Happy Tootsday. Taking a Breath Again

             We came upon these horses somewhere in the American west on a June day in 2016. I would like to hazard that it was Montana, but am not sure. It could have been any of several states. My daughter would know, but she is in the lab today as I write this little note.
            I thought it was just a pleasant, restful scene. Roots stuff. It would be very nice to be there again.

            I remember that the older horses were very protective of the little one there.

            The photo was taken by Rachel A. Bird, since I was driving.

            All threads at the MEOW are open threads, and this is another one.

            Your comments will be received gratefully.

💙

Maybe It's Just That It's Spring

 

This must be the most open thread ever.

Tell me what you think about anything?

Ralph sends his love, as always.

All the cats are blessed with second sight and wisdom,

even the two babies.

Just ask them!

You may assume my good wishes and affection.

🤍

Ralph's Thoughts On Capturing Bigfoot

 

            Well, it was flood season down in the valleys along all those PNW rivers. On top of rain in the flatlands, it was raining on the recent snow in the mountains. It had been such a strange winter and now spring was strange too.
            It made for messy walking.
            Ralph got to wondering how things were going at the Ranger Station. So, since he always settles questions as soon as he can, after some morning venison and some coffee and telling Cherry a couple of funny stories about his childhood back in the old days, he decided to just go see for himself how things were going with his friend Ranger Rick.
            “Hey, hey, Mona,” he said, giggling because he has heard the song, “I’m going to go see if Rick is still at his desk and telling Dexter what to do next.”
            “Yeah, it’s probably time to see how he is,” agreed Ramona. She got the joke too.
            Ralph was soaked clear up to his knees by the time he popped out of the forest by the dumpster. He grunted when he saw Rick’s truck. So, Rick was there.
            Every time Ralph saw the office door at the station he was newly surprised at how small it was, but as usual he knocked and opened the door, bending down to peer inside.
            “Oh, hi, Rick,” said Ralph. “I’m just checking in. I wondered how you were doing this morning. Sorry about the floor. It’s mighty wet out there.”
            “Come in! The floor will dry, it’s just water,” said Rick. He looked like he was happy for a distraction from whatever was happening on his laptop. “Sit. I’ll get coffee.”
            Ralph put the rest of himself through the door, and had a seat on the extra big chair Rick kept in his office mostly for Ralph.
            Coming back from the kitchen nook, Rick said, “You picked a good time to show up. She made cinnamon rolls and they’re real biggies!” He was juggling two big mugs and a box of something which smelled very good at the same time.
            Ralph’s sense of smell is so good he could practically smell the salt in the recipe, not to mention everything else.
            “What’s on your mind, Ralph? How’s everybody at home? It has been a while,” said Rick.
            “Everything’s good! Ramona runs a tight ship!” He smiled happily. “Oh, this is just a wellness visit! What’s going on? How’s Hannah working out? When will you reopen the campground? That sort of stuff.”
            They took a little break to eat a couple of cinnamon rolls with their coffee.
            “Let’s see, it’s pretty quiet around here. Hannah will come to work when I reopen the campground which will be when the parking lot is drivable. If we don’t get a whole lot more snow, it could be pretty soon,” said Rick.
            “So, where’s Dexter?” said Ralph, missing the guy coming through the door and nearly fainting.
            “I believe he’s taking Hannah to lunch about now. I gave him the day off,” said Rick.
            “That’s nice,” said Ralph. “That’s probably what he should be doing!”
            “Now, since you’re here, I have a question for you,” said Rick. He turned his laptop around so that Ralph could see the screen. On it a video was playing. Some channel called Hairy Man Road was running a thing about some movie being released, calling the old Patty footage a hoax.
            “This movie is called Capturing Bigfoot, know anything about that?” said Rick.
            “Well, no, but it doesn’t sound good,” said Ralph. “What’s the point?”
            “Basically for the 7000^th time on this here planet somebody says that the famous walk was taken by a guy in fancy hairy suit.
            “Apparently this Hairy Man Road guy believes whatever they came up with,” said Rick.
            “Oh. Well. Once again it will be fine. I’ll tell you who the hoaxers are. I don’t even have to see the movie and see how they did it. The movie makers are the hoaxers. No question about it.
            “It’s another one of those definition things. Those with eyes to see will see a living person, my Aunt Poppy, by the way. And those who can’t bear that such a person should live, will see a sham, a fake, a dumb costume.
            “And in a way, it’s good. If it discourages Bigfoot Investigators coming out here, I’m all for it,” said Ralph. He helped himself to a third very large cinnamon roll, and took a swig of coffee.
            “No sweat, huh?” said Rick.
            “Nope!” grinned Ralph, chewing with gusto.

🍀

Dreifachgӓnger

 

            There was a woman who lived on our street. She seemed fine. Normal person. She didn’t seem given to strange conceits or over concern with conspiracies. She wasn’t given to buttonholing people in public, just so you know. None of this was anything she brought on herself.
            I got to know her a little bit because she had a little backyard garden and I had a little backyard garden, and there was only a small fence separating our gardens. So, naturally, we got to talking and I guess she finally considered me to be a trustworthy person.
            So, one day I was out pulling a few weeds out of the raised beds, when I noticed her come out of her back door. She didn’t come right over to the fence. She stood there looking vacant, maybe even frightened.
            I said, “Hi, Susan. How are you today? Nice day.”
            She looked at me and frowned a little. She looked like she was considering something.
            “It is a nice day,” Susan said faintly, still frowning.
            “Is everything alright?” I asked her. I felt a little pushy saying that, but she seemed to be distressed.
            “I don’t know,” she said, looking at me like she wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure whether she should. She shrugged a little. “Honestly, I don’t know..”
            “Look,” I said. “We’re just a couple of grandmas. You’re alone over there, except for your cats. Who are you going to tell? You may as well tell me. I don’t think anything you say would be a big surprise to me.” I stood with my hands folded, head tilted, smiling encouragingly.
            “OK, Penny. OK. You know those two cats I have? They are identical, you know? Even I can’t tell them apart. It’s been kind of a  joke. