I wonder what next week would be like...

Kitty mom will be off to the other side of the country..for work...leaving behind two rascal cat boys with Sylvester, the big cat.
I feel SweetPants is already planning his activities for the week
and Puffy Pants could not wait long enough to get started...more surprised I could not be!

After sharing with them the dos and don'ts for the week, such as, make the bed, don't eat too many snacks, leave the mailman alone, make sure to read, etc, I read to them this:

"It behoveth them that are endued with insight and understanding to observe that which will cause joy and radiance." (Words of Paradise)

Cat boys promised to send kisses a few times during the week and we all wished you joy and radiance every day.

Ciao everyone!

Music and Cats...really?

I know you won't believe me but this plain old tree was alive with a multitude of tiny chirping birds this morning. You may be able to spot one or two if you look hard for them.

We sat still to let the notes soak in...

I meant to say that two of us sat still to the music soak in and one of us (it would be furry and orange) took to singing!

I have this feeling that Albert Schweitzer used to live here way back when and he got moved to say:

“There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.”

Happy Spring to you all with cat kisses and musical notes!

Ciao!

"the old bounty goes forward"

A bit of Pasadena skies Sunday morning when we got a dusting of snow in the mountains just a few miles to the north of us. We love looking at palm trees and snow side by side.

I saw this hummingbird who allowed me to take multiple shots of him.
Later I saw this dude who allowed me to photograph his gorgeous ears.
This one had the giggles and that always brings pleasure to our hearts.
Up above the new leaves braved into the cold almost spring air.
And just outside our side window the leaves were wet and green against a beautiful cold blue sky!
And here is the last of our tulip tree that is exchanging pink flowers for green leaves.
The vernal equinox, arriving very early this year, will be at 10:14 p.m. March 19th, 2012 in the West coast, perhaps something to remember for years to come, and always a special day as we reflect on yet another cycle of refreshment.

Augustus Sweet Pants chose this for reflection

"The mystery of nature was never displayed more happily. The corn and the wine have been freely dealt to all creatures, and the never-broken silence with which the old bounty goes forward, has not yielded yet one word of explanation. One is constrained to respect the perfection of this world, in which our senses converse. How wide; how rich; what invitation from every property it gives to every faculty of man! In its fruitful soils; in its navigable sea; in its mountains of metal and stone; in its forests of all woods; in its animals; in its chemical ingredients; in the powers and path of light, heat, attraction, and life, it is well worth the pith and heart of great men to subdue and enjoy it. The planters, the mechanics, the inventors, the astronomers, the builders of cities, and the captains, history delights to honor.

But when the mind opens, and reveals the laws which traverse the universe, and make things what they are, then shrinks the great world at once into a mere illustration and fable of this mind. What am I? and What is? asks the human spirit with a curiosity new-kindled, but never to be quenched. Behold these outrunning laws, which our imperfect apprehension can see tend this way and that, but not come full circle. Behold these infinite relations, so like, so unlike; many, yet one. I would study, I would know, I would admire forever. These works of thought have been the entertainments of the human spirit in all ages.

A more secret, sweet, and overpowering beauty appears to man when his heart and mind open to the sentiment of virtue. Then he is instructed in what is above him. He learns that his being is without bound; that, to the good, to the perfect, he is born ... " (Emerson)

and Ollie Puffy Pants added this to this weekend's readings.

"Thou hast endowed every hour of these days with a special virtue, inscrutable to all except Thee, Whose knowledge embraceth all created things. Thou hast, also, assigned unto every soul a portion of this virtue in accordance with the Tablet of Thy decree and the Scriptures of Thine irrevocable judgment. Every leaf of these Books and Scriptures Thou hast, moreover, allotted to each one of the peoples and kindreds of the earth..." (Baha'u'llah)

We three walked together synchronously to explore and enjoy the surroundings as we continued to ponder over what virtues were hidden in each hour of each day.



Cat boys made abundant kisses almost impossible to hold in kitty paws but they did and then blew them in the air for you to wish you a happy spring!

Ciao everyone!

Searching for beauty...

Our complex has started a roofing project, which is not approved by the cat boys but "was kann man sagen?", we have to deal with it. It feels as if we are in the midst of a construction zone and indeed we are.

The cat boys were indoors and I was searching for beauty because I needed it. I noticed gingersnap eating catnip next to the tray of plants I had recently purchased from the farmer's market...aahhh, what a sight!
We love these colors...they are perfect...absolutely perfect, and the boys agree too.
Ollie became intoxicated and started grooming under the sun strips, where he usually likes to rest.

And gave me the serious look when too many photos were taken of him. Okay, I thought.
Upstairs, Sweet Pants was doing what Sweet Pants do: pondering,
reflecting.

