This is one of the last pictures I took with my Canon 10D before upgrading to the 20D in March of 2005. It certainly wasn’t my last picture with the 10D, not even close, as I like to shoot with two cameras in the field and the 10D has soldiered on as my second camera.

Templeton didn’t care either way.

All of our cats are indoor cats, but during the warmer (and drier) months I let them outside into our fenced backyard for some supervised outdoor play. Templeton didn’t just enjoy his time in the backyard, he held court. I love the display of his proud and regal air to the minions who deign to share his kingdom.

Of my many pictures of Templeton, this remains a favorite.

Up to this point, all of my pictures of Templeton were on film. My wife surprised me with my first digital camera, the Canon D30, in Christmas of 2000 and of course Templeton was an early and favorite subject. As evidence of how quickly I fell in love with digital cameras, I took many pictures of Templeton over the next seven years but not a single one was on film.

I only had a small memory card in those early days before I was able to buy a 1 GB microdrive (back then that was an amazing amount of storage) and was shooting in JPEG format instead of RAW to save space. Which is unfortunate as a RAW image would have let me recover the blown highlights in his white fur.

Regardless, I’m thankful to have this picture of Templeton in one of his many sleeping positions. The Ball of Templeton was one of my favorites, especially when he covered up his face with one of his paws, which he’s close-but-not-quite doing here.

Templeton loved his outside time and if he wasn’t exploring the sights and smells of the backyard, he’d usually sprawl out in the grass for a catnap. But he also liked being in high places and couldn’t resist the occasional climb to higher elevations to survey the kingdom. This was especially true if I was enjoying a bowl of cereal at the table, he’d wait until I was distracted and then the sounds of slurping would bring me back to attention, Templeton face down and going to town on the milk.

Oh how I loved you little one.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Templeton, taken sometime in the 90′s while we were still living in Virginia. Unfortunately It’s an old scan from when my computer couldn’t handle a large file, so the size is rather small, but it will be a while before I can re-scan it. While I generally have a strong preference for images in color, I also like the sepia treatment for this picture.

I tried getting a similar picture in later years with my digital cameras, but Templeton didn’t like to look at the camera so this early picture remains my favorite.

Shortstop is one of the games that quickly won Templeton to my side when we first met. I’d put him at the top of a bookcase and he’d peer over the edge and wait for me to toss his little furry mice up to him. He’d either catch them and eat their tails or he’d smack them back down at me and I’d try to catch them. When he was really feeling it, I had to be careful as those furry fastballs whizzed by my head at high speed.

We use one of the mice as an ornament on the Christmas tree in memory of the little gray cat who so blessed our lives.