 That's one Contented Majesty Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I got cat class and I got cat style” — Stray Cat Strut, the Stray Cats, 1981 Google up ‘stray cats’ (not the musical group) and you’ll find it is estimated there are 70,000,000 stray cats in the US. They are wrong. There are approximately 69,999,999 since we just adopted one! Consider this: the area of the US, including land and water area, is only 3,700,000 square miles. We have nearly 20 stray cats per square mile — including all the water, all the roadways, all the land covered by buildings, the middle of the deserts, the top of Mount Whitney, the bottom of Death Valley! We already had Majesty, a senior female about 17 years old. About a year ago, we had to euthanize her very ill house-mate, Nooni, and Majesty had been moping around ever since. She needed a “pet”. We considered a hamster but figured that would be pretty much a one-shot-deal. So we settled on getting her a cat.  Mrrooow! Rrr-rr-rr! Prr-rr-rr-rr! We’re still in the “sequestration phase” of introductions, and things seem to be going well. They look warily at each other through the screen keeping The Newbie in her room. Even so, they seem interested in each other and trust and a feeling of ease is growing.
The Noob was, for a time, nameless. We don’t name our animal friends right off the bat; we wait a time to see what their unique personalities suggest. Hence ‘Majesty” as in “Yes, Your Majesty”. “Right away, Your Majesty”. “Anything else, Your Majesty?”. The Newbster has now given us a clue… Her name is to be Miss Chatterley. Not because of the Miss C. of literary fame, but rather because she is constantly chattering! She makes these little muttering, chattering, squeeky sounds quietly in her throat as she plays, investigates the nooks in her room, and whenever she sees us. Sometimes, first thing in the morning, it sounds as though she’s saying, “heh-rrrow”. Need help naming your new "Kid", or maybe you just want a good chuckle? Look here, or maybe look here, or you could even look here! Chatterley’s a friendly, calico female — spayed, of course — who’s not really a lap-cat but she is a cuddler when you lie on the floor with her. She’s a little over two years old and a terror for any toy with either feathers or fabric. We’re going to have to get her a rawhide chew to play with! She’s also a knead-er. We’ve seen her lie on her back to knead the air. It’s hilarious! I cannot say enough about adopting a dog or cat (vs. buying or breeding your own) when you decide to add to your family. Our Chatt-ster came from a vet’s office that had an area of the lobby set aside with 4-5 [make that 3-4 :-) ] adoptable cats. Our cat sitter, who is very active in feral catch and release programs, told us about this vet. So when you and your family are ready to add a member… or two… ask your vet, go to a shelter, contact a private organization, call a pet day care company… There are all kinds of sources out there, along with 69,999,999 cats to choose from! And when you find your Chatterbox, you’ll just know it! Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. Have you adopted or rescued any cats or dogs? What were the circumstances? A happy outcome, we hope! Are you a “Noob” to adopting and want some reader input? Hit the comments section, and we’ll share stories and advice.
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Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I recently joined the Workhouse Art Center in Lorton, Virginia. To paraphrase the mission statement: The Workhouse Arts Center will provide “a unique arts center that provides visual and performing arts, arts education, and entertainment for the community at large”. Why “Workhouse”? The facility was built in the early part of the 20th century as a prison/workhouse for Washington DC’s non-violent criminals. Included in the prison population were “criminal” members of the National Women’s Party, incarcerated for picketing the White House campaigning for women’s voting rights.  The Workhouse Art Center, Lorton, Virginia So the facility continues its life as a workhouse… this time as an art-Workhouse. The Workhouse hosts scads of special events, programs, classes, lectures, etc., throughout the year together with our monthly Open House, Second Saturday, with many Gallery/Studios hosting individual programs. On a more day-to-day level, the Workhouse currently houses approximately 60 visual artists, working in a variety of mediums, many creating their work in on-site studios located in the former prison blocks, all re-designed and remodeled to accommodate each specific medium. These studios are open for you to visit, to watch the artists creating, and to purchase original artwork directly from the creating artist! Each building also hosts a retail gallery of its own where you may purchase original Works Of Art by the Artists on site. We have artists creating in glass, ceramics, painting, batik, photography, mixed media, fiber, performing arts, and movement (Pilates and Yoga) to name a few. The group I’m a member of are the Associate Artists. We don’t have studio spaces on-site — we produce our art elsewhere — but we have a gallery on-site in Building 9 where we host ever-changing, month-long exhibits of our members’ work. In addition, we also host extended exhibitions of a dozen or so pieces, all created by one of our members as a Featured Artist. With these more extensive exhibits, you can really get a feel for the Artist’s personal perspective.  The Featured Artist Exhibit, featuring all the Associate Artists One of the things we do in our gallery on Second Saturdays is hold the People’s Choice Awards. We invite all of our guests to vote for their favorite piece of Art in our gallery. In January (2016) Nancy Hannans won first place, and in a tie for second place with Kathy Strauss was Yours Truly for my image Nature’s Fireworks.  NATURE'S FIREWORKS Chris Fedderson Our members create mostly in 2-D (painting, photography, batik, etc.), but we also show some 3-D fiber arts, notecards, and jewelry, and we also offer very affordable matted print reproductions of many of our art pieces.
