imagining my pets' relationship
Meet our dog, Belly, and cat, Zoe. I really, really wish that they got along, but at best, they tolerate living in the same house by existing in different rooms. Ideally they each stick with their own floor of our small house. After I returned to in-person teaching and my spouse decided to never leave the house again by taking on a position that they could do remotely, I missed the pets. I would receive photos of the two pets in their separate parts of the house, and I imagined that they had a relationship. I started digitally collaging the photos that were sent to me, making my spouse an unwitting collaborator. I would text the collaged photos back for a laugh. Later, I started posting them on Instagram. This continues to be an on-going pleasure of mine, and Zoe and Belly are no more the wiser or, for that matter, any more attached to one another.