A day of rest... a few favorites

a tulip tree in bloom,

an Italian cauliflower looking like an outer space galaxy or aquatic colony,

the Ollie cat in deep concentration,

the August cat standing tall,

the August cat enjoying the Sunday fresh air,

and likewise Ollie cat, only in a slightly different way!


Hoping that everyone had a pleasantly restful weekend and perhaps a few kitty kisses!

Ciao!

"Float like a butterfly, Sting like a bee...

I am the greatest, Muhammad Ali"

When I told the cat boys that their cat daddy, aka Sylvester, goes boxing with Mauricio, Ollie went into this pose

and August into this.

Apparently, they watch some boxing on el televisor when kittie mommie is not around. They obviously know that someone ends up on their back at the end of the match and they also get the giggles when Mr T says stuff like "I pity the fool", or "enough jibber jabber".

I said, 'that's fine boys but let's remember that boxing is only for self-defense and exercise and that I prefer that they communicated properly by meowing in different tonalities'. So we reflected on this:

"Every word is endowed with a spirit, therefore the speaker or expounder should carefully deliver his words at the appropriate time and place, for the impression which every each word maketh is clearly evident and perceptible. The Great Being saith: One word may be likened unto fire, another unto light, and the influence which both exert is manifest in the world. Therefore an enlightened man of wisdom should primarily speak with words as mild as milk, that the children of men may be nurtured and edified thereby and may attain the ultimate goal of human existence which is the station of true understanding and nobility...."

I think that August and Ollie prefer meowing to boxing.

The cat boys and I wish all a lovely Friday and a restful weekend, and muchas cat kisses to sweeten the days!

Ciao!

When it rains...

a good plan is to go to the movies! Our cat boys have picked up ornithology and so we watched the Pasadena Parrots.

Ollie went to the indoor theatre.


August chose the outside theatre.


After movies and before bed we read this:

"It is natural for the heart and spirit to take pleasure and enjoyment in all things that show forth symmetry, harmony, and perfection. For instance: a beautiful house, a well designed garden, a symmetrical line, a graceful motion, a well written book, pleasing garments -- in fact, all things that have in themselves grace or beauty are pleasing to the heart and spirit -- therefore, it is most certain that a true voice causes deep pleasure."
( "A Brief Account of My Visit to Acca")

Wishing all a lovely Wednesday and many many little cat kisses,

Ciao!

Undaunted resolution...

The past weekend was a busy one for Ollie. I would catch him going this way

and that. He did not share what he was up to!

We barely had time to get together and read but we finally managed to squeeze in a few moments

to read this:

Communities that thrive and prosper in this future will do so because they acknowledge the spiritual dimension of human nature and make the moral, emotional, physical and intellectual development of the individual a central priority. They will guarantee freedom of religion and encourage the establishment of places of worship. Their centers of learning will seek to cultivate the limitless potentialities latent in human consciousness and will pursue as a major goal the participation of all peoples in generating and applying knowledge. Remembering at all times that the interests of the individual and of society are inseparable, these communities will promote respect for both rights and responsibilities, will foster the equality and partnership of women and men, and will protect and nurture families. They will promote beauty, natural and man-made, and will incorporate into their design, principles of environmental preservation and rehabilitation. Guided by the concept of unity in diversity, they will support widespread participation in the affairs of society, and will increasingly turn to leaders who are motivated by the desire to serve. In these communities the fruits of science and technology will benefit the whole society, and work will be available for all. (BIC-Spirituality in Development)

August and Ollie later discussed the reading amongst themselves!


I was blown away! No task is too big for a pair of supercats, they possess undaunted courage and resolution and naturally take on the most challenging tasks,

and they do it with composure and super calmness, even delight and enjoyment!



We three wish all a brand new lovely week. August and Ols blow cat kisses your way with their little paws!

Ciao!

7.4 megabytes of beauty...

August and Ollie were not about to pose with their fur all wet, you know with all this rain and wetness, so they went into their photo chest and selected this photo for their blog friends.

The photo is courtesy of mommie cat's scientist friend, Angel Di Bilio from Caltech. Our laboratories are two doors separated from each other.

August and Ollie also selected the following reading for pondering and reflection:

"The purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves.: (Gleanings)

We three wish all a grand Friday and weekend. August and Ollie also send pawfuls of kisses!

Ciao!

Our basket cat thinks about the world...

A certain little kitty, August, gets sleepy

when it rains for what it seems to be hours on end in a kitty's world.

Later in the same still rainy day August becomes a basket cat and ponders over the state of the world.

He has some concerns but will not share.

