This Captain's log...

is a little different from the earlier ones.

The first thing to make note of is that I cannot call it a Captain's Log because I have been demoted, or at least I feel that way.  So on that afternoon that we walked towards the back I made note of the vine crawling the wall, 

the light that poured through the tiny tough pine leaves

and the soft waving palm.

I took a good look at this pot of jade and impatiens that happens to be a personal favorite,

and then my eyes fell on our precious cat boys, perhaps I need to call them cat men?!

That thought had not left my head that Mr Sweet Pants indicated how much he would like to have a hat made of jade leaves, a sort of cat beret for when he goes on his reconnaissance missions, and I naturally had to agree that he had the right idea.

Then he relaxed and went into his own world, that place where he can sit undisturbed, and that is the second thing to note, his desire to be treated as an adult while still enjoying some private sweet talks!

Brother Ollie, Mr Puffy Pants, who was listening from in front of him could not resist

a big laugh but it was of the silent and fast type

so Augustus would not know what happened.  I admired him for his sensitivity towards

his brother who is now becoming a young cat man.

Ollie wasn't sure what a cat man was

but he went along.

I chose to end this log with a passage for reflection from our favorite Hidden Words:

O SON OF THE THRONE! Thy hearing is My hearing, hear thou therewith. Thy sight is My sight, do thou see therewith, that in thine inmost soul thou mayest testify unto My exalted sanctity, and I within Myself may bear witness unto an exalted station for thee.  (Baha'u'llah)

Cat boys sent love and kisses and best wishes for a happy weekend!

Ciao!

The Extraordinary Ordinary

It is nearly the same scene every day, on the macroscopic scale, even though the cat boys tell me that everything is different microscopically.  This is what they said when I asked them how they did not tire of the same scenery.
I had to concur as I looked up and glanced deep into the branches of the pine tree, I felt that many molecules had shifted their positions inside some of those piny needles.

Mr Puffy Pants was closely examining some of the flowers.  Give him a lab coat and he would be hired instantly by the FDA.

Our impatiens that we were not sure if it would make it, actually made it and now it is tall and slanky.  It passed the experimental stage of its life.

Up on the neighbor patio wall a silent Mr Sweet Pants watched us while not moving his eyes.  He used his wide angle vision to take all in, it was that sort of a moment that one should not disturb by actively moving eyeballs around, you know the kind.

Having absorbed the elements of that picture he closed his eyes and continued enjoying it in his mental bank.
Don't you suppose that that is what the creator does, that he sees the elements alone, that the string of time is irrelevant to Him, that he looks only for pure hearted actions, beautiful deeds, and good intentions?  Well, fact is, we did not know.  We only thought so.

Mr Puffy Pants too fell into the spell of the afternoon moments.

His golden profile gets squeezed by me every night...most lovingly.

The cat boys reflected on this:

My God, what is a heart,
That Thou shouldst it so eye, and wooe,
Powring upon it all Thy art,
As if that Thou hadst nothing els to do?  (George Herbert)

Then they made you kisses and wished you a very beautiful Wednesday.

Ciao everyone!

Where gratitude takes us nearer...

"Thankfulness brings you to the place where the Beloved lives." _ Rumi

The cat boys woke me up early this morning as they do every morning; nowadays it is even dark when we go out.  MrLittleJeans always wants to know how they woke me up on that particular day.  He is most entertained listening to the various methods they employ and I am entertained thinking about it because when I first wake up I am not that entertained.

This morning Ollie went to the closet and start banging his furry little golden fists on the door until I got up. Augustus who was lying at the foot of the bed did not think him insane, he just listened wondering or not.

They woke me up early to go check the outdoors always curious to find what creatures had set their feet on our cement grounds.

Augustus monitored the walls

while Ollie said his morning prayers by a light near the big palm.

I went back in for coffee and doing some laundry and other things and returned when it was lighter.   They sat and we stared.

Incidentally staring is really good for the eyes...stare close, then far, close, then far, try to make out silhouettes in the dark, then light.  At least this is my thinking unsupported by any opthamologist.

As the first rays of the sun reflected off the patch of clouds above I thought to walk back in hoping to have some furry followers.

Indoors they had breakfast and played some theatrical roles, those thespian cats, and I went about my business of getting ready.

On my way out I noted one office worker cat

in active meditation,

and the other office worker cat hiding from work!

