Somedays are just that way....

This one appears to be unsure...

while this one appears to be clueless!!!

Somedays are just that way!

I was telling the cat boys that I attended a talk by the very woman who founded Women for International Peace and Arbitration last night, that she spoke of the transforming power of true education, of a woman physician who traveled from the United States to Persia in 1908 to change lives....

Though in awe, still they could not focus...and who could blame them, they did not know what "arbitration" meant.

I decided to play some music to soothe their nerves...

and shortly thereafter I found them like this:

Happy Thursday everyone! Oh yes, they did fill their paws with their special kisses and blew them in the air before falling asleep!

Ciao everyone!

Birds going to school, and from Cu to Au

The other day I saw Augustus looking up in the sky, I asked him what was up.

He said the birds were going to school!
Well, what do you know, he appeared to know what was up, the birds were in school!
I think they were in flight school because they repeated take offs and landings.
Ollie who was lazing around got interested and thought to inspect the circumstances from various angles,
upside down,
with a little tilt to the right,
almost right side up,

and full circle, now ready to go
to check things out with his big brother. It is much safer that way!
There may be more of this tale later on.

Back indoors there was some reading and reflecting, the theme selected by none other than the oranje kat himself.

" For instance, consider the substance of copper. Were it to be protected in its own mine from becoming solidified, it would, within the space of seventy years, attain to the state of gold. There are some, however, who maintain that copper itself is gold, which by becoming solidified is in a diseased condition, and hath not therefore reached its own state.
Be that as it may, the real elixir will, in one instant, cause the substance of copper to attain the state of gold, and will traverse the seventy-year stages in a single moment. Could this gold be called copper? Could it be claimed that it hath not attained the state of gold, whilst the touch-stone is at hand to assay it and distinguish it from copper?
Likewise, these souls, through the potency of the Divine Elixir, traverse, in the twinkling of an eye, the world of dust and advance into the realm of holiness; and with one step cover the earth of limitations and reach the domain of the Placeless. It behooveth thee to exert thine utmost to attain unto this Elixir which, in one fleeting breath, causeth the west of ignorance to reach the east of knowledge, illuminates the darkness of night with the resplendence of the morn, guideth the wanderer in the wilderness of doubt to the well-spring of the Divine Presence and Fount of certitude, and conferreth upon mortal souls the honour of acceptance into the Ridvan (Paradise) of immortality. Now, could this gold be thought to be copper, these people could likewise be thought to be the same as before they were endowed with faith..." (Book of Certitude)

The doodles spent many hours meditating on this while sleeping but first they filled their little paws with kitty kisses, which they blew in the air for their friends! Happy last week of October 2010 everyone!

Ciao!

Augustus and Ollie, a pair of cat dudes

who are excited by the rain, and the prospect of exploring the rainy outdoors with their fearless mother....

"We're here", said Augustus.

I presented them with the reading for the next few days since I will be away...

"It is evident that the divine nearness is an unlimited nearness, be it in this world or the next one. This is a nearness which is sanctified from the comprehension of the minds. The more a man seeketh light from the Sun of Truth, the nearer he will draw. For instance, a clear body is near unto the sun, and a black stone is far from the sun. This nearness dependeth upon clearness, purity and perfection and that remoteness is due to density, dullness (or obscurity) and imperfection.
As to the question whether the souls will recognize each other in the spiritual world: This is certain; for the Kingdom is the world of vision (i. e., things are visible in it), where all concealed realities will become disclosed. How much more the well-known souls will become manifest! The mysteries of which man is heedless in this earthly world, those will he discover in the heavenly world, and there will he be informed of the secret of truth; how much more will he recognize or discover persons with whom he hath been associated. Undoubtedly, the holy souls who find a pure eye and are favored with insight will, in the kingdom of lights, be acquainted with all mysteries, and will seek the bounty of witnessing the reality of every great soul..." Selections AB

The love balls filled their damp furry paws with kisses and blew them in the air..each kiss carried by a dew drop to you! Catch them! I will keep them near in my heart.

Ciao!

"OOh, it's wet outside,

time to sniff the plants", says Augustus.

And "let's not get our paws wet", he thinks to himself.

Ollie dude is scoping the area for big lions and other wild animals
before he can head over
to the same plant in order to sniff the wet leaves. "So yummy", he meows to me.
The drizzle has cut into our excursions but dudes don't mind it too much.

Early this morning after our excursion we decided to pick up our reading...we have been slacking off.