If you live in Northern Virginia, or are planning to visit, make a point to come visit the Workhouse. Visit the Workhouse Prison Museum on-site for a fascinating — and sobering — glimpse into a bit of our local history and backstory. Then, visit the Associate Artists’ gallery in Building 9, along with all the other working galleries in the other buildings, and come away with a special bit of original art you were able to purchase directly from the Artist/Creator. Thank You for visiting, — Chris P.s. What experience from your recent visit to the Workhouse did you find particularly illuminating, interesting, inspiring, poignant, sobering, informative, fascinating, thought-provoking, inspirational, intriguing, motivating… Share and we will all benefit from your insight. Chris Fedderson — MacroFine Musings ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “I can’t wait to get back to work so I can relax.” — Everyone who has spent the Holidays with relatives! We’re all getting back to our various routines after the hubbub of the Holidays, and I’m guessing with varying degrees of success. I know I’m looking at sizable list of things that all need to be finished — right now! But, after a couple weeks of “relaxing” (at least not “working”), I’m now out of practice regarding just how to make that happen and also, I’m simply having a hard time getting back to it. *sigh* I think Step 1 should be to just relax about it; everything will get done… eventually. And while I’m letting my workload chill a bit, I want to take a minute to ask, “How were your Holidays?” I hope you had good ones, whether spent in the chaos of a large family gathering, or in quiet reflection with one — or a few — close, loved ones. I had one of those quiet holidays with Kathy, my other half, my muse, my rock. One of the relaxing things we did was to go out to Mason Neck State Park for a photo safari. We visited one of my favorite fallen trees. And by “trees” I really mean two. One tree, made up of two major trunks growing very close and parallel from a single 3-foot stump, split and the trunks fell in opposite directions. Things that make you go, "Hhhmmmm...".  The Split It has now been a couple years since we first found this tree and it has started its “work-flow” of decay. It is not rushed. It does not care how long this will take. It does not worry about what to do next. It just goes along, doing one thing at a time, in the proper order, not concerned with what has passed nor with what will come next. All will come to be -- in due time. We could learn something from this tree… I think you already know what it is. I took many shots of the things happening to this tree; the peeling bark, the weathering of the wood, the lichens and fungus growing on it. In reflecting on this progression, I couldn’t help thinking of the ebb and flow in each of our lives. Every image I saw reflected this ebb and flow... metaphorically…  Life's Ebb and Flow So, if you’re feeling as I am, a bit overwhelmed and harried after the Holidays, think of this tree, and know that all will come to be — in its due time.
Thank You for visiting, — Chris  May You Have The BEST Holiday... EVER! We wish you Peace and Harmony in the coming year and thank you for your continued support of MacroFine Photography. We'll be taking a two week break to enjoy the holiday season with friends and family, and will be back with new blog posts after the holidays.
The best of Holiday Wishes to you and yours. Thank you for visiting. |
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About Chris
I am a Virginia-based photographer and gather my images while hiking in parks and natural areas here at home and in the locations I travel to. I also love to visit arboretums and botanic gardens to find unusual and exotic subjects. Archives
March 2017
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