GETTING DOWN WITH HONEYSUCKLE

Here we have Pearl, demonstrating for us the proper way to appreciate a stick of honeysuckle wood. (photos enlarge)

· Step 1- discreet sniff
· Step 2- flop over on your side
· Step 3-total body rub
· Step 4-double paw grab
· Step 5-blissed-out head butt
· Step 6-give your BFF a turn












































Warning: before getting your cat honeysuckle, please read THIS!
http://www.kookykat.com/honeysuckle.htm

CAT TALE

It's a good day for the neighbor's cat to be out checking his trapline, in and around the rock caves in the breakwall, then under the junipers, sneaking ever closer to the bird feeders. I caught him halfway to his goal, and shooed him away. "Go check the cornfield across the road for mice!"



This cat, when he was a kitten barely weaned, had slipped out the open door past his family one very cold winter evening. My neighbor had stopped by my place to use my computer that night - I rarely have visitors in the evening. When she left, we briefly stood on the front porch, saying goodbye, when we heard the faintest, most piteous kitten cries coming from "over there." We called out, "Here kitty kitty kitty" until we saw the little one come bravely "dolphin-ing" through the deep snow. I picked him up, and he was shivering so badly we took him right inside, and gave him some canned cat food mixed with warm water. My neighbor said, If you can't find who owns him, will you keep him? I told her with four cats already, my best friend had said if I even talked about getting another cat, she was getting everyone together for an intervention! My neighbor said, Well, if you don't find where he belongs, my husband can take him to the Humane Society in the city. Since the HS isn't a non-euthanizing facility, I didn't like those prospects. I kept him in bed with me (with the door shut to keep the other four very curious and alarmed cats at bay) He curled up in the warmest spot he could find (my armpit!) stared at me with his kitten-blue eyes for a while, then fell asleep. In the morning, I learned that the people across the road from me and two doors down had lost a kitten, and were thrilled to get him back. I often wondered how much longer he would have lasted if my neighbor hadn't stopped by at just the right time. Now every time I see this cat hanging around my yard, stalking the birdfeeders - I'm certain it's the same kitten, now grown - the irony makes me smile. Once I tenderly welcomed him in his time of need, and now, I enthusiastically chase him away!

TCB

It’s Monday morning, and time to Take Care of Business, as Aretha Franklin would say. If you don’t recall that reference, don’t feel bad, it's only one of the greatest sources of misheard lyrics in musical history. It's that one phrase near the end of her signature soul song, “RESPECT" - that we could never quite figure out, until the age of the digital sound, the Internet and Karaoke, that is. If you are still stumped, here's what we're talking about. Sing it with me: R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Find out what it means to me, R-E-S-P-E-C-T, Take care, T-C-B (followed by all those "sock it to me's") So, let's get to it...


Item 1 Comet Lulin – the comet has now past it’s brightest peak in our night sky, and probably only visible with a telescope. But I did bundle up after midnight a few nights ago, and went out with my 10x50 power binoculars, stood (with my mouth open and my neck bent back at a very un-ergonomic angle!) and traced a path among the stars until I should have been in the right vicinity, but, alas, I just couldn’t find anything that looked green and fuzzy. Too bad, because Lulin won’t come round to earth again for another thousand years at least! I’ll have to be content with my memories of Hale-Bopp, back in 1997. Now that was a real treat to see!

Item 2 An Award! – The Cloud Messenger received an Honest Scrap award from Lisa, who has two delightful blogs many will know – Rambling of a Villas Girl and Villas Girl Photos. The award came to her via Camera Critters, and was actually written by one of her charming cats. So that is the spirit in which we will humbly receive it here. This award comes with the proviso that the recipient must tell 10 (or whatever) honest things about themselves. Our Pearl has volunteered (i.e. pushed herself past the other three cats into the limelight) to tell you a few things. So, take it away, Miss P…

I was born in 2000 in Turner Valley, Alberta. I had some siblings but…who cares about them. I am pure white, not a whisker or patch of any other color, and very very fluffy. “She” – the lady in charge of meeting my needs – calls me her Wooly Bully. I don’t know what that is, but it sounds like She’s dissing me. She also says I talk too much. Well, I have a lot to say. And every bit of it is important. But She makes fun of me, especially when I’m standing and crying at the door to the room I never get to go into (spare bedroom, She calls it). She says,“Oh dear, did Timmy fall in the well again?” I have three fellows here, Sweeney, who is my BFF, and Elliott, who is okay for an old guy, and Flash, who is kind of a wuss. Between you and me, I could take her any time I want, but I settle for a few good swats every once in a while. If I go too far, She gets out the Cat Behavior Modifier (i.e. Ikea spray bottle). Then I give everyone (except Sweeney) my worst squinty-eye stare for a while. She says I can be a real diva, a brat, and a new sance. I don’t know what any of those things mean, especially a "sance" but when she uses that tone of voice, I remind her that my people were worshiped in ancient times. Then She replies with, “Yeah, and you use the litter box just like everybody else." I don’t get nearly enough RESPECT. P.S. It was Her idea to use the photo of me cuddling up to Flash. Trust me, that kind of thing happens about as often as comet Lulin appears, but She had to go and catch it on camera. Okay, I'm done, when's lunch?

Thank you Pearl. (Flash looks pretty nervous, I thinkin'). And many thanks to Lisa, for the Award. I'm going to pass it along to Christine at Quiet Paths, who is also a Cat Staffer (as in "Dogs Have Owners, Cats Have Staff")




Comet photo at http://news.nationalgeographic.com

TINY TOTS WITH THEIR EYES ALL AGLOW

Sweeney: I opens prezzy now, pleeeze?

Me: No, babygirl, one more sleep....

SERENDIPITY (OSI)

I spent too long looking for it. Should have just left; then I wouldn’t have been late. But I was annoyed. I’m usually careful about misplacing things. Finally, there it was, one corner sticking out from under the cabinet. How in the world did it get under there? (rhetorical question). Then – look, there's something else I hadn’t seen in a while; didn’t even know it was missing! What a happy accident. Life with cats is always serendipitous.


I know I was bad
but wait, just look at this face
and try to scold me



This is my first take-a-deep-breath-and-go-for-it attempt at haibun, combining short prose with haiku. I most certainly bent the rules, but it was fun to write. And thanks to Sweeney for keeping still for the photo…what a good girl!

For more delightful responses to this prompt, visit One Single Impression

Click here for the fascinating origin of the word 'serendipity'
http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2008/7/30294_space.html