"The snow doesn't give a soft white damn whom it touches." ~E.E. Cummings Wow... this month is moving along! We are busy with the new kitten, Joey, and this weekend we are putting up the Christmas tree. That's going to be fun! Just when we got to the point that we could leave the kids home alone... with a fully decorated Christmas tree... what happens? Along comes an unexpected bundle of joy! LOL. We could have sent little Joey to a shelter, or tried to pretend we didn't see him at all, but can you imagine that Karma? Turning away a little one with no place to stay! No, there was no other way to go, but it's working out wonderfully, we are all falling in love with him a little more every minute. Even Hendrix and Dylan have been cordial... so far! A year from now I will be wondering, what was I so worried about? Or... I will remember why it was a good idea to be worried! LOL.
By the way, YIKES, I have been so busy I completely forgot to post my annual warning about Krampas Day, or actually Krampas night! Apparently I have been a good enough girl, as no Krampas has jumped from the shadows to spank me! LOL. But snow is predicted for the lower hills and peaks around the bay tonight, and who knows, he might be lurking somewhere! So, I am taking no chances, I am in for the night, but come morning, if there is snow on the ground, I will be out in the soft cold snow, doing my best to pretend it doesn't hurt my ancient old bones! LOL. Anyway, here is a pretty nifty podcast I found on YouTube that tells the history of Krampas. Seriously, if you are already tired of all the early Christmas overload, the story of Krampas is a festive, and fun alternative!
"The only thing a cat worries about is what's happening right now. As we tell the kittens, you can only wash one paw at a time." ~Lloyd Alexander, Time Cat
Yesterday, Alan and I discovered a sore on our new house guest, Foster, that we hadn't noticed before. We have had him since last Saturday, and we both thought we had checked him over pretty good, but somehow a gash under his front left leg had gone unnoticed. Foster doesn't complain much, in fact, the only real sound he makes is a heavy purrrrrrr. He is an amazingly beautiful, gentle cat. Anyway, we decided that if we were going to do right by him, a trip to see Dr. Barrett would be the thing to do. So, off to see Dr. B. we went! Dr. Barrett confirmed a lot for us. The gash could have been done by the large crows Alan had seen circling Foster, when he first found him last Saturday. He also confirmed for me that Foster probably wasn't a feral cat at all! That kitten is way too gentle and agreeable to be a kitten that has had to hunt and care for himself for most of his young life. I can't be sure, but I think someone owned Foster, but when it became too inconvenient for them, they dropped him on the freeway, or nearby, and Foster couldn't care for himself as an outside, wild one.
We will never know what happened. And to be honest, I don't think I want to know. I know there are well meaning people in this world that sometimes make bone-headed decisions. And sometimes there are people who don't understand the difference between a domesticated kitty and a feral one, assuming Foster would have all the instinct and skills to survive on his own. But I also know that there is an ASSHOLE born every minute! W.C. Fields used to say... "There is a sucker born ever minute." He was right. But he forgot to mention that there are a lot of different people born every minute, and among them are the, ASSHOLES. It doesn't matter. Little by little over the past week, Alan and I have both fallen completely in love with that little cat, but we were still sitting on the fence about whether keeping him would be the right thing to do. We live in a small place, that is completely filled with love already. Dylan and Hendrix are larger than life characters, and they have settled in nicely to their routines, but after a good long talk with Dr. Barrett, we decided to keep the kitten. So, we are now a slightly larger family of a Dad, Mom and three little boys. Honestly, I am not sure how it's going to work. Who will get super jealous? Who will be completely welcoming? Will Foster be able to blend in? Will Hendrix or Dylan get hurt feelings?
Am I too old to even try this? God, I feel so old. My Fibromyalgia exhausts me. All valid considerations I think. But somehow, keeping the little boy... well... just all feels so right! The only thing that didn't feel right is his name. Foster? Banana's Foster? Foster Brooks? Foster Freeze? Foster Child? Nope. That would never do! So, after some consideration, Alan and I chose a name in keeping with our love of music and musicians. So, let me introduce to you... Joey (Ramone)
We are all going to be fine! We are a family! And like everything else, we are going to take life one paw at a time!
