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!

Marching to March

March rolled in with glory in our part of the planet...cool and warm, soft and strong, light and dark...I am looking out of my window from down the ground level and wondering why I am not outside at this moment (I know the answer).

Earlier this morning I spent alone time with the cat dudes. Ollie the grand beast gave a bellow summoning me to let him out. I thought it was an emergency tinks call. It was not! He just summoned me to let him out and I did, crawled out of bed at 5, eyes half closed, kept rubbing them so I could see the alarm clock.

Later in the back yard where we play with the squirrels I suddenly noted that our felines are big. Here is Augustus Sweet Pants, the stretch,and there's Ollie Ollie Puffy Pants Boomba Dollie! He gallops around in the cool air of this March morning.
Minutes before there was a squirrel up a tree indicating that there just might be a
playful feline right underneath and further below
there would be a fully entertained lovely ginger cat, full of bursting emotions!
In a scene that is only normal here the three animals sat around and looked at each other.
I used this time to share with them this:

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in our own sunshine."- Ralph Waldo Emerson

We vowed to not do that. Cat boys sent you pawfuls of kisses in between their games and wished you a lovely March 1st.

Ciao everyone!

A gardener's work

can be easily performed by two cats. And I plan to propose to our home owner's association to replace our current gardeners with our lovely cats.

That time of the day when the sun is considering to retire is a special time. The dabs of golden light on the leaves are so metaphysical
that even a busy cat like Ollie would have to sit for a spell and soak in the peace and beauty.
No sooner had he begun to fade into the softness of those moments that his other self (the naughty one) woke up with Vulcan ears and told me that he was my leader! I simply looked back at him maintaining continuous eye contact.
He jumped down from his pot of glory and decided to tend to the garden, a new plant had suddenly appeared in our courtyard.
In his puffy gardening pants, he stood up and checked the plant
thoroughly,
from all angles, and with immense attention.
Sweet Pants was in charge of watering but he had created a lake
that he could not cross, too deep for his sweet pants, so he walked around it.
The gardener cats exchanged looks once
once
and again
twice at each other remaining in constant communication.
I had the urge to kiss them and so I did. They made kisses and blew it in the air.

Then Gus retired to the back and reflected on
this mystic passage that only he understands:

"O YE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MINDS TO KNOW AND EARS TO HEAR!

The first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the rose-garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to attain thy goal." (from the Hidden Words)

All in all it was a grand afternoon outdoors where most land is covered by cement.

Ciao everyone!

Sometimes they hide

when I approach them with the idea of a reading and reflections!

The palm tree that is the center piece of our back yard living room is fascinating. I take pictures from all angles and never tire of the visual treat that it is to me. I chose the dried up brown parts today.


A couple of nights ago I went to a talk. The quote from the Epistle of St. Paul to the Corinthians was discussed, the one that goes like this:

"For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face." This was the scriptural lesson on April 14, 1912 at the Church of Ascension in New York.

Here's the opening paragraph of the talk delivered by the guest speaker to the audience in 1912 building on the theme of the scriptural lesson:

"The light of truth has heretofore been seen dimly through variegated glasses, but now the splendors of Divinity shall be visible through the translucent mirrors of pure hearts and spirits. The light of truth is the divine teaching, heavenly instruction, merciful principles and spiritual civilization. Since my arrival in this country I find that material civilization has progressed greatly, that commerce has attained the utmost degree of expansion; arts, agriculture and all details of material civilization have reached the highest stage of perfection, but spiritual civilization has been left behind. Material civilization is like unto the lamp, while spiritual civilization is the light in that lamp. If the material and spiritual civilization become united, then we will have the light and the lamp together, and the outcome will be perfect. For material civilization is like unto a beautiful body, and spiritual civilization is like unto the spirit of life. If that wondrous spirit of life enters this beautiful body, the body will become a channel for the distribution and development of the perfections of humanity." (Promulgation of Universal Peace)

The speaker, a chemist, noted that a silversmith knows when silver is all pure when he heats it to the point that a black surface layer forms on the top and fumes away, and then he can see his own reflection in the molten silver, first see through a glass darkly but then face to face. Think about this.