Augustus assumes the listening pose,

getting ready to meditate,

ponder,

reflect


on

"O thou who hast eyes to see! ... The perfume is intimately commingled and blended with the bud, and once the bud hath opened the sweet scent of it is spread abroad. The herb is not without its fruit, although it seemeth so, for in this garden of God every plant exerteth its own influence and hath its own properties, and every plant can even match the laughing, hundred-petalled rose in rejoicing the sense with its fragrance. Be thou assured of this. Although the pages of a book know nothing of the words and the meanings traced upon them, even so, because of their connection with these words, friends pass them reverently from hand to hand. This connection, furthermore, is purest bounty. When the human soul soareth out of this transient heap of dust and riseth into the world above, then veils will fall away, and verities will come to light, and all things unknown before will be made clear, and hidden truths be understood...." Selections AB

while Ollie calls his mice to order,
tries to listen upside down,
then right side up,
perhaps while giving his mouse a good nibbling.
We think that he is entirely blown away!!!

Cat dudes filled their wet paws with kitty kisses and blew them in the air to wish everyone a week of delights.

Ciao!

Learning about teamwork....

Early evening when we got out Augustus thought to teach me how to do side leg liftswhile Ollie was thinking "Wow, this is weird!"
I was fascinated by the hanging leaf and wondering
why the landscapers were not dusting the trees properly.

After some private time we gathered in the courtyard for daily reading, and as you can tell, we sat as far away from each other as possible. Luckily with kitties distance is not an issue because they have very sharp hearing and I can essentially whisper and they know what I say.

We read from Faith in the Game, Lessons in Football, Work, and Life by Tom Osbourne, former coach of the Nebraska Cornhusker football team. In chapter 9 on Teamwork he opens with a poem by Rudyard Kipling:

Now this is the law of the jungle-

As old and as true as the sky;

And the wolf that keep it may prosper,

But the wolf that shall break it must die,

As the creeper that girdles the tree trunk,

The law runneth forward and back-

And the strength of the pack is the wolf

And the strength of the wolf is the pack.

Independent creatures as they are, precious boys understood the significance of togetherness readily and they sat a bit closer to each other.

In unison, they filled their paws with kisses and blew them in the air to wish you a very happy Friday!

Ciao everyone!

Ollie is sneaking a look to see where the kisses are flying to!

The crow and the parrot...

Having been fooled yesterday by one ginger Ollie cat who had decided to spend all day outdoors and by one Gussy cat who played hide and seek until late evening hours, this mommie cat wisened up this morning. She searched in her bag of tricks and found a way to get the rascals indoors immediately after the dawn-hour walk.

Back indoors under the gentle rays of the beautiful morning sun,
we have two cat boys, Augustus and Ollie, wondering how this happened!
They quickly understood kitty mom's situation wherein she had to be at work without feline worries and assumed the story-listening pose.

And so I read to them from the Gulistan of Sa'adi:

Story 13

A parrot, having been imprisoned in a cage with a crow, was vexed by the sight and said: 'What a loathsome aspect is this! What an odious figure! What cursed object with rude habits!
0 crow of separation, would that the distance of the east from the west were between us.'
Whoever beholds thee when he rises in the morning
The morn of a day of safety becomes evening to him.
An ill-omened one like thyself is fit to keep thee company

But where in the world is one like thee?

More strange still, the crow was similarly distressed by the proximity of the parrot and, having become disgusted, was shouting 'Lahaul', and lamenting the vicissitudes of time.

He rubbed the claws of sorrow against each other and said: 'What ill-luck is this? What base destiny and chameleonlike times? It was befitting my dignity to strut about on a garden-wall in the society of another crow.
'It is sufficient imprisonment for a devote
To be in the same stable with profligates.
'What sin have I committed that I have already in this life, as a punishment for it, fallen into the bonds of this calamity in company with such a conceited, uncongenial and heedless fool?'
No one will approach the foot of the wall
Upon which they paint thy portrait.
If thy place were in paradise
Others would select. hell.

I have added this parable to let thee know that no matter how much a learned man may hate an ignorant man the latter hates him equally. ( HA HA)
A hermit was among profligates
When one of them, a Balkhi beauty, said:
'If thou art tired of us sit not sour
For thou art thyself bitter in our midst.'
An assembly joined together like roses and tulips!
Thou art withered wood, growing in its midst,
Like a contrary wind and unpleasant frost,
Like snow inert, like ice bound fast.

Though cat boys are not likely to display such behavior they were highly amused at the conversation between the crow and the parrot and giggled a bit quietly.

Before I left they filled their paws with kitty kisses and blew them in the air to wish all a great day.

Ciao everyone!

The weekend of 10-10-10 included

a rubbing of noses,

assuming hunting poses and chasing,

investigating,

going to the movies,

some sleeping and dreaming,


sending mental messages,


trying to decipher mental messages ("What is Gus telling me?", wonders Ollie>)

And much much more ...

This morning as I was reviewing the weekend and thinking ahead of all that I had to do (deadlines, deadlines), the observant Gussie read my face and quoted

this:

"One ought everyday at least, to hear a little song, read a good poem, see a fine picture, and if it were possible, to speak a few reasonable words." Johann Wolfgang can Goethe

Surprised as I was and I always am when he says such things, I was thankful for the thought for today. This is actually doable!

Cat boys send love and pawfuls of juicy kitty kisses!

Ciao!