Swimming Lessons

 

"What greater gift, than the love of a cat."

~Charles Dickens

Time for another adventure for Orange Cat Scully, and his nephew, Edgar. This time Scully teaches Edgar to swim! Oh my, where was Scully when I needed to learn to swim? LOL.

Here are my fellas, Tyler and Joey. I wish Simon had been in the photo, but I can't seem to get them all corralled at the same time. Oh my goodness, the sure keep us running! Such spirt, just joy, such and love that fills you!

Have a little fun. Visit the Purrallel Universe on Youtube

Today's Mental Health Day... Orange Cat Scully, Firefighter

 

"It's not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, 

and to make your happiness a priority.

 It's necessary."

~Mandy Hale

Yes, I took a day off yesterday from the stupid. There has been so much stupidity that I really can't believe what I am seeing, hearing and generally living through. But here I am, back with a visit to the Purrallel Universe, to take a break from every single thing grown up  and remind myself that life actually can make sense, if done right. I did the same thing earlier in the week, when Alan and I chose the original, Minions Movie, as my choice for that evening's movie! If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it! But for now, let's see how things go for, Orange Cat Scully, as he learns to be a volunteer firefighter! Be sure to subscribe to them and if you can, drop them a tip, to support all the good folks behind this wonderful account!

And now a little music.

Jackson Browne and Clarence Clemons

"You're A Friend Of Mine"

I miss you, my brother-in-law.

Pay It Forward

 

From The Purrallel Universe... Pay It Forward

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted."

~Aesop

I am sick. Ugh my stomach is messed up. It has happened on and off since the first round of Covid-19 (Omicron). It's part of the same thing that won't let me eat certain foods anymore. It all started, just like everyone else that has this long covid symptom, about 6 weeks after the last fever of the virus. At first it was a wide variety of foods that I couldn't tolerate, but now it's basically, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, chicken skin, pineapple and most nuts. It's not so bad, but when it all flares up, it keeps me sitting still and sleeping on my back. Anyhoo... I am exhausted and grumpy, and when that happens, I love to visit this little cat community on Youtube called, Purrallel Universe. It makes me feel better, and in the case of this video, it reminds me to pay forward, all the blessings I have in my life. To encounter strangers with kindness and empathy. It never hurts anyone to be a better person, and to find one's better angels. So enjoy the video, and subscribe to the account. You'll love following their adventures, and perhaps identifying with their message of hope, family, and life. 

Bible Trumping

 

What does a person of faith, like myself, say to this?Nothing should surprise me about this man, and his efforts to grif his way through life, but this is simply too much for me to bear. He has blasphemed God before, using the bible to further is amoral efforts, but selling a bible that degrades not only God, but the U.S.A. is too much! The "God Bless The U.S.A. bible, as it appears to me, gives equal gives the glory to Lee Greenwood, wrote composed the song, God Bless The U.S.A. after the events of 9/11. At the time, I wasn't a fan. It has a county music flare and country music is just not my thing. Also, I had a friend, Janice, who played it way to much, like all the time, because it was somewhat patriotic, and she did enjoy the style of the music.Plus she took 9/11 hard. We all knew that day was a tragedy, and we all felt a state of patriotism, its just it took some folks to feel normal again. Janice was one of them.

For weeks and weeks she brought me printed flags, and talked about how many at Canter Fitzgerald died, which was the company she worked for. She was a temp for their office in San Francisco, and I completely understand her feelings, but she cried and went on about it for months! And that song... every time I went with her anywhere in her car she played it. But that was what it was. I eventually found excuses for why taking my car places was a good idea, and after while she got a clue, gently, and everything went back to normal. As it did for all of us. Like it did after Covid. Covid isn't over by the way, but we get numb to situations that shock us into real life. Like Donald Trump and his machinations as president. His suggesting that we drink beach to cure ourselves of Covid was pretty real, wasn't it? And now it is all but forgotten. I am sure, wherever Janice is, she is a fan of Trump and she will probably be one of the first people to purchase this blasphemous book. Inside it includes contains the, Constitution, the Pledge of Allegiance, and the lyrics to, wait for it, Lee Greenwood's, "God Bless The U.S.A!" When I accepted Christ, I learned that the bible was sacred, so this in outrageous! It takes the the focus off God, and puts it on Trump and Greenwood. 

And about the Bible and God... we have a the right to

  freedom of religion and of the separation of church and state.

 

 Both are sacred rights. 

 

And will lose them if Trump ever becomes president again. I feel like we as Americans are slipping away a little at a time. So slowly that no one even realizing it's happening, because we are all numb.

 

Note: I wrestled on whether or not to link to this deeply offensive attempt at grifting by Trump, but in the end I decided that if your are interested in it you can find it for yourself. I won't be a part of this.

 

 

The Darkness Comes

Autumnal

Pale amber sunlight falls across

the reddening October trees, that

hardly sway before a breeze as soft as summer;

summers loss seems little, dear! On days like these.

Let misty autumn be our part!

The twilight of the year is sweet:

Where shadow and darkness meet

Our love, a twilight of the heart

Eludes a little time's deceit.