Here is naughty Ollie who was hiding from this morning's reading
followed closely by his naughty big brother Augustus who followed suit immediately!
No churchy talks for cat boys on a Friday.

Still they came out to make kisses and send you their best wishes! Happy Friday everyone!

Ciao!

Conceptual Frameworks...

In our world the early mornings offer a lot to see and to ponder. It is probably exactly the same in your world. On this early morning I was not surprised to see the two Misters busy doing their cat thing. After all I am the enabler, I disperse the seeds for the squirrels and I take the cats out back to the theatre.

On this particular morning Mr Sweet Pants was the one who noticed the rustle in the debris and his crouch signaled to Mr Puffy Pants that something interesting was about to happen.
I want you to know that chubby and fluffy as Ollie might be, and he is, what he is definitely not is being lethargic. Mr Puffy Pants is not familiar with the concept of inertia and so he always springs into action, promptly.
With laser like focus
and in their adorable hunter crouch,
the cat boys checked the little squirrel up and down with excitement,
and mutually arrived at the idea that he was not all that interesting or perhaps, "do we really want this dude?", and so they stopped having entirely enjoyed the game just for its own sake...
This posture I cannot figure out but then again that is Ollie!
While they were busy with their thing and I was clicking my camera away I was also thinking about my conception of the world around me, what was the framework I was conceptualizing for the world that shaped around me? What were those bits of 'acquired knowledge' that were not necessary and gave me a negative outlook and what were the positive ones. Was I laser-like in my analysis of the world or more like a hummingbird.

Hearing the tsk tsk of a hummingbird above I called the cat boys over to another corner and asked them to look above.
They observed the hummingbird swiftly zipping back
and forth,
up and
down!
Incredibly genius cats that they are they told me that this reminded them of dan roam
encouraging us to balance our fox and our hummingbird. Ha ha! Those boys are clever indeed, sly as foxes and aware of their environment as hummingbirds. I was forced to kiss them both on their funny faces.

I don't have really much to say except that I like to apply this to the way I restructure my conceptual framework of this world, what do I expect it to be like and what my role would have to be. This is all too much for a beautiful day like today but something to think about for later.

Cat boys sent kisses and best wishes like they always do...

Ciao!

The rhythm of our days...

I have noticed how important rhythm is to the focus and energy of cat boys. A disciplined ritual collects their random energies, and so this is why we walk, read and reflect together.
I bought these plants for the cat boys. They love beautiful surroundings. The plants need to be beautified but that will be another day's project. I love how each cat inspects the plants.

Inspections over the cat boys ran into the courtyard. Here's Sweet Pants Augustus
with his musical gait.
Ollie Puffy Pants hurried right behind
and the two set off like two horses onto the track.
Ollie split...games began.
They did ask me about the future state of life on earth, I researched, we read this from Abdul-Baha, spiritual teacher:

"The Lord of all mankind hath fashioned this human realm to be a Garden of Eden, an earthly paradise. If, as it must, it findeth the way to harmony and peace, to love and mutual trust, it will become a true abode of bliss, a place of manifold blessings and unending delights. Therein shall be revealed the excellence of humankind, therein shall the rays of the Sun of Truth shine forth on every hand."

This they found pleasing, they made kisses and blew them in the air for your fat Tuesday!

Ciao everyone!

they have chosen our hearts....

The tulip tree outside our unit is hurrying towards full bloom, a treat for
Augustus Sweet Pants who likes to sit on the patio wall to eat his breakfast.
Later in the morning he reposes while I read to him a passage for his meditations.
"He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His servants, and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory. Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a token of God’s bountiful favor." Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah

This is one of our Murs des Chats, or cat walls, with illustrations from lovely Carolina.
Mr Puffy Pants is calm. He said hello and made kisses for you.
We wish all a lovely Wednesday!

Ciao!