duh nuh nuh nuh

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

7 January 2021 - Have any of you figured out how to leave messages for oneself from one life to the next?  Last evening I discovered the undeniable goodness of butter.  I feel like I have wasted more than a year's existence before coming to this realization.  The taste is strikingly familiar, something of a deja vu that suggests earlier versions of me liked it also.  It is saddening to think that lessons learned and happinesses discovered can't be "inherited" next time around.  Leaving notes on one's foreleg won't help since we cats get a new body each cycle.  And scrawling clues on the wall will just be a head-scratching mystery for the subsequent household feline... the chance of "returning" to one's old tromping ground is infinitesimal.  How frustrating!  I am open to serious suggestions.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

In any group there should

be at least one documentarian.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrcognition, the ability to pick cat peeps from the crowd of choices

a balmy idea

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

6 January 2021 - I like being in the screened area so much that I am willing to suffer the cold (for you more northerly sorts, substitute "cool").  My coat has thickened somewhat, and if I can find a sunny patch, I don't fare too badly... especially if I keep moving .  The shorter peep has to be convinced to open the door for my exit (and I notice that she closes it behind me), and then she periodically checks to see if I am an icicle... an exaggeration arising from how poorly we southerly sorts handle temperatures at which white wine would be served.  Yes, it takes very little to make us shiver.  On the other paw, I can take the heat without breaking a sweat (actually we pant if too warm, a rare situation).  When others are cursing and seeking an air-conditioned interior, I am quite happy to bask.  If only I could devise a way to internally store that heat for these deficit days....

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

One person's blast furnace

is another's sauna.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - tempurrate, pleasant and agreeable (how cats like their mates and climates)

world wary

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

5 January 2021 - High road or low road?  Well, that is a silly question to ask a cat.  Even an elevation difference of a newspaper thickness makes us happy.    It is no surprise that nature photographs show my wild relatives crouched on boulders or a tree branch.  What I have discovered is that peeps have limited vertical awareness.  They mostly watch where they are stepping (although stubbed toes would suggest not totally).  But if I am perched on this ledge four feet above their heads, my peeps pass by me clueless as to my presence.  Even their sense of smell fails them (and their sprint might beat a giggly third-grader).  If I were a peep predator, a factor of ten larger, they would be in serious trouble.  

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Don't aspire for

the Darwin award.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - sharp-kitted, quick to notice, quick to understand (you-name-it quick)

a heated discussion

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

4 January 2020 - If I am not on the porch, I want to be on the porch... it is the purrfect combination of indoor/outdoor space.  So I am not a happy cat when Mother Nature turns down the thermostat.  But "it's winter" you might say, to which I would quickly add "but it's Florida... we don't do winter here!"  Of course my complaints are laughable to my hardy cousins in Maine and Minnesota, but there is a huge difference between a cotton jacket and a down jacket.  The peeps and I simply don't have the proper clothes for cold (nor a preference for winter sports).  There isn't much one can do about the weather... except kvetch and wait for better times to arrive.  Please just reassure me that winds will soon blow from the south.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Two heads are

warmer than one.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrvail, to triumph (mainly through recatcitrance)

welcome cat

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

3 January 2021 - Bastet's warmth shines down upon me.  After enduring days of wretched cold, I am so happy to stretch my limbs once again, no longer needing to tuck appendages under the body to preserve life.  How we respond to external temperatures varies greatly, and I am delighted there are those who like to be frozen... it makes no sense to me, but it appears to be their choice.  Being able to decide for oneself, even if the result is undeniably bone-headed, is an important part of our society.  Even so, if word of my paradise leaks out beyond the neighborhood, I fear we will be overrun with others shivering in their thin coats.  I really don't want the number of local interlopers to increase... I remain busy with the current batch.  

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

All are welcome,

or at least the first few

(and only if it is temporary).

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

phrase of the day - purress the flesh, to greet visiting peeps (and herd them toward the door)

release date

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

2 January 2021 - After an eternity of being trapped in a cage, rumbled and grumbled by loud, unfamiliar noises, I arrived at the destination.  Without consulting a map, I am guessing, based on the distance traveled and the frosty conditions encountered there, it was the North Pole.  Once enough neurons had settled into place, I found a toasty spot to spend entire afternoons.  The peeps did their thing, disappearing for periods of time and otherwise sitting under a bright light in silence.  If this is what constitutes a "vacation", I vote to never do it again.  But something good was realized from my ordeal:  indeed there is no place like home.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Forgiving is quite different

from forgetting.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrdon, to set free from blame (but don't do it again)

cat chase

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

1 January 2021 - Your concerns are greatly appreciated.  To put it bluntly, I was kidnapped, by the very peeps that I trusted!  All my evasive maneuvers were not enough with two large galoots in pursuit.  It was the most frightening experience of my last six months, and I can only hope of my remaining lives (I feel certain that several were cashed in during the ambush).  But obviously I survived, or I wouldn't be dictating this entry.  In fact the remainder of my "first vacation with peeps", as it turned out to be, was anticlimactic by comparison.  We are now back home, but tomorrow I'll share more thoughts on my away adventure.  It shouldn't surprise you that I would rather have stayed put, but my opinion was not requested.  The family that travels together, travails together.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

"Suffering is good for the soul"

is pure bunk.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrivation, the loss of things necessary for well-living (I am keeping score)