And Now, My Favorite Ramone's Song... "Sheena Is A Punk Rocker"
Joey And Me December 5th, 2013 Joey's Official Birth Date October 13th, 2013
"It's hard to believe in coincidence, but its's even harder to believe in anything else." ~John Green, Will Grayson, Will Grayson It's really cold tonight, so cold in fact that the local weather forecasters are predicting snow as low as 1,000 ft, which pretty much means, that Mt. Diablo, Mt. Hamilton and the Santa Cruz summit will definitely be getting a dusting of snow... and so will Grizzly Peak Blvd here in the Berkeley Hills. That probably won't be until Friday, but our little house guest, Foster, who I told you about in yesterday's post, had to come in tonight. I am not sure Dylan and Hendrix are ready to have company over, especially someone so wee, but ready or not, we are all going to have to make it work! Sometimes people come into our lives quite unexpectedly. Sometimes people leave our lives quite unexpectedly. We don't have much choice in these matters. All we can do is... our best! When I think about all the human friends I have lost, for one reason or another, I get so sad. I remember the day I drew a personal line in the sand and said... ENOUGH. When Mr. November, ran screaming from my life, I decided I would never put myself in that position ever again. NEVER. And then one day, you find yourself making a friend, and you forget why you decided to shut yourself off so completely? It's funny how some of the best things in life, are so rarely convenient. I still love Mr. November, but I don't think about him much anymore. A fact that occurred to me just the other day, when I was thinking about the fact that I rarely think about him anymore. LOL!
"Of course, that's how life is. A turn of events may seem very small at the time it's happening, but you never really know, do you? How can you."
~Tom Xavier, Dark Curses and Faerie Dreams Although I do smile when I remember how he used to make me laugh! And how everything was okay when we were around each other, and in the last little bit of time he was around, before he moved away, we were... well... understanding each other a lot better. I know, what I am saying doesn't make much sense, but it does to me. It's all good. But I really don't think of it much anymore, time passes, and feelings fade, and light replaces sad feelings.
Right now I have a feline house guest who needs me. His name is Foster, and he is already my friend. He was put on the same path Alan and I are on, and maybe he will stay with us forever, or maybe one day he will move on to a new family, and it's what's meant to be. Life is sometimes not convenient. Sometimes it hurts like HELL. Sometimes it's the work we have to put into things, that pays off the most. Time moves us along to each new adventure, whether we want to go or not, but moving forward with an open heart, makes any adventure more exciting! Serendipity: noun; the faculty or phenomenon of finding valuable things not sought for; also: an instance of this.
"The ornaments of your house will be the guests that frequent it." ~Unknown
Meet Foster! Foster is a silver tabby that Alan found on a freeway off-ramp this past weekend. Despite how big he appears in this photo, Foster is quite tiny. He is about 5 to 6 weeks old, and about as lost a soul as could possibly be! He is also quite lovely... and cuddly... and every single day, I fall more and more in love! The trouble is, I already have 2 little boys. Dylan and Hendrix, who turned 5 years old this past September, and they have settled into their own routines. Hendrix would probably be happy to welcome Foster into our family, Dylan... not so much! He has always been insecure, and at times, jealous of Hendrix! Over time Dylan has come to realize that I am not cheating on him, by also loving Hendrix, and we all have an understanding, but it took a long time to get to this point, and I am not sure how it would work to officially blend Foster in. All I know is, it was out of the question to leave that tiny tabby on the side of the road! Period! Alan spotted him, saw some angry, hungry crows, chasing Foster down, and couldn't bear the thought of doing nothing! So, he and I gathered up a butterfly net, and captured him as gently as we could, and brought him home, where he has been staying in a box in our shed. We bought him two brand new blankets, a big catnip pillow, some kitten chow, and a couple small toys from IKEA. And there he is, with plenty of room to move, and sleep, and do his business, while he decompresses from all the stress of being a tiny kitten, in a big scary world. I don't know if we will keep him. I am not sure if this is meant to be. All I know is my broom kept falling down all last Saturday... and you know what that means!
"For the happiest life, rigorously plan your days, leave your nights open to chance." ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966 I thought it would be fun to do some night photography, so I grabbed my camera and headed down Grizzly Peak to one of the pullouts overlooking the bay. This angle faces the Bay Bridge, and the South Beach and Mission Bay areas of San Francisco, and that is Oakland in the forefront. December is one of my favorite months for this kind of photography! It's usually windy, and cold, but well worth the effort.This photos features a rather ominous looking cloud over the bay, and some wispy ones above it. The photo came out with more noise than I would have liked. I need a lot more practice, so I will be posting more nighttime photos as we inch closer to the New Year! Stay Tuned! ~Mood: Happy ~Me :)
"In the old
days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it
'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went
to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing
each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or Happy
Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!" ~Dave Barry
Talk
about taking the focus off of the true meaning of the holidays! How
about stirring up a falsehood about the fictional war on Christmas?
