Barney Loves Boxes

This Afternoon-A Bit Of Awesome

He drifted by my window, graceful and silent, oh so beautiful. I watched his path with awestuck wonder as he alighted ,wings spread out, showing off his colors in the late afternoon sunlight. He flipped his wings closed and looked around with haughty eyes, lord of the skies. Then, with a soft cry, the red tailed hawk flew off to who knows where.

One would expect me to see a sight like this as I live in the country on a lake. The wonder I found in this moment was that I was in the middle of downtown, sitting in a bank parking lot and the pole this hawk landed on was a light pole in the mall parking lot next door. Just not something I would expect to see downtown.

A Spooky Story

BANG

Stacy groaned and flipped over to bury her head against Jim’s back.

BANG!

Jim grunted and pulled his pillow over his head.

BANG!

“Stacy, do something about that cat!” Jim’s muffled voice came. “I can’t sleep.”

Stacy laid there, reluctant to leave the warmth of the bed. Another bang of the door came. She turned over and sat up. She could see a small white paw under the door where it didn’t quite meet the floor. She could also see the glean of a green eye staring at her next to the paw. She got up to open the door and glare down at her tortoiseshell cat, Munchie. Glancing at the clock Stacy saw that it was 3:23 am.

“Can’t you wait for morning?”

Munchie turned and ran down the stairs to the kitchen door, her miffed owner behind her. Once the door was opened she sashayed over to her bowl to sit with a queenly dignity for her very early breakfast.

After ten minutes of dainty eating and a quick wash she led Stacy to the back door. Stacy opened the door and stared out at the heavy fog that obscured the night. Munchie started out, then sat down just inside the door, looking out.

“Oh, no, you don’t. You are not waking me up again to let you out.” Stacy put her foot under the cat’s rump and shoved her out the door. Munchie turned to hiss at her then raced across the deck into the fog. Stacy turned to make her way back to bed. As she got settled back against her husband’s back she heard a jingle coming from downstairs. She raised her head. There, she heard it again.

“What the…?”

“What is it?” Jim asked.

“Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“That jingling noise. It sounds like it’s coming from the kitchen.”

He listened.

“Sounds like the bell on the cat’s collar. Big deal.”

“I put Munchie out.” Stacy got up to investigate the sound.

Back downstairs Stacy opened the kitchen door and flipped on the overhead light. There, in her bed next to the iron stove, laid Munchie. She opened one sleepy eye to glare at her in annoyance.

“If Munchie is in here,” Stacy moved to the door. “what did I kick out the door?”

Then it dawned on her. The whole previous episode was silent. Not once did the cat meow, purr, or make a sound with her collar bell.
　
　
　
　

Night of the SPIDER

I was minding my own business when Niko began to bother me, meowing loudly and insistently. Then he would run down the hall to the bedroom and continue meowing, then come back to me to repeat this behavior. Being a good kitty mommy I had to go see what had him in such a state. In the bedroom, on the wall, was the Bane of Niko’s Existence.
What I am speaking of is a little black and furry eight legged multi-eyed demon. AKA a house spider. (yes, my cat is arachnophobic. He hates spiders. Barney just eats them. I know-ehww!) So I killed the bugger to satisfy Niko’s need for arachnid blood. I don’t like them either.
Back in the mid-eighties My parents were living in Florida near Tampa and they wanted me to move down there to be near them. I thought it would be cool, so I went for a visit with the thought to start apartment hunting. Everything was going hunky dory until my last night ever in Florida. I had awaken in the middle of the night with the thought that I was not alone in the guest room anymore. I turned on the bedside lamp and about that time a very large, very black, very eight-legged freak ran across my body. Talk about an EEK! Factor. I think my scream woke up the whole neighborhood. According to the nice, but stern, public servants that answered the calls of a woman screaming I did.
No one told me there were tarantulas in the Sunshine State. Needless to say, despite all me mom’s begging, I left the next day back to North Carolina where the spiders are not big enough to drag a little five foot woman away.

