O buoyant

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

11 February 2021 - If this entry came with audio, you would hear me purring.  I am never happier than when sitting out in the screened area, surrounded by warm air.  You have been very kind to listen to all my grousing about the cold, so I feel obligated to balance somewhat the tone by proclaiming my couldn't-be-better disposition.  Well, I suppose if there was a saucer of treats nearby, things would be nicer... but let me state for the record that my life right this moment is A-OK.  And how often can that be said?  The world seems to be eternally in chaos, from individual crises to national blow-ups to world-wide afflictions.  All the more reason to recognize when things are going well and optimism overtakes the doldrums.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Try to be hopeful.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrpitious, favorable (with the promise of more treats)

life serial

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

10 February 2021 - There are many things in our abode that I list under "inert & harmless", for lack of a better phrase.  You might think that I am being redundant, but I assure you that a motionless object can suddenly fall from its shelf (without my help, lest you get the wrong impression) and cause damage.  But this monstrous rusting thing seems to be trapped by its own weight.  I have even put two paws upon its dome, and heard not a growl or whimper.  Around its base is a fine reddish powder, evidence of its returning to mother earth.  I respect its slow demise, and periodically circle by to offer condolences.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Finitude can be vast

but it has its season.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - spurrint, to run full bore for purr delight

sooner or later

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

9 February 2021 - The problem with leading is that periodically one must look back to see if the sheep are following.  I am faster and younger (I'll stop before I get into trouble) than the shorter peep, so naturally I beat her to the table in the morning.  Lest she is sleepwalking, I quietly point out where she routinely sits... and then I wait for her to get "it" all together.  The first meal of the day shouldn't be a challenge, and my bowl of kibble requires no forethought.  So the holdup can honestly be placed on her plate.  Some days water is poured from one vessel into another, other times things are stirred in a bowl; nearly always I can count three or four or five unmistakable thuds of an appliance door being shut... I try to be more amazed than annoyed.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Try counting to ten

in a different language.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrvoked, feeling irritated while maintaining composure (but I have my limits)

working cats

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

8 February 2021 - I have said in the past that I enjoy the office on Mondays:  the quiet space nurtures creative thinking (to minimize distraction I close my eyes).  However that doesn't necessarily mean that I bound up the stairs, chomping at the bit to begin.  Even if you don't know the meaning of inertia, you know its effect.  So having just risen from sleep, engaged in a full body stretch, enjoyed a see-my-tonsils yawn, and joined the shorter peep in breaking the fast, I am now ready to ease into the work day.  I fully practice kindness to myself, and my body requires consultation and agreement and perhaps a little time to physically engage.  This methodical march up the steps primes my heart and my head.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

What are friends for

if not to commiserate?

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrletariat, wage-earners compurrising the purred estate

a flawed plan

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

7 February 2021 - Even at my skinniest I could never be mistaken for a chair leg, but sitting very still for a long period of time is usually sufficient to lure in the interlopers.  After many missed days of porch patrol, I feared that the perimeter would be swarming with rabble... but evidently they dislike cold weather as much as I do!  We forget how much like ourselves the enemy is.  Fortunately for me, classification is simple:  if you are not me or my peeps, then you belong elsewhere.  I realize that there is another category, created by my two, that permits certain others into our abode.  I begrudgingly concede the rule exception, knowing that their stay will be very temporary.  Even so, for the few hours the "guests" dally, my senses are trained upon their persons, and I carefully watch their exit through the front portal.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Circumstances are seldom ideal.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - exempurry, serving as a desirable model (well, I try)

purr me

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

6 February 2021 - How much of my life is spent waiting?  It is a tally I really don't want to know, lest I sink further into the doldrums.  And this picture accurately captures that feeling of collapse into an ignored blob at a peep's feet.  It is more difficult now, compared to eight months ago, to convince my cohabiters that I am faint with hunger... but those little morsels aren't called "treats" erroneously.  And maybe I know that I've already eaten my allotment, or maybe I lost count (or maybe I hope that she has lost count), or maybe I refuse to count (the line must be drawn somewhere).  For whatever reason, here I sit, hope battling with despair.  At the very least she could lean over and pat my head.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

Most of us should not

be left to our own devices.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - purrsimism, the unshakable feeling that nothing good is happening in this lifetime (or purrhaps the next)

who goes there?

Shamus on view

Me-usings and Me-emories

5 February 2021 - If this abode was mine, instead of ours, there would be no closed doors... except perhaps exterior portals, I can see a real need to keep the interlopers out.  The shorter peep and I have a game, good for perhaps thirty seconds of attention-holding, when we are separated by a closed door:  suddenly "something" will appear under the door, wiggle, then retreat... and then reappear at another spot under the door.  As silly as it is, I can't refrain from pouncing, sometimes even sending the thing skittering across the room.  And then the door opens, and she grins at me... so I know that she was having fun as well.  But really, except for these brief moments of amusement, doors are just annoying obstacles.

clipped notes

                             Today's Catechism 

                            (for the autodidcat)

"No" is not

an appreciated word.

Bring back Bastet

Bastet beckons

Catty Corner

word of the day - handicat, a circumstance that makes success difficult (but not impurrobable)