At 5:30 or 6:00 this morning, we are playing

Ollie, Augustus and I! If this is not love it has to be insanity. The little drain pipe from the neighbor's patio onto the garden area is a good place this early morning for playing peekaboo! At least I know that I am helping them with their feline education!

Whose fluffly paws are those?
Do I see a little face? I wonder who that is?
Who is hiding from mama?
Ollie looks up and says "it's me!"
Peekaboo!


And here's the two of them, two precious doodles!


After play, Ollie selected this reading:

Nothing has been created without a special destiny, for every creature has an innate station of attainment. This flower has been created to mirror forth a harmonious ensemble of color and perfume. Each kingdom of nature holds potentialities and each must be cultivated in order to reach its fulfillment. The divine teachers desire man to be educated that he may attain to the high rank of his own reality, the deprivation of which is the rank of perdition.

Then we all filled our paws with kisses and blew them in the air!

Ciao!

Escargot for petit dejeuner? At 6:30 a.m.?

Oui? Non?

Oui?

Oui?

Oui?

Non!

Oui!

Non! Absolument pas!

The more mature Augustus eats treats,

and smiles!


We read this after the real petit dejeuner, which consisted of yummy kitty tuna:

"In man five outer powers exist, which are the agents of perception, that is to say, through these five powers man perceives material beings. These are sight, which perceives visible forms; hearing, which perceives audible sounds; smell, which perceives odors; taste, which perceives foods; and feeling, which is in all parts of the body, and perceives tangible things. These five powers perceive outward existences.

Man has also spiritual powers: imagination, which conceives things; thought, which reflects upon realities; comprehension, which comprehends realities, memory, which retains whatever man imagines, thinks, and comprehends. The intermediary between the five outward powers and the inward powers, is the sense which they possess in common, that is to say, the sense which acts between the outer and inner powers, conveys to the inward powers whatever the outer powers discern. It is termed the common faculty, because it communicates between the outward and inward powers, and thus is common to the outward and inward powers.

For instance, sight is one of the outer powers; it sees and perceives this flower, and conveys this perception to the inner power -- the common faculty -- which transmits this perception to the power of imagination, which in its turn conceives and forms this image and transmits it to the power of thought; the power of thought reflects, and having grasped the reality, conveys it to the power of comprehension; the comprehension, when it has comprehended it, delivers the image of the object perceived to the memory, and the memory keeps it in its repository.

The outward powers are five: the power of sight, of hearing, of taste, of smell, and of feeling.
The inner powers are also five: the common faculty, and the powers of imagination, thought, comprehension, and memory."(BWF)

Ollie later told me that as a full-bred card-carrying feline he would not eat escargot but he wanted to demonstrate the interaction of outer physical and inner spiritual powers. "Is that so?", I exclaimed. He said yes with his hazel eyes!

Love and pawfuls of kisses to all but no escargots!

Ciao!

A busy weekend...

We came across these cactus flowers that we had been anxiously awaiting to see bloom


Ollie asked me to take a picture of him sitting in his planter...

Gussy took a peek to see what was going on.


They walked here and there, back and forth, as I followed them..doodles seem to know what they are looking for!



We stood around for some time comparing our toes!




Cat boys did a lot of leaning around as they scoped the area...



And finally, there was some much needed relaxation!




We reflected upon a proverb from the Buddhist religion selected by Augustus:

To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell.



Happy Monday Morning to all, kitty kisses and love purrs!

Ciao!

Tomorrow is commencement at Caltech...

An email from a graduating student had me thinking of graduation. She mentioned that she felt shell shocked, which immediately reminded me of my own zombie state after finishing...whew, nothing like it!

I wandered from my office to take in the sights on the campus on this overcast day as students and parents and relatives and friends all prepare for the grand day tomorrow. White chairs already arranged on the green expanse of lawn in front of the Beckman Auditorium, white tents, cables, cameras, loudspeakers...

I took a few snapshots with the handy iphone...
A ceiling in my building at Caltech...


A pot of plants on campus...

A tile on the wall...

The hall outside of my building where graduates will be lining up tomorrow to do the walk...

You thought I'd forget the cat boys??? Not likely....
Here's Ollie cat

and there's Augustus boy!


Best wishes to all graduating or not...pawfuls of kitty kisses for all!

Ciao!

As Ollie prepares to travel...

Augustus ponders....




"... the breast must be purified from all that hath been heard and the heart sanctified from all attachments, so that it may become a recipient of the invisible inspiration and a treasury of the mysteries of supreme knowledges. Therefore it is said: "The traveller in the White Path and in the Red Support shall never reach his homestead unless he is empty-handed from all that is possessed by the people." This is the condition of the traveller; duly reflect and meditate, that thou mayest be informed of the purpose of the Book, without veil."

Augustus and Ollie are sending everyone pawfuls of kisses so you'd have a great day!

Ciao!

Off to Vote,,,

Following the review and discussion of the passage below, obviously selected by none other than Augustus,

"...those individuals who are engaged in government service are exhorted to "approach their duties with entire detachment, integrity and independence of spirit, and with complete consecration and sanctity of purpose." Their personal fulfillment comes not from material reward but from "the devising of methods to insure the progress of the people," from experiencing the "delights of dispensing justice," and drinking from "the springs of a clear conscience and a sincere intent." In the end, the "happiness and greatness, the rank and station, the pleasure and peace" of the public servant does not consist in "his personal wealth, but rather in his excellent character, his high resolve, the breadth of his learning, and his ability to solve difficult problems."

The challenge of overcoming corruption in public life is multidimensional in nature. The adoption of administrative procedures and legal safeguards, however important such measures may be, will not bring about enduring changes in individual and institutional behavior. For governance, in essence, is a moral and spiritual practice whose compass is found within the human heart. Thus, only as the inner lives of human beings are transformed will the vision of a "genuine civilization of character" be realized." (BIC 2001)

they set out to vote!

August said, "Thank you Miss Umber for my cape!" and he feels secure enough to wear a cape that says "Miss Little Jeans"!


Ollie whispered that he was going to run for office himself! I told him that perhaps in the next elections,

Cat boys did not forget to fill their paws with kisses to disperse love in the air....

Ciao everyone!

My second walk early Sunday morning

took me right by the jacarandas...an unusually quiet Sunday morning!

On the way back I saw these gorgeous flowers!


Back at the condo, I found my dudes sitting in the courtyard. They were reading with their new friend, Thomas, who is not allowed to get out.
This is Thomas the white cat!

They were discussing this passage by mental telepathy:

"O SON OF MAN!
Write all that We have revealed unto thee with the ink of light upon the tablet of thy spirit. Should this not be in thy power, then make thine ink of the essence of thy heart. ...." TheHiddenWords


As the air warmed up Ollie retreated to the cool indoors where he continued the discussion with his pupils...

and all of this left him super exhausted so he had to take a nap!


All in all, it was a good Sunday for the boys, and they hope everyone else too had a lovely weekend! Kitty purrs and little kisses were sent off!

Ciao!