Closer examination indicated that our sheets were very furry, just how the cats liked them.

We discussed during our early morning excursions "gratitude", that deep gratitude that stays with us even during hard times, or that deep gratitude that we like to find especially during hard times.  The cat boys told me that getting there required practice.  I have decided to practice that.   Tomorrow I have some neighbors for afternoon get together where we share inspirational writings and prayers and then we eat.  Our theme is gratitude.

"Therefore, mere verbal thanksgiving is without effect. But real thankfulness is a cordial giving of thanks from the heart.  When man in response to the favors of God manifests susceptibilities of conscience, the heart is happy, the spirit is exhilarated.  These spiritual susceptibilities are ideal thanksgiving."  (Abdul Baha, Excerpt of talk 1912)

Cat boys made you kisses and blew them out in the air to wish you a happy weekend.

Ciao everyone!

Autumnal Greetings from the City Jag and Lion....

Is it crazy busy everywhere?...We thought so.

I have had next to no time to share stories of the city jag and his brother lion, but here they are, cute as ever if not more, and precious as ever if not more.

They are still reading, reflecting, hunting, and dreaming.  They visit neighbors and ask for treats and little rubs.  They may on occasions eat someone's gold fish and/or catch some little mouse.

They listened to this while we stared at each other in the courtyard.

They sent kisses and their best wishes.

Ciao everyone!

When the dust of day started to settle

gently riding on the softening rays of sun the two cat boys found themselves is somewhat of a trance.

Augustus the great was chatting with his own soul

while Ollie was also trying to communicate with Augustus' soul, at one moment,

and then he gave up that idea for the more interesting idea of wrestling the planter.
Augustus noticed that!

Wrestling the planter not entirely fulfilling he had the notion to come and do the same to his brother under the disguise of wanting to kiss the back of his neck,

maybe a little peck on the cheek.

I warned Ollie to examine his intentions, and after

several minutes of internal wrestling

he gave in to his better self and sat next to his brother in a semi yinyan formation!

They assumed the posture of spiritual listening, which meant that I read to them while they turned their backs to me but left their ears pointed in the right direction, and

we reflected on this:

O SON OF BEING! Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance and seek none other than Me. For I have created thee rich and have bountifully shed My favor upon thee. (The Hidden Words)

Mr Sweet Pants then stood up and said Namaste to YOU.

The light was still playing in the leaves of the raefus palm.

The crow was still singing on the distant tree.

We all said Namaste!

Cat boys sent you pawfuls of kisses and their best wishes!

Ciao everyone!

September, still bright and dry...

This is the view earlier two days ago as we walked back to the condo...the September sun couldn't deceive us,  the angle with which it hit the pole in the courtyard appeared different; at least this is what the cat boys told me.  Still bright, warm and dry but there was no fooling two genius cat boys.

When we set out earlier we came upon the big palm tree that fell to its demise Saturday evening.  It just fell kaboom and had Ollie flying indoors like a flash of light.  He did not go back out that night while Augustus, the stripy cat, sat on a high garage roof and yawned...he was not incredibly entertained.

He was significantly more entertained when I took a big tall ladder and climbed up the 8-foot stucco wall to retrieve him.  As I sat up there on the garage roof I thought simultaneously about the nice private vista Augustus had and of how I would eventually climb back down.  I did climb down eventually,  and he noted the human clumsiness but did not meow about it.

Back to the fallen tree...here it is..fallen on its side.  The stripy cat Augustus took a semi-interested look at it and wondered if he should bother tinxing on it.  Naah, not this one!

Ollie looked from a distance...he remembered the kaboom.

And here he is digging deep into his memory bank while also trying to console himself.

Yesterday morning's skies were considerably different, blue and not golden, September playing tricks with us.

The stripy cat sat on the patio wall and told Ollie all about the ladder using cat mental waves.

 Ollie thought that my climbing was too hilarious and so he tried to give me a kiss.

I wondered about these two boys, I wondered about us all, I wondered how when trees fall and cats climb to unreachable heights, when civilizations roll away and musical notes recollect in new arrangements, that the cement that glues us all is the ability to adore...created to adore.

"O SON OF JUSTICE! Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his hearts desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved."

Baha'u'llah

Cat boys sent you adoring kisses and their best wishes....


Ciao everyone!