Furies of wind tossed
winter debris hither and yon
threatened to make kites
of dust covers
in yards and balconies
danced with branches
freed into airborne rain
new leaves opened
into the wet wildness
squirrels, cats and birds
abandoned sidewalks and trees
electric technologies snatched
into silent darkness
neighbours together-ed
for reassurance and laughter.
“Wind tries to show Tree how to run wild.
Tree: “I cannot leave this place.”
Wind: “Then let’s dance.”
~ Terri Guillemets, writer
.....that today is National Love Your Pet Day. I’m not certain how I feel about being included with all pets - or that I’m even considered a ‘pet’. After all who does run this household, with efficiency and proper timing? And only one day! Are we pets just supposed to be tolerated all the rest of the time? Please! We are really just too loveable every day. Oh, that’s right, I’m supposed to be offended to be considered one of the pet continuum. Well, just don’t forget to feed and love me - and all the rest of the pets (even dogs).
“You cannot share your life with a dog…or a cat, and not know
perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.”
~ Jane Goodall,
primatologist & anthropologist
(1934 - 2025)
My kitty
His name is Jet
He speaks to me
with a soft meow
or just a polite sit and stare
when food prep is in the offing.
We have learned to translate
from feline to human
and back again ~
a quiet conversation with meaning.
“Cats seem to go on the principle that
it never does any harm to ask for what you want.”
~ Joseph Wood Krutch, author, critic and naturalist
(1893 - 1970)
Squirrels peek around trees
or stare from a branch
Dogs adore everyone
Big brown eyes melt us all
Cats - well, they sleep.
Or insist with their eyes
This tree looks at the world
peaceful and watching.
“There is, I conceive, scarcely any tree that may not be advantageously
used in the various combinations of form and colour.”
~ Gilpin
It is often said that organizing
a gaggle of children or even a conference room of adults is
like herding cats. Difficult
and well nigh impossible. This cat, Mister Jet, is only one, but equally as stubborn. He does come with his own charm. All
he has to do is turn his large golden eyes on me and I turn into servant rather than master. I hold the power
of the kibble scoop, so do have an
unfair advantage. My height, short
by human standards, is of little
consequence ~ he has claws and teeth
to balance things in his favour. Only used in
play or as love nips, I respect their
potential to cause rips and tears to
my soft flesh. We do understand each other.
“Never try to out stubborn a cat.”
~ Robert A. Heinlien, Time Enough for Love
It’s easy enough to read the words on any page ~ a crinkly newspaper, a regular book
with covers, a pamphlet for baby formula, a bus schedule that takes you from here
to there. It’s easy enough to make all the squiggles and marks on a page with black
or blue or red ink, or tap them out
on a keyboard, so words flow or play
bumper cars with each other. But
after all the words have been
written, with care or a finesse
that is only belief, or maybe were
dashed off in wild thought, it is not
easy to round them all up and make
sense of them. I suppose they are
rather like cats in that regard. Once
they’ve curled up and settled themselves,
they just want to be left alone to snooze.
“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion.
I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”
~ Kurt Vonnegut
My home is a comfortable one. Until the human that feeds me decides to upset everything, Cleaning she calls it, muttering about my cat hair. The little carpets that really are mine, get tossed outdoors, but I’m not allowed to follow. All my toys were hidden. And that wasn’t all. Just when I thought she was done with all her carrying on, she made delicious smelling food. I was drooling, sure I’d get some good scraps. But no. She took my blanket off of my bed where we sat together! Someone banged on our door and horror of horror’s two tiny humans came in! And two more big ones! That set my ears and tail twitching and sent me diving under a chair where I could watch them. On any ordinary day, I’d sleep all evening until she stopped the noisy flashing pictures to feed me. So I did not get any sleep at all. Well, I was awake at night to prowl and play. But today, I have been exhausted. A blanket back in place for me. No little humans to try to pet me, be nice to me, talk to me in a language that makes no sense at all. The littlest one just would not leave me alone unless I hid under the bed but I had come out to watch them. I just never know where they will be or what they will do.
“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings for
one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.”
~ Ernest Hemingway
 |
| A shoe sculpture from Jason's high school days. |
When she lights the fire, I have no complaints. Resting my head on an old shoe, it’s warmth makes it perfect She must have put it there just for me.
“Cats are connoisseurs of comfort.”
~ James Herriot, James Herriot’s Cat Stories
What was special about today? It was the same as yesterday, and the day before. Except that when I tried to wake her up this morning, she only spoke sharply to me. Rather rude. Picking up the black thing that scares me when it makes noise, she looked at it, groaned and ducked back under the covers. Really, she didn’t even have to be fully awake ~ just get up and take care of me. An early breakfast would have been preferable. All I got was curtains drawn at the window. Oh well, although it took some time, she finally fed me ~ but of course not until she had her own food ready!
“When Rome burned, the emperor’s cats still expected to be fed on time,”
~ Seanan McGuire
Entertaining them was a stressful situation. Well, not them, but her. You know ~ the one that feeds me. I know what happened. I did keep quiet about it ~ very quiet ~ she had changed my litter without telling me. No warning! Cats do not like that - especially this cat. So I just laid about until I was quite unwell. Back and forth to some sort of strange places. Poked and prodded. Got lots of petting and respect of course. Entertaining these humans was not stressful at all.
All is well again. I have a new food that’s quite delicious. And I’m more handsome than ever! My coat has become ever so gorgeous.
I will try to avoid that nasty situation again ~ it was far too stressful.
“Cats are a mysterious kind of folk.”
~ Sir Walter Scott
When worries wrapped my head in knots
and my cat's health was driving me mad,
there was no need for my stalwart phone
to close it’s eye and fall silently dead!
I burst into tears and scared my cat.
I crumpled and sobbed like a baby.
Wiping my face and taking deep breaths
I knew my iPad would keep me connected.
When rested well all morning long,
I gathered fragile strands of strength.
In the afternoon heat I went downtown
and bought a new phone instead!
“Stress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle.”
~ Bill Phillips
Felix the Cat wanted nothing except a soft bed to curl up in. And food of course. When he was indoors he knew where everything was. Outdoors was rather difficult. Other cats wandered his neighbourhood that caused him trouble. Yet he always had a bed beside the flowers in the deep leaves. As long as the sun shone, he could hide himself and wait for some little mouse creeping along. Sometimes he stayed outside and dismembered the poor mouse; sometimes he gifted his friend Rick with it, although it was never appreciated. No matter, either way he was fed and loved.
“To him, even the momentary was momentous.”
~ G.K.Chesterton, Saint Thomas Aquinas
Felix the Cat wanted nothing……
“Until we know where……..
There is always a horizon…….
Usually a proper walk is……..
Recognizing limits……..
Emelina cleaned…….
“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.”
~ Albert Camus, Notebooks 1935-1942
