My legs were trembling. My kneecaps felt like the moon jellies my mom used to watch at the City Aquarium, and just then something brushed up against my bare shin, and all the hairs stood up on end like I'd been zapped with a taser. Tatari!(Spirit Attack!) I thought, and jumped and screeched, and my dad started to laugh, and in the next Buddhist moment I found myself looking down into the moss green eyes of a tiny white-and-black cat. He gave me a quick sideways glance, then turned his back and started doing that thing that cats do, winding himself through my legs, arching his spine and sticking his tail straight in the air while extending his front paws.
His fur was soft and hot, and just then the temple bell began to ring with a sound so deep it made the green blades of the bamboo leaves shiver, and Dad, who was standing just beyond the stone gate, looked toward the temple and whispered to no one,
"Tadaima..."
which is what you say when you come home.
Excerpt from A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki.
Every house we shoot at has a cat. The people go away, the circus arrives, and the cats slink around corners, eyeing us from afar.
Commercials are like feature films on speed. Those long hours you hear about - these are them. Getting up at four or earlier, working till nine at night, or later.
When it's over, your head is spinning. You're left bruised and breathless. But sometimes, when things turn out incredibly well, or you realise you're actually having fun while you work, you remember why you chose this life and there's a particular sense of fulfilment that makes you mad keen for more.
3 comments:
Such interesting posts. Great cat pics, especially the first one. When I began following your blog, I struggled over which Feedly category to add you to. You ended up in Oddball, a catch-all for blogs that weren't Food, Art or Animal, and which now contains some of my most favorites. Glad I found you, altho I have no idea how.
I feel cross with the people who turn their houses over to shoots but leave the cats behind. They don't care about them at all.
But the cats you've found seem to have handled it well ^^
Ja. They take the dogs with them! Fortunately these are mansions we shoot at, so the cats have big leafy gardens to retreat to. I always make friends with them, because we are usually there for a day before the others, preparing.
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