May...

One day the freshly awakened sun was peeking its head out...this is when Sweet Pants always chooses to eat.

He then likes to scan the surroundings while licking his delicious lips.

I find his Sweet Pants irresistible when he gets up to go for a stroll.

The more emotional one, Mr Puffy Pants, likes to sit out in his Serengeti

meditating intently while pretending that he is a lion.  

The slender sneakster always finds a way to escape and camouflage himself in the jungle in the back.

That day there was a dove sitting behind him, with no apparent worries on its little brain!

The jacaranda was in full bloom and still clean.

Back indoors too the tree with no name had bloomed, something that always happens so suddenly.

The patio table no longer had room for plates and tea cups but it was ok, it was green.

Grateful for some early morning solitude because these days are really too busy. Cat boys still don't know how to type.  We wanted to stick our heads in and say hi...hope everyone is taking May one day at a time...with gratitude and joy.  That may be the only solution to this hasty pace of life.

Cat boys sent you pawfuls of kisses and their best wishes!

Ciao everyone!

"the intimacy of sunlight and the mystery of fog"

That early morning was both early and clear when the cat boys and I set out strolling. But shortly after the fog rolled in and we felt excited.
The bougainville was brighter and the green was more bluish in the distance.  Up close the green was brilliant and the atmosphere was saturated with cool minuscule droplets of water.

I looked up and immediately recognized the slanky behind of Mr Sweet Pants who walked

on the high wall following me to the back where he perched himself for a good look at things.

Down below, on normal grounds, which are usually not as exciting as the higher grounds, a squirrel was staring

at Mr Puffy Pants from a short distance knowing all too well that a catnipped kitty would be no threat.
Mr Puffy Pants looked up at his brother

and oh, so, delicious, he continued with enjoying the magic herb.

Mr Sweet Pants let the squirrel know that

he could be down in a split second if need be so that he would not have any ideas in his head.

Later that morning the fog lifted and I saw Mr Sweet Pants down on the road that goes into a deep jungle.

Upon seeing me he jumped on the patio wall to show me his paws because he knows that I adore them.

Seeing his beautiful feet I thought to read him this:

"...A Persian cobbler never dares to make two shoes identical in every respect, because he thinks such an act will kill his wife; he may be harbouring a superstition, but artistically he is quite sound. Individuality is precious and refreshing; the world presents subtle blends of endless variations; there must be orchids and hills, roads and tuberoses, intimacy of sunlight and the mystery of fog. Spiritually, too, every human being has his candle to burn, his spire of blue incense smoke to offer as a gift and a worship in the temple of humanity. Does it matter what colour are the fingers curved in prayer? Or whether the music be a honey-slow spiritual from Louisiana, or the flute-song of a Persian shepherd, watching in a turquoise dawn? The sacred gift of an obedient life is treasured-up for all eternity, and every giver is beloved. In this dawn of a new humanity, no one is rejected. There are no untouchables, no social lepers, no spurned and remnant peoples any more; 'Abdu'l-Bahá tells us that the love of God haloes all created things...."  (Dawn Over Mount Hira)

Cat boys sent you pawsfuls of kisses, one set smelling like catnip, and their best wishes for a Happy Wednesday.

Ciao everyone!

One early morning in early May with the cat boys...

I woke up early early this morning, 4:30 or so, to Ollie's various calls. I was not sure if he was talking to me or practicing a song because every minute or so he would give out a different meow, a different note.  I laughed in my sleep because I never know with this cat boy, after all he is a thespian.

He and I went to the back yard where he climbed a wall and showed me

these two other cat boys.  They stay indoors all the time.  They do not like Ollie because their father likes to pet Ollie and this arouses their jealousy.  I thought they looked cute.

When we were walking away their little heads were following us.

Mr Puffy Pants had games to play this morning so I left him with the squirrels.

On our own patio, Mr Sweet Pants was waiting to be fed.
He likes to eat on the wall so he can watch the street.

He did a lot of licking

 and more licking

and looking

and more looking.

A while later, still early in the morning, the orange one returned, ate his breakfast, and ran up to meditate!  Surprised as I was I did not question his motives and only applauded him.

Upstairs I found that he had adopted the posture of meditation where he stretches his arms and stares at one spot.

I sat down in front of him for sweet talks.

He listened.

If I were into astrology and I am not, I suppose my astrology for the day would have read something like this...

"two furry strangers will be watching you early this morning but be not alarmed because their world is separated from yours by a thin invisible layer...where the skies are more open a lion will walk with you...under leafy skies you will bask under the loving glances of a jaguar...before heading to work look out for that lion again and kiss his pink nose...the unexpected love that you shall receive today comes from a furry orange one...enjoy"

I still had to go to work and the thought of it stressed me.  The orange lion told me to meditate on this:

O Son of Him that Stood by His Own Entity in the Kingdom of His Self!

Know thou, that I have wafted unto thee all the fragrances of holiness,

have fully revealed to thee My word,

have perfected through thee My bounty and have desired for you that which I have desired for My Self.  Be then content with My pleasure and thankful unto Me.

(Hidden Words)

I thought he had a good idea.  Cat boys wished you a lovely month of May and sent you pawfuls of their special May kisses.

Ciao!

April 26th

The sun had risen further out to the east but there was enough light to explore, and yet early enough to be undisturbed by people noise and traffic.

We love watching the days wake up each day.  When we go out we see much of the same and then the unexpected.

