'The steroids in my food made me do it.'

That's what Ollie babe says each time he is overcome by the urge to wrestle Augustus. He should know by now that this is not a good idea. Slender as is our calm little August, he does not give into Ollie, aka Mr Puffy Pants, who outweighs him by several pounds. Oh well, Puffy Pants comes from the tribe of warrior-type Indians, in fact Chief Puffy Pants is his Indian name. His extreme cuteness did not earn him a spot in the ranks of high warrior Indians, so he left dismayed. His tribesmen did not know what was hidden behind those seemingly quiet hazel eyes but we know. These photos are from last evening, he fought his urges and lost.







Following the cat-tangle Ollie and I had some quiet moments of reflection where I read sat down and spoke with him. His challenge is to beautify his acts with love, compassion and kindness. Mine is to be firm with him and not fall for his cuteness,




So we meditated upon this for tranquillity.

In the city of Brahman is a secret dwelling,
the lotus of the heart...
As great as the infinite space beyond
Is the space within the lotus of the heart. (The Chandogya Upanishad, Hindu Teaching)

Wishing all a tranquil Thursday adorned with cat kisses.

Ciao!

Training their musical ears!

As cat boys grow up new talents must be developed and refined. August and Ollie are now listening to soothing music.



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This song, by the talented and young artist Eric Harper, is in Portuguese. It is actually a prayer which happens to be a favorite of Ollie and August. On these changing summer days they like to hear it.

“Cura”
Teu nome é minha cura,
Ó meu Deus,
E a lembrança de Ti,
Meu remédio.
…ó meu Deus,
E a lembrança de Ti,
Meu remédio.
Aproximar-me de Ti
É minha esperança,
E meu amor por Ti,
Meu companheiro.

“Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion.” – Bahá’u’lláh

Cat boys hope you enjoyed the music and they send you cat kisses!

Ciao!

Cat boys are taking a blog break! Orwell saved the day! And it was all love!

Some years ago I was sitting at our local Pete's coffee shop and a lady brought a basket with two kittens in it. One had a pink bow and the other a blue. I had never had kittens growing up, only dogs. So I went over, checked out these fellows and thought, O my, they are irresistable!
Well, at the time we lived in an ugly apartment on a busy street and I was not sure if adopting a cat was such a good idea, so I talked myself out of it, and went back to my table. I was reading an article and had some sort of coffee or tea on my table. I got back to reading but kept an eye on the basket, the kittens, and the people who were stopping by and checking these kittens. I noticed from the distance that someone picked up one of the kittens. At that very moment I leapt out of my chair, went over to the woman and got the little boy kitten.
My husband was flying overseas or out of town that day. I just called him as he was on the way to airport to let him know that we now had a kitten. I took this little fellow home, to the ugly apartment which we used to call the Marengo Mansions, and that very night I discovered that the little dude was covered with fleas, OMG. So most of the evening I was washing and cleaning and trying to discover how to deal with so many fleas.
At night I did not let him into the bedroom because I was afraid the flea wash may not have been thorough. He stayed in the only living room of the apartment. Morning come, I looked out to check for him. He was cuddled on an ugly chair and seemed to be afraid of me. He ran over to our ugly sofa and instantly peed on this copy of Orwell paperback that was laying there and a calculator. Orwell saved me. Not a drop of pee got anywhere, just all soaked up by Orwell.
Anyhow, the story is long but I found some photos of this dude whom we had namedFugus, the sandkitten. Eventually we had to give him to my in-laws because the apartment complex would not let us keep Fugus. Fugus flew to Hastings, Nebraska and joined Filmore, a handsome and quite big grey Siamese.

This is baby Fugus who traveled to San Diego with me the day after being adopted. I got him a huge flea-necklace and took him to Starbucks.

Here he is drinking milk at Starbucks. Incidentally, I did not have a real camera then, only a cardsized instant thing, which should explain the lousy photo quality.

This is baby Fugus in our ugly apartment. He did not complain.

This is Fugus at our in-laws. He likes the big house. The furnished basement filled with toys is the cat condo. Boys sleep there at night.

And here is a grown up Fugus, loves the outdoors, the birds and the bunnies and everything else.

We loved this little fellow and boy was it difficult to part with him. He now has a great brother and a live-in vet.

Love gives life to the lifeless. Love lights a flame in the heart that is cold. Love brings hope to the hopeless and gladdens the hearts of the sorrowful.
In the world of existence there is indeed no greater power than the power of love. When the heart of man is aglow with the flame of love, he is ready to sacrifice all—even his life. (Paris Talks)

Boys send all cat kisses and best wishes for a lovely Tuesday....

Ciao!

Who is telling jokes today?

This early morning I find August laughing,

and Ollie sitting quietly, seemingly innocent and unaware.

Then I turn around and August is laughing out loud

and ginger snap has the giggles too!

I have a sneaking suspicion that the cat boys are playing with me but that is alright. Laughter is spiritual relaxation and is good for these dudes.

Cat boys are blowing kisses your way so you too would be happy and laughing this Monday!

Ciao!

Awaiting the weekend...

Ollie can already see it in his mind's eye.

August is rolling on the ground, laughing at Ollie's jokes.

His brother can be quite entertaining, when he is not jealous and emotional.

Ollie is pretending to be innocent.
'What me? I didn't say anything', says our Mr Puffy Pants.

August, looking this way and that...he knows the weekend is just around the corner,
and he wishes all a fabulous Friday.  No readings today, only TV, jokes, and radio.