“Never say there is nothing beautiful in the world anymore. There is always something to make you wonder in the shape of a tree, the trembling of a leaf.” (Albert Schweitzer)

and perhaps furry cats and dogs and horses and birds and beautiful flowers...

Cat boys sent kisses in pawfuls. They wished you all a happy last Wednesday before the vernal equinox!

Ciao!

searching for delights...

In the layers of the space around us we sometimes find manifest delights, sometimes seated
but not for very long...we three give three sighs when she flies up
and back. Whew!

Further down dividing the sky above from the ground below there is a straight hedge frequently filled with squirrels and little itty bitty chirpy birds. They come through at different times. Now it is only the sun that is sitting on the top layer...quiet nothingness but still pretty.
The treasures appear more further down, a slanky Mr Sweet Pants and a not so slanky Mr Puffy Pants who thinks he is in danger, he'd better hide himself in this game.
I am surprised and yet entertained that Gusser has to come closer
and closer to see better, one step at a time.
Fallen into his own trap, Ollie knows that there is no way out unless he becomes creative, fast.

He quickly assumes the posture of a meditating cat monk from outer space to confuse Gusser. This actually worked.
Whew...what a relief!
Our brief meditation was on this:

"The understanding of His words and the comprehension of the utterances of the Birds of Heaven are in no wise dependent upon human learning. They depend solely upon purity of heart, chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit. This is evidenced by those who, today, though without a single letter of the accepted standards of learning, are occupying the loftiest seats of knowledge; and the garden of their hearts is adorned, through the showers of divine grace, with the roses of wisdom and the tulips of understanding. Well is it with the sincere in heart for their share of the light of a mighty Day!" (Book of Certitude)

Thankfully, their hearts are pure, their souls chaste and they do have free spirits. Cat kisses were sent in pawfuls. Happy second week of March!

Ciao!

this was a week ago

It was a beautiful sunny cool afternoon, the sort that could be spent just about any place producing the same level of delight. I had the grand idea of taking a nap and allowing dreams to take me to places far.
I shared this idea with Augustus who immediately set to preparing the bed for us.

He has to fluff the sheepskin first
and that looks kind of funny
but it is always done the same way
as if he has to wake up the sheep skin to embrace him.

I then decided to run out and call for that naughty ginger cat of ours
and much to my surprise he appeared to have the same idea in his head. Here he is gently splitting the air molecules as he comes to me.
Indoors, in Gus' room Ollie chose the cooler ground where strips of light fell on him. His lazy hazel eyes told me that he welcomed the call but he did not want me to know that of course.
He yawned a very courteous yawn, barely opening his lips
while Sweet pants gave a big yawn, wide wide open.
Eyelids shut
Ollie fell on his side
and so did Gus, again.
I watched them for a while and read to them softly for their relaxation and subliminal meditation.

"Only when the lamp of search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture, and ecstasy, is kindled within the seeker’s heart, and the breeze of His loving-kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being. …Then will the manifold favours and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. He will contemplate the manifest signs of the universe, and will penetrate the hidden mysteries of the soul. Gazing with the eye of God, he will perceive within every atom a door that leadeth him to the stations of absolute certitude. He will discover in all things the mysteries of divine Revelation and the evidences of an everlasting manifestation." (Book of Certitude)

The little noises I heard indicated that they were flying high in dreamland.

With best wishes and kitty kisses...happy thursday to all!

Ciao

Good morning...

everyone! So much happens each day, we three are always in awe of this thing we call space and time that holds us within. We are especially fond of space and time when it is filled with light (and some other things too). We never tire of going out early every morning to wait for the golden rays of sun to emerge...first slowly and then boldly.

The pine you see appears autumn looking because of the orange hues but that is only the bright light captured in its tiny leaves.

The few reddish parts of this bougainvillea may lead you to think that we have a huge bush in our yard, truth is we only have two branches, and they too seem to be enjoying those rays of light.
The two cat boys become intoxicated in this sort of weather, cool and chirpy with birds and filled with torches of sun rays...this is not the diffuse hot sun but torch like and playful as it bounces from surface to surface.

Ollie and Gustopher exchanged the usual cat pleasantries,
then roamed.
El senor dulce pantalones was thinking sweet thoughts
and then the two laid down for a spell.
Seeing that I had them both where I wanted I asked if they were up to reflecting on a short passage and they meowed that indeed they were.

Augustus made himself comfortable on a wall
while Ollie searched for a proper place.
He indicated to us that he was ready,
and very focused.
I read to them this, something I came across the day before:

"A human being is part of the whole, called by us as "Universe", a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings as something separated from the rest- a kind of optical illusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves form this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security." - Einstein

Augustus was very pleased. He and Ollie have wide circles of love and thought Einstein had a good idea. They don't know that Einstein was a sort of whiz.

The two cat boys played a lot and rested a bit too. They sent pawfuls of kisses and best wishes.

Ciao everyone!