Are we not better and at home

In dreamful Autumn, we who dream

No harvest joy is worth a dream?

A little while and night shall come,

A little while, then, let us dream.

Beyond the pearled horizons lie

Winter and night: awaiting these

We garner this poor hour of ease, 

Until love turn from us and die

beneath the drear November trees."

By

Ernest Dowson

The Poems And Prose Of Ernest Dowson

I am in a dark mood. The whole world feels upside down. Politics on an average year can be challenging to process, and almost expected, but as we approach the one year mark of the 2016 election I feel tired, scared, and sometimes it's like I am not really alive. It's so surreal to learn of the first criminal charges of the Trump administration, in what will probably end up being the first true case of treason by an American president in our history. Shrug. Who knows? I know the fall of an American presidency is nothing to cheer about, but when this mess does fall, I hope it will be a relief and not just the beginning of an even more terrifying time. 

And then there is the fall of man. No, not that fall. And I am not referring to us being in the middle of autumn, no I am talking about the almost daily revelation that celebrities. Journalists, Bloggers and all across professional spectrum exists a culture of rape and sexual assault, that I had NO idea existed. I thought for years, that I was mostly alone in the darkness in all that's happened to me, throughout my life, but no, quite to the contrary... I am far from alone. And that is just one more thing, in an already terrifying world I find myself in that is so disappointing and surreal, that I am finding it difficult to be anything but depressed most of the time.

I miss truly boring days.

I miss truly average days.

I miss my life making sense.

I miss... me.

This autumn feels like a deeper death. 

A death of not just another year, but a death of life as we knew it.

American normalcy.

American values.

Or maybe the myth.

But tomorrow, I will be out again with my camera, in hopes of holding onto the last of what makes me feel alive. Clinging to the colors, of the death of another year, which in the past, brought hope for a new beginning, but now only serves as a chilling reminder that sometimes death is forever. Sometimes things don't come back. Sometimes there is no natural corrective. And the wind and rain and snow coming into Northern California beginning tomorrow only puts a deeper chill to the whole feeling of the surreal existence of truth. 

#3 Leaf Of The Day

October 3rd, 2017

Little Farm

Berkeley, California 

Mood: Sad

~Me 

New Year's Resolutions 2016

"What is it you most dislike? Stupidity,

 especially in its nastiest forms of racism and superstition."

~Christpher Hitchens

Hitch-22: A Memoir

New Year's Resolutions. I don't make them. I used to. Then I stopped. Then I decided to give it another try. Then I said... NOPE. Not going down that road that is only there to make you feel meserible sometime around Valentine's Day. Nope. I am not wasting any more time making resolutions! But what I am doing is putting more thought into how much time I want to sit and think about the things I should or shouldn't be doing, thinking, feeling, considering, and or deciding! If 2015 didn't teach me anything else, it taught me that the clock ticks away, and it's up to me to make sure I am doing what I need to be doing. Even if that means, telling someone else I have no time for their time table. 

It seems like from March on through to the end of the year, my life, and Alan's became about other people's schedules. NO MORE! I have a certain amount of time left in my life, and I am done living by other people's time manipulations. ENOUGH! But that's not a resolution of any kind, it's more a matter of one more place I feel I finally matured over. It's another way of setting fair boundaries! So, while I don't have any real resolutions to discuss, how about we touch base on the things I loved and didn't love about 2015, and what can be learned from them!

5 Things I Was Happy To Learn 2015

1. It's over.

2. We bought our first house, and we got the one that has been waiting for us our whole lives!

3. I got a little smarter, by going through the drama necessary to make me smarter!

4. I didn't roll over and give up!

5. I know now, that when my values are tested, I don't waver. I can't be bought!

5 Things That Disappointed Me In 2015

1. That Donald Trump could make it as far as he has.

2. American Horror Story: Hotel

(Blech... they lost me with the classroom of children turned into vampires! Enough of children being killed already!).

3. The fact that the only place Alan and I could afford to move to was Stockton. (I like Stockton, but my heart is in the Bay Area).

4. Obama didn't do as much about gun control in 2015 as I think he could have. Sigh. At least he is on it now.

5. I didn't cook more. In fact I barely cooked last year. I know, we were constantly in flux, but cooking relaxes me.

It's not a resolution, but rather a fun little challenge I am giving myself to try at least one new recipe a week, and post the results here on my blog! Getting out to do new photos might be especially challenging this year, due to Alan's schedule, so you might see more photos of my latest cooking and recipe developments. I hope to try some really challenging recipes, and just think, they will mostly be done in the pink Barbie oven! Welcome back to the Mad Men Era! In fact, I may try some recipes from that era, and put some modern spins on them. Stay Tuned for my new series...

From The Pink Oven! 

 Mini Cherry Cobbler

December 31st 2015

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

A Family

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about."