Ciao!

Last night

I wasn't home to play with the cat boys.  I was attending an event at the Western Justice Center Foundation.  This building and the adjacent US Court of Appeals building are so stunningly beautiful that I had to take a few impromptu snapshots with my iphone.  Picture quality is not great but I hope you can imagine the beauty.
The building of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals 29th District

is adjacent to the Western Justice Center and is perhaps even more elegant.  If you live in and about Pasadena, visiting this building will be a grand treat your eyes.

The exterior gardens are stunning and since my iphone was not going to capture the beauty I witnessed, I settled for a picture of a grand palm tree standing tall.

Back to the Western Justice Center, I don't know who were the interior designers but they have done a splendid job.  Everything is beautiful there.  The photo below is that of the entrance hall.  I love the salmon/rose wall color, the pictures and ohh, that staircase.

Here's a snapshot of the ceiling tiles, and I totally forgot to take pictures of the beautiful rugs and so many other things.  I think you get the picture.

The meeting last night, justice related naturally, was to support the plight of 7 Iranian Baha'is who have been wrongly incarcerated since over a year ago.  Congressman Adam Schiff, Mayor Bogart, and Pasadena Police Chief, Bernard Melekian,  were there to speak in support of these people and to encourage all citizens to act when they see injustice.  Police Chief Melekian who is of Armenian descent spoke of Hitler and the Jewish problem. He reminded us that before the planning of the final solution Hitler asked "Who remembers the Armenians?" He was right. No one remembered them, as no one remembered the Jews. Rejected by everyone, they felt expelled from history. This, he said, is what moves him to stand in support of the Baha'is. The Honorable Judge Dorothy Nelson of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals was the master of ceremony and she herself is truly inspiring.  I have to admit that I was pleased to get a first hand impression of our city and government officials and to realize that a lot of good is done everywhere. This morning I saw the report of last night's event in our own local Pasadena paper.

Anyhow, as you might have guessed Ollie wanted to attend, he feels the need to show his presence everywhere, he stands for justice, he fights evil, etc.  And as on another occasion, this happened. 

He attempted to get his way by playing cute,.... and it did not work.

So he sat outside and pointed his ears towards the meeting room so he could eavesdrop.  What a useful creation, rotatable ears!  I wish I had those.

Augustus stayed home, he thought it was more dignified to remain at home because he knew that I would give him a report when I returned.

And he went 'OMMMMM'.

Well, what can one say.  Maybe the only thing to do is to pray for unity...to stand for justice...to not become complacent.

This prayer, so beautiful, was said at the opening of the session.

OO my God!  O my God!  Verily, I invoke Thee and supplicate before Thy threshold, asking Thee that all Thy mercies may descend upon these souls.  Specialize them for Thy favor and Thy truth.

O Lord!  Unite and bind together the hearts, join in accord all the souls, and exhilarate the spirits through the signs of Thy sanctity and oneness.  O Lord!  Make these faces radiant through the light of Thy oneness.  Strengthen the loins of Thy servants in the service of Thy kingdom. 

O Lord, Thou possessor of infinite mercy!  O Lord of forgiveness and pardon!  Forgive our sins, pardon our shortcomings, and cause us to turn to the kingdom of Thy clemency, invoking the kingdom of might and power, humble at Thy shrine and submissive before the glory of Thine evidences.

O Lord God!  Make us as waves of the sea, as flowers of the garden, united, agreed through the bounties of Thy love.  O Lord!  Dilate the breasts through the signs of Thy oneness, and make all mankind as stars shining from the same height of glory, as perfect fruits growing upon Thy tree of life.

Verily, Thou art the Almighty, the Self-Subsistent, the Giver, the Forgiving, the Pardoner, the Omniscient, the One Creator. (Abdu’l-Bahá)

Peace!

Musical heads...

After yesterday's comments about a certain red cat's size (no names) I thought perhaps I need to chat with the boys about food. This would naturally confuse the slender Augustus but what can a mommy do. Well, as you see shown below, cat boys have a sixth sense and know when a lecture might be coming. For minutes I was trying to get the boys' attention and not once did I manage to get them both facing me. Well, duhhh! We know cats conference back to back, what was mommy thinking! So I let it be.

Before I got a chance to say something, Ollie tells me this:

"All food was lawful to the children of Israel save that which Israel forbade himself before the Torah was revealed."

I am thinking 'what the heck?', 'is he reading my mind?', and 'since when is he a child of Israel?'.  Confused as I was, I did not let him gain the upper hand, and I went straight into an explanation of the famous Supper.

"O thou yearner after the Truth!
The Supper of the Lord which His Highness the Spirit (Christ) ate with the apostles was a heavenly supper and not one of material bread and water, for material objects have no connection with spiritual objects. As at that time material food was also present, therefore the leaders of the religion of Christ thought that it was material food which was changed into spiritual food.
The proof that it was not material food is this: The apostles upon many occasions partook of material food with His Highness Christ, yet the supper of that night became designated as the “Lord’s Supper.” From this designation it is plain and evident that they ate heavenly food at that supper. That heavenly food consisted of the love of God, the knowledge of God, the mysteries of God and the bestowal of God." (Tablet of AbdulBaha 514)

From the ensuing bites I understood that he was not falling for this stuff, he likes his treats, and he will not be tricked.  So there we have it.  I need to call Siegfried and Roy and while I am waiting to hear from them, I will dispense treats with moderation.

Wishing all a treatful Wednesday and cat kisses.

Ciao!