A brief and much needed respite from the down pour gets the cat boys out..."Who spilled all this water?" they ask.

August want to chat with me,

and Ollie, well, Ollie is being my little lovely Ollie!


Pondering over a planet at odds with itself, we read the following passage,

"...Although outwardly cataclysms are hard to understand and to endure, yet there lies a great wisdom behind them which appears later. All the visible material events are inter-related with invisible spiritual forces. The infinite phenomena of creation are as interdependent as the links of a chain.
When certain links become rusty, they are broken by unseen forces, to be replaced by newer and better ones. There are certain colossal events which transpire in the world of humanity which are required by the nature of the times. For example, the requirements of winter are cold, snow, hail and rain – but the birds and animals who live for six months, enjoying a short span of life, not realizing the wisdom of winter, chide and make lament and are discontent, saying, “Why this awful frost? Why this hail and storm? Why not the balmy weather? Why not the eternal springtime? Why this injustice on the part of the creator? Why this suffering? What have we done to be meted out with this catastrophe?”
However, those souls who have lived many years and have acquired much experience and have weathered many severe winters realize that in order to enjoy the coming spring they must pass through the cold of winter."
(Divine Philosophy)

and we said prayers for our fellow Haitians!

Cat boys stretched their arms out to blow little kisses to everyone and wished each and every person a lovely Wednesday...

Ciao!

Horsing around...

These flowers were too bright to be ignored as I walked swiftly past them this morning, so I stopped, snapped an iphone photo and resumed my walk back home.

Next, on our street I heard the loud chirps of parrots above, and took another iphone shot, which really does not show anything. The little spots are actually green parrots and we have many many parrots in our trees!

Back home the cat boys who had not realized that I left for my walk are horsing around. They do forget time and I find that extremely endearing, it is as if time spent was actually not!

While I cleaned house-because I fully intended to watch the two championship football games in a clean fur-free room, August enjoyed the clean morning air

and Olser boy stared!

And finally, I told the cat boys about Martin Luther King holiday and we read the following passage, which really pleased them:

"...The oneness of humanity is a spiritual truth abundantly confirmed by science. Recognition of this truth compels the abandonment of all prejudices of race, color, creed, nation, and class "everything which enables people to consider themselves superior to others." The principle of the oneness of humankind "is no mere outburst of ignorant emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope.... It does not constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal.... It implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced."...

Wishing all a beautiful week and many cat kisses!

Ciao!

This, that, and the other...

After what felt like a busy day I return home. It is almost dark but also quite evident that the longer days are on their way. I grab my old camera while they (Ollie and August) wait for me, and we go out for our walk. Deep in thoughts over this (the day), that (news of Haiti), and the other (what else do I have to do), it suddenly occurs to me that I am low on pictures. I point my camera in the dark toward the cat boys who are roaming in their make shift jungle, and I see:

The boys meowed that their recent fame pleased them much; however, they now can only go out in cognito, which means that I have to shop for camouflage clothing.

Much later in the evening Ollie helped me to get the mail

and this really tired him, so in the tradition of mailmen ( I think), our mailcat stretched out for a while.

At some point, we discussed the situation in Haiti and we prayed for our brothers and sisters who were experiencing difficulties, and we meditated on this passage:

"As preordained by the Fountain-head of Creation, the temple of the world hath been fashioned after the image and likeness of the human body. In fact each mirroreth forth the image of the other, wert thou but to observe with discerning eyes. By this is meant that even as the human body in this world, which is outwardly composed of different limbs and organs, is in reality a closely integrated, coherent entity, similarly the structure of the physical world is like unto a single being whose limbs and members are inseparably linked together.
Were one to observe with an eye that discovereth the realities of all things, it would become clear that the greatest relationship that bindeth the world of being together lieth in the range of created things themselves, and that co-operation, mutual aid and reciprocity are essential characteristics in the unified body of the world of being, inasmuch as all created things are closely related together and each is influenced by the other or deriveth benefit therefrom, either directly or indirectly."

Remember Haiti in your hearts!

Ciao!

THANK YOU...

This is a first for young Augustus and Ollie (and kitty mommie), to become recipients of the 'Kreative Blogger Award'. As I woke them up from their afternoon nap to give them the news, they started blowing little cat kisses to lovely Anne Harwell of Annechovie. Thank you Anne so very much!

A freshly awakened Augustus poses for his blog photo...so lovely he is!

A slowly waking Ollie is giving me the look...

Still trying to wake up...

Alright, now he is up and posing for his blog photo.