We three have been roaming a more limited territory because Mr Puffy Pants hurt his front paw last weekend.  His limp is getting better but not 100%.

Tens of minutes later after they finished exploring, the sun was now casting shadows on a distant wall indicating that we'd better get going.  We noted how full the trees had become, and the little red color of the bottlebrush tree was a treat.

The two darlingest of all cat boys sat and looked at me...they felt those minutes were shorter than ever, and I could not agree more.

Ollie assumed his usual listening posture, which means that he turned his back and flipped his ears around.  This is actually a very clever posture that allows privacy and multi-tasking.

His ikat brother, Mr Sweet Pants, assumed a more open listening posture, which is also clever because it allows him to see the person who is reading.

We reflected upon these phrases from a favorite passage, we wanted to internalize these conditions:

"mercy unalloyed"

"purest bounty"

"end of foreignness"

"compassion and unity"

"harmony and fellowship"

"love and solidarity"

-Abdul Baha, Spiritual Teacher 

Then we three skedaddked home.  The sun was coming up fast.

I loved this scene below, Gingerella walking over the white rose petals.  Made me smile.

Cat boys wished you love and solidarity and sent you pawfuls of kitty kisses.
Enjoy!

Ciao everyone!

The escape artists

had Thoreau on their minds!

Thoreau in his journal 1851 

Now I yearn for one of those old, meandering, dry uninhabited roads, which lead away from towns, which lead us away from temptation, which conduct to the outside of Earth, over its uppermost crust; where you may forget in what country you are traveling; where no farmer can complain that you are treading down his grass, no gentleman who has recently constructed a seat in the country that you are trespassing; on which you can go off at half-cock and wave adieu to the village; along which you may travel like a pilgrim, going nowhither; where travelers are not too often to be met; where my spirit is free; where the walls and fences are not cared for; where your head is more in heaven than your feet are on Earth; which have long reaches where you can see the approaching traveler half a mile off and be prepared for him; not so luxuriant a soil as to attract me; some root and stump fences which do not need attention; where travelers have no occasion to stop, but pass along and leave you to your thoughts; where it makes no odds which way you face, whether you are going or coming, whether it is morning or evening, mid-noon or midnight; where Earth is cheap enough by being public; where you can pace when your breast is full, and cherish your moodiness; where you are not in false relations with men, are not dining nor conversing with them; by which you may go to the uttermost parts of the Earth. It is wide enough, wide as the thoughts it allows to visit you. Sometimes it is some particular half-dozen rods which I wish to find myself pacing over, as where certain airs blow; then my life will come to me, methinks; like a hunter I walk in wait for it.

Cat boys sent you kitty kisses and purrs!

Ciao everyone!

April days...

Gingerella, who had earlier asked me to call him Chief Etu Wemata (Sun brother), was enjoying the rays of April sunshine amongst the sparse vegetation of the urban prairie but his delicate ear lobes would not rest.  No Chief ever rests, naturally.

This fellow who was clear across the other side noticed, and wanted to play with the big one.  I found that odd but not incredulous, there is a history here: the squirrels in this prairie habitually chase cats!

In less than a split second, the big Chief shook off the rays of sun from his golden fur and became a crouching lion, low in the grass.  It all happened so fast that I applauded him.

The squirrel was carrying on oblivious to the presence of that ferociously cute lion.

The big Chief sat back again wondering....

At that same moment Senor El Dulce Pantalones who had earlier asked me to call him Chief High Wall Nahimana closed his eyes in silent meditation.  He already knew the game and wanted his brother to experience it too.

My glance fell to the side and in my mind

the thought drifted that we lived in a fairy land...for sure....

“Take nothing but memories, leave nothing but footprints!” 

― Chief Seattle

Cat boys sent you all pawfuls of kisses...

A paradise of delectable silences

only punctuated with the little chirps of the tiniest birds,

and the silent gaze and gentle movement of two back yard lions was ours that early Sunday evening.

Gingerella only moved his ears...so mesmerized was he by those little chirpy birds.

Behind him the fuschia colored flowers were sending out come hither pleas to the humming birds that zipped the skies.

Mr Sweet Pants was in a reflective mood, relaxed, but sensed the energy in the air, he was sure playfulness was in store for him.

At a short distance back and above his head I noticed the hummingbird, sitting on a branch, neither fearful nor anxious but eager and playful,

taunting him to play...zipping now here and there right above his face.

And so he played along, with ready ease and gentle grace, and

even licked his lips to play back more.

This game the hummingbird enjoyed.

We played around in silence for a while, a little while that I enjoyed greatly even as I knew that it was for a few moments only.

The busy moments of April tend to become overwhelming until cat boys remind me to practice gratitude, and so as I examine various tasks that I have to do, and realize them in the landscape of gratitude things change and become more manageable...this requires discipline though, and thankfully I have two disciplined cat boys who remind me of so many things.

Later that evening we reflected upon the paragraph below,  Gussy's selection, also a favorite of mine.

O friend! The heart is a store of divine mysteries; make it not a receptacle for mortal thoughts; and consume not the capital of this precious life by occupying thyself with the evanescent world. Thou art of the world of holiness; attach not thy heart unto the earth. Thou art a denizen of the court of nearness; choose not an earthly home. (Gleanings)

Cat boys have been pulling my sleeves asking me to send you their kisses...they feel that is their job.

Wishing all a silent week....

Ciao everyone!