~Angela Schwindt

Alan and I are Furbaby parents. Don't laugh... it's a thing! At least try to understand, because I am here to tell you how rewarding and life affirming it is! Little boy humans, little boy cats, same thing! You might not understand that unless you are a pet person! But here is the point... you teach your human children values, and manners, and most importantly all about love! You do the same thing with cats. Do you think sibling rivalry only goes on in human families? If you do, you would be wrong! 

We brought Hendrix home first, Dylan followed about a week or so later. Hendrix is a wonderful, loving, joyful cat, but blending the two personalities took some effort on our side and theirs! Within the first couple months Dylan was already showing signs that he truly loved Hendrix, and Hendrix had assumed the role of Dylan's, and our, caregiver! He watches over all of us!

Dylan and Hendrix are a little over 5 years old now. They are adult cats, set in their routines, and ways! A couple weeks ago, along came baby Joey! Dylan is no longer, "the baby," and he seems a bit upset about that! Hendrix isn't sure he wants another brother who may not want to play with him. Dylan is a bit of a stick in the mud sometimes, so I am hoping as we break out the toys which the 3 boys share, we will find that important common ground.

It is already going amazingly well. Patience, patience, patience! Dylan's favorite game is chasing a ball down the hall, and bringing it back! He loves fetch! Hendrix runs through the house, but never interferes with Dylan's game! Hendrix likes to play with stuffed animals. He can throw them really high in the air, and is excellent at catching them! While he plays, Dylan sits on the sidelines, and watches his brother play! They both enjoy the laser mouse game, and Zhu Zhu pets RULE! Joey is really enjoying the laser mouse game also, and today all three cats played, with zero drama! It was amazing!

Now, I bet you are wondering about how you teach a cat values. Well, Elvis was the best example of that. He would put his toys away every night, when he saw Alan and I go to bed. He insisted that 10:00 PM was our bedtime, by coming into whatever room we were in, standing in front of us, and staring. HARD. And he would refuse to move, until we got up and went to bed! He was an amazing cat, and he was that once in a lifetime pet, that you never get over!

He has been gone over 5 years, and I still think about him every single day. I know one day, hopefully 20 or 30 years from now, I will have to face losing one of my furbabies again, and honestly I don't know how I will survive it! I just don't! But I try not to waste a single moment thinking about it. We are all in the here and now. Families come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and fur, and I wouldn't change that for anything!

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

It Feels Like A New Day

"National parks and reserves are an integral aspect of intelligent use of natural resources. It is the course of wisdom to set aside an ample portion of our natural resources as national parks and reserves, thus ensuring that future generations may know the majesty of the earth as we know it today."

~John F. Kennedy
World Conference On National Parks (June 23 1962)

I was born six days after John F. Kennedy spoke those words. I wish public parks were as important today as they were in 1962. For that matter, I wish there wasn't such a drive to continue to invade and impose into our places of natural beauty for any reason, let alone for the greedy reasons that we tend to hear about most often... drill baby drill.

California has some magnificent parks. From the great big ones where one could get lost for days, to the small ones like this one, Greenridge Park, but more and more they are taking a financial hit, and it came very close to the permanent closure of many California parks after Governor Schwarzenegger's his term in office. Thank goodness, Governor Brown was able to take steps to fund most of the parks, at least in the short term, but there is still a lot to be concerned about. But with a surplus in the budget that California is currently enjoying, there is a lot of possibilities.

Sometimes things work out so strange. I was hoping President Obama would be more proactive with the environment, but he hasn't done much in regards to conservation. And I thought we had a champion in Al Gore, but I don't think I really know what his values are anymore. If I ever really did. I guess some things aren't always what they seem to be, but it really hurts all the same when someone you thought you could count on becomes someone you don't recognize.

When all is said and done, I voted for President Obama, and I wouldn't change my mind for anything. I think I have grown to appreciate the man for his ability to try and now his ability to know when to stop trying. The bible says even God stops knocking at some point. In retrospect, I think the frustration I would feel over President Obama's over reaching in his efforts to reach bipartisan conclusions, forced me to put a little more thought into what I really hold important. Perhaps in the next four years President Obama will do more about protecting the environment, so when I am finally at the age that all I can do is sit on a park bench and feed the birds, there will be a park bench to sit on.

Hope... it does a body good!

It's a strange feeling as I sit here writing this. President Obama was sworn in yesterday, officially, and today he is sworn in again for all to see. In some ways it feels like he is beginning his first term, and not his second. He has shown a lot of strength since the shooting in Connecticut. And a lot of courage to. I know that if the republicans, and the NRA wanted to be a part of a positive change in how we go forward concerning gun ownership, he would have been happy to have their input. Unfortunately, the NRA only wants their way or no way. And they don't care who they threaten. But President Obama didn't cower in fear, instead his is walking into the future and allowing his conscience to be his guide.

Thank You SO Much Mr. President!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

Sarah Palin once asked... "So, hows that hopey, changey stuff workin' out for you?"

Well, 1/2 term Governor Palin... Pretty DAMN WELL! Oh and by the way, the British didn't want to take our arms, they didn't want us to begin our own nation. Sheesh. And shes allowed to pretend she knows how to sue a gun.



~Happiness :)

~Me