The awardee(s) is(are) supposed to share 7 things about themselves and nominate 7 more; so here we go, seven things among the three of us because only one of us can type.

1. This is such a grand secret, I may live to regret it for the rest of my living days. I covered their ears for this. I played the accordion for 10 years or more. It always reminds me of Johnny Cash's song, The Boy Named Sue.
2. Ollie is very jealous and receives therapy to control his emotional outbursts.
3. I am covering Ollie's ears for this one- I love pets of all sorts with the exception of the creepy crawly and cold skinned slimy ones. This means I love dogs and cats and horses.
4. Augustus is very accepting but he foofs a lot, and likes to have his belly rubbed when no one is around!
5. I am a scientist, so I think that makes me geeky, and I try hard not to be but side by side with normal people...I think I am!
6. I once caught a shark while deep sea fishing.
7. I do love french fries and the best I have had was in Holland, really.

Now my selection of lovely bloggers, and there are so many, please go to:
NancyMcKay
wherehasthewindtakenyou
up and down town
French Word-A-Day
La Belette Rouge
The Life and Times of the Plume
Bneato

Thank you everyone for your visits and we three look forward to reading about you!

Ciao!

Enchanting lunch date...

Early in the morning, still dark- camera only captures Augustus' behind as he runs away from my view.

A little later, Ollie chooses the balcony for his dawn meditations.

Noon time, kitty mommie passes by the turtle pond

and this orange tree.

Special lunch date with a most special blogger friend, my very first blog date, 2 hours of chatting. She has a big heart, gorgeous hair, beautiful laughter, and to-die-for red patent leather shoes.

Ollie told me that she was his girlfriend!?!

Augustus gave me the 'don't believe a word he says' look.


Sticking to our practice of reading we reflected upon the theme of spiritual relationships, you know I was telling them how our spirits converse through various media even if our physical bodies have not encountered. So we read this:

THE SPIRIT IN THE BODY

The wisdom of the appearance of the spirit in the body is this: the human spirit is a Divine Trust, and it must traverse all conditions; for its passage and movement through the conditions of existence will be the means of its acquiring perfections. So, when a man travels and passes through different regions and numerous countries with system and method, it is certainly a means of his acquiring perfection; for he will see places, scenes, and countries, from which he will discover the conditions and states of other nations. He will thus become acquainted with the geography of countries, and their wonders and arts; he will familiarize himself with the habits, customs, and usages of peoples; he will see the civilization and progress of the epoch; he will become aware of the policy of governments, and the power and capacity of each country. It is the same when the human spirit passes through the conditions of existence: it will become the possessor of each degree and station. Even in the condition of the body it will surely acquire perfections.
Besides this, it is necessary that the signs of the perfection of the spirit should be apparent in this world, so that the world of creation may bring forth endless results, and this body may receive life and manifest the divine bounties. So, for example, the rays of the sun must shine upon the earth, and the solar heat develop the earthly beings; if the rays and heat of the sun did not shine upon the earth, the earth would be uninhabited, without meaning, and its development would be retarded.
In the same way, if the perfections of the spirit did not appear in this world, this world would be unenlightened and absolutely brutal. By the appearance of the spirit in the physical form, this world is enlightened. As the spirit of man is the cause of the life of the body, so the world is in the condition of the body, and man is in the condition of the spirit. If there were no man, the perfections of the spirit would not appear, and the light of the mind would not be resplendent in this world. This world would be like a body without a soul.

Kitties did not know what to make of this so they just blew kisses out to everyone! We wish everyone a lovely Wednesday, love and friendship, and enchanting lunch dates!

Ciao!

Energies sapped...

The christmas paper whites are all finally in bloom.

All visiting relatives are gone but Ollie who remains suspicious runs around checking just to make sure that none is hiding behind a bush.

Augustus carries out the search from a high vista!

'Los parientes have departed', they meowed to each other. They can now rest.

I knew their energies were sapped but I had to take advantage of the moment and read to them so they would stay in form. So they assumed the standard kitty reading position, meaning that they turned their backs to me and to each other,

and we read this short paragraph:

"...In the spiritual world, the divine bestowals are infinite, for in that realm there is neither separation nor disintegration which characterize the world of material existence. Spiritual existence is absolute immortality, completeness and unchangeable being. Therefore we must thank God that He has created for us both material blessings and spiritual bestowals......

Thereafter the boys were really exhausted and went to their respective rooms to nap. Augustus put himself to sleep by sinking into his sheepskin
and Ollie decided to watch the Patriots/Ravens game to relax.
Wishing all a wonderful week but don't work too hard or your energies will be sapped!

Muchas cat kisses and ciao!