Macy - a cat of Barrow; a young woman of India who loved cats remembered on this day

Here is Macy again, peeking over the knee of Gabe Tegoseak.

In August of 2007, I made my first trip to India to attend the Hindu wedding of my niece, Khena Swallow, to Vivek Iyer of Bangalore. In their tradition, the reception takes place the night before the wedding. There, I met scores of Vivek's relatives, beginning right away with his cousin Ganesh, who immediately befriended me and shortly thereafter brought his sister, Soundarya, to my table. Upon seeing her, I felt a special connection, as though she were not a stranger but someone I had known forever. I dismissed this as nonsense. There was a third sibling there, Sujitha, of classic beauty.

I wanted to know all three, Soundarya especially, due to this feeling of connection. Yet I reasoned that the short minutes we would spend visiting this night and possibly a few more at the wedding the next day would be all we would ever spend together. I would return to Alaska and that would be that. The next day after the wedding feast, Soundarya invited me to take a walk, but called herself "Sandy." On that walk, we met a kitten and that was that.

We stayed in near constant contact after and became close confidants. She often sought my advice in her search for love. I lack such wisdom but did tell her a few relevant stories about courting Margie. I promised her that when she found her man, I would return and photograph her wedding. She found him. I kept my promise. And always, somewhere, there was a cat involved.

Three years ago yesterday, her husband Anil Kumar, lost his life in a car crash. Three years ago today Soundarya Anil Kumar, my beloved soulfriend and muse, chose to follow him. In March of 2012, I returned to India for Sujitha's wedding. Although nothing has come together yet, Ganesh, who I inspired to became a photographer, hopes to marry soon.

Somehow, I hope to return to photograph his wedding, too.

Macy, the movie-maker's cat; day of anniversaries

Cat. A subject familiar to this blog/Instagram thread, yet one not seen here for awhile. But here is a cat now. Macy, who hangs out with the young filmmaker Gabe Tegoseak. Gabe used to have another cat named Coco who I never met in real life but did see in a short movie Gabe had made in a filmmaking class taught by Dustinn Craig. Coco played the role of a very dangerous creature from Iñupiat stories whose name I cannot spell. I tried several different spellings to match the sound in online searches but did not find it.

Coco was a natural born actor and played the role well. Coco was terrifying. It was reported that half of those who attended the premiere showing peed their pants. I had long planned to photograph Coco on this trip to Barrow or that trip, but somehow never did. Coco has since gone the way of all flesh so now I never can. But I did photograph Macy.

In my last post I stated I would use this post subject to commemorate anniversaries important to me, ranging from the happiest of the happy to the saddest of the sad. Likely, the 50th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy came to many minds when I used the word, "tragic." This was indeed a most tragic and sad event for me personally and for the US and the entire world and I do commemorate it this day, but I can't tie cats into it. I am going to eat dinner now. Afterward, I will post two more pics of Macy, one to commemorate each anniversary, cats being of great importance to both. 

Logbook: Barrow to Nuiqsut, entry 3: The Daily School Bus - nap

We land in Nuiqsut where I find the The Daily School Bus parked at the Kuukpik Hotel. I am exhausted. I take a long nap. I was going to end the Logbook entry with some very cold looking pictures but to decided I would include The Daily School Bus instead. I do have some more pictures from Barrow to post yet, including a small series I shot last night that will be perfect to commemorate the personally important anniversaries of this day, ranging from as sad and tragic as sad and tragic can be to as happy and joyful as happy and joyful can be.

Logbook: Barrow to Nuiqsut, entry 2: we sneak out ahead of Alaska Airlines

I know, I should only post one picture from the tarmac but I am going to post two anyway. Here we are taxiing to the runway. The morning Alaska Airlines jet is boarding passengers they will fly south to Fairbanks and Anchorage. It is just about 11 AM. 

I am in Nuiqsut now, but I was so tired I closed my eyes on the plane and kept them closed. I remain so tired. I have two more logbook entries to make from this trip, but, given the circumstance, it seems appropriate to collapse for a spell and take a nap if I can.

I think I can. Then I will get up and drink some coffee, finish the Logbook and do whatever I do next.

Logbook: Barrow to Nuiqsut, entry 1: She sits in a cold plane on the Barrow tarmac

Still on the tarmac outside Era Aviation in Barrow. Temperature somewhere at what I would guess to be somewhere between -15 and -20 Fahrenheit, wind blowing. Hard. Even in the plane it is cold – but that's usually how it is when you climb into planes up here this time of year. They are cold. But as the engines spin the props they generate heat that is funneled into the fuselage and it slowly gets a little warmer. It was dark in the plane, too, darker than it looks in this picture. It was darker outside as well.

It's kind of amazing how this iPhone 5s works in low light.