Days I Cherish

Today was one of those days that I cherish. And live for. This morning I was sitting on my deck drinking my morning coffee not expecting anything out of the ordinary so of course I did not have my camera. I heard a noise and looked to see a deer emerge from the woods at the edge of my yard. It looked around, and satisfied that it was in no immediate danger, began to nibble on my lawn. I could see the shadows of more of them in the woods, but they never came out. I could of kicked myself for not having my camera, but I knew if I moved to go get it that moment would be lost. I did, however, have my phone with a camera on it. I snapped a few pics. It looked up at me as I took the pictures, but continued eating.
I sat and drunk my coffee, watching the deer contently eat until my neighbor stomped out onto his porch, slamming his door behind as he left for the day.
I checked my pics later and they did not turn out well. Bummer, I really wanted to share them.
It was such a cool day today, more like an autumn day than a day I mid-July. The high today was only 72. I spent a lot of time outside because of the coolness. I planned my fall plantings and yard décor, where I want to place a bird bath, the best place for an apple tree, and better garden placement for the Spring. I worked out there until about five, then painted some, stopping only when hunger got the best of me. After that it was near seven and time for Torchwood on BBCA. And after that, Primeval. So I don’t do too much until they go off.
So, bye. See ya’ll tomorrow.

To Hear A Mockingbird

Birdsong is a lovely thing, one that I have for some reason really never paid attention to. Today as I was getting out of my car after a particularly bad day at work full of drama I was struck by the sounds of a bird sitting in the cedar tree in my neighbor's yard (I think it has a nest there). It was amazing the range of sound coming from this lone bird. I sat down on my deck to listen to it as it warbled, chirped, tweeted, and chirred. Listening to that little bird made my bad mood slip away.

I looked it up later and found it was a mockingbird. The website I found to hear it's song had other birds and I spent the next hour listening to all of them. I never realized that I had heard all of these birds and just never listened to them. Worse yet, I use bird imagy in my artwork alot. I should know more about them.

There was the mourning dove and it's sweet cooing http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/birdsong.php?id=7, the blue jay with it's loud scolding http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/birdsong.php?id=5, the purdie purdie of the cardinals http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/birdsong.php?id=3, and many others. I think my favorite will be the mockingbird http://www.learnbirdsongs.com/birdsong.php?id=4. I was even entertained as said bird attacked a cat that got too close.

To say that I never listened to the birds around me, I spoke wrong. I have noticed the screech owl and whoopoowill on my nightly walks. They have both have been sadly silent these past few years. I hope that they have moved on and not fallen to a bad end. Oh, and of course, there is the ever present ravens in the autumn.

I think I'll go get some bird seed tomorrow and try to entice the little darlings into my yard.

The Mean Cat Song

After finding Simon's Cat on YouTube I looked for more cute cat vidios. I found Mean Cat's page. I especially loved The Mean Cat Song and it's response song The Good Cat Song. If you all have the time watch them. They are fuuunnny!

Check out this video I got from Youtube. This guy really knows cats. In this video just imagine me and a black cat starring.

A Dream

The dream was in black and white and shades of gray, in a room bare of furniture with wooden floors. There was one single window, partly open, that let in pale sunlight and a breeze, smelling of flowers and earth. There were people in the room with me. I felt that I knew them, but I didn't reconize them. A little bird was trapped in the room and we were trying to catch it. It flew around and around the room until we saw from it's bright blue color that it was a parakeet. Several of us questioned why a parakeet was loose to come through the window and get trapped in this room. Finally, I held up my cupped hands and the parakeet came to land in them. I brought my hands down to my breast to gently hold the little bird. It looked so bedraggled and scared, sitting there in my hands. My last thought before I woke up was that I needed to get help for it.
I don't know if there is meaning in dreams and this was trying to tell me something. I just know that it was a beautiful dream to remember when I woke up.
I always had a fondness for parakeets. They are so much fun to watch. They have so much personalityand cheerfulness with they chriping and playing. I would like to have some, but with my mother on oxygen I can't have them in the house. And I have, like, demon cats that would torment them.
Until next blog, see you all well.

Poem-My Cat

My Cat

Can you imagine
such unconditional love
compacted into a warm furry form
a comforting purr
and a wet nose
lightly nuzzling my face
his whiskers tickling.