Every year since that particular bee flew into Bill O'Reilly's bonnet,
we have the conservative right claiming to anyone who would listen, all 4
of them, that there is an all out war on Christmas! And now, because
she can't seem to come up with an original idea or observation of her
own, Sarah Palin has joined the pack of rabid elephants, sounding the
warning cry, just like Paul Revere did before her, "by ringing them bells
and firing those warning shots" and proclaiming, you'll never take our
Red Ryder BB Gun! In fact, here is an excerpt from Sarah Palin's book, regarding
guns, and her present to husband Todd on Christmas 2012... *"Last
year, however, I think I was able to pull off a good one for him. To
combat the anti-gun chatter coming from Washington, I surprised him with
a nice, needed, powerful gun. I then asked him for a metal gun holder
for my four-wheeler. Not only was this small act of civil disobedience
fun, it allowed me to finally live out one of my favorite lines from a
county song: "he's got the rifle, I got the rack."
~Sarah Palin, from her book, Good Tidings and Great Joy
Doesn't that just about say Merry Christmas in the most joyous of ways? She didn't pick out a gift that said, I love you. She didn't choose a gift that reminded Todd of their lives together, or their many blessings. She didn't even consider a gift that reminded him of the simple joys we all have in our lives, most of which can be found just be looking around us. No, she bought Todd a gift that said, FUCK YOU CHILDREN OF SANDY HOOK ELEMENTARY, I FIND MY JOYS IN PANDERING TO THE SPECIAL INTERESTS OF THE NRA!
Jesus Is The Reason For The Season! Don't ya know?
I don't know about you, but after the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, I didn't really feel in the Christmas spirit. I didn't feel in the holiday spirit... or New Year's spirit for that matter! I did do a lot of crying, and signing of petitions, to hopefully put an end to the gun craziness. I prayed that our president and vice president, would finally do something about the Assault Weapons ban. Both men promised to try, both men failed. And relatively speaking, I have heard very little, at least less than I would like, about it since the middle of the year. Poor President Obama... he can't get anything done! At least that's his traditional cop-out. There... I said it! Look, I am feeling better this year, and this week Alan and I are going to put up the Christmas tree and the yard decorations, life goes on. But for GOD'S sake, and that of the baby Jesus, while we are on the subject, can someone please shut Sarah Palin up for another 27 days or so? Nothing violent of course, just maybe the media could stop covering ever stupid syllable that falls randomly from her uneducated sour mouth. Maybe someone could explain to her that writing a book, about the joys of the holidays, and then fixating on everything that's wrong with people who embrace peace, is nothing more than shameless self promotion and commercialism at it's most vile. I don't actually believe that there is an accurate word for anyone who would put a FALSE IDOL like a gun, before the safety of a child, but if you can't think of one, feel free to share in this comment thread. All I ask is that it's a real word, and you back up why you believe it to be accurate. It's not enough to know how you feel, you must know why you feel it. Think it through... don't be a Sarah Palin! And whatever you do, embrace this time of year, in your own way, but please consider all the free and simple blessings available every day. There is NO war on Christmas. There is however people who will use the season to garner attention, and a buck, for themselves. And by the way, commercialism is exactly as commercial as you make it! You, and only you, have the power to control that! If you feel Sarah's book is the niftiest thing since the Bible, then by all means buy it, and give it to anyone and everyone. But, if buying presents annoys you, make gifts! Think for yourself!
Now... HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
NOTE: As of today, Sarah Palin's book is #615 and has 2 1/2 Stars from Amazon reviews. Mood: Weary ~Me :)
"It seems there is more interest in sunsets than the sunrises. Perhaps because we innately fear the dark." ~Richelle E. Goodrich, Eena, The Two Sisters This isn't the last sunset of November, it was almost the last sunset of November. It was taken on November 27th, Thanksgiving Eve, but it was so beautiful, and I was so happy and thankful just to be watching it, that I couldn't help but try and capture it's beauty forever! Unfortunately, this photo doesn't do it justice. It doesn't come close. But trust me, it was beautiful! I love November sunsets, I should really put them on my list of photography goals for 2014! I like sunrises also, and I am hoping to do one this week, with a little luck! I want to try and capture a photo of the Comet ISON. I have seen some photos of it, posted on Spaceweather.com, and it's amazing! ISON is an early riser, and I am not... lol... so we will have to wait and see!
UPDATE: Jeepers, before I even hit the publish button, came the alert that Comet ISON will not be visible to the naked eye as previously speculated. How sad. Well, that settles that! I guess I will just have to settle for the sunsets, and the next full moon on December 17th. December's full moon is called the Cold Moon, which makes perfect sense I think. So tell me, do you enjoy photographing the full moon, or other heavenly bodies? How about Comet ISON, did you manage to photograph it before it had it's close encounter with the Sun? There's more to come, so, STAY TUNED!
