patiently. So patiently in fact that I started to wonder how much longer she was going to sit there, not moving, not even her ears or her tail.

Having practiced her swing the previous day the fly didn’t stand a chance. After having buzzed around the chandelier for a while, it came down for landing and … zap, Holly’s paw shot out, she grabbing it out of the air and smacked the fly on the table, covered it with her other paw and bend down to eat it.

Unfortunately, the fly was no dummy and it played dead under Holly’s paw. The moment Holly bend down and lifted her paw slightly to eat it, the fly flew away.

While I can only imagine that Holly said “STOP THAT FLY!” the fly from his side shouted “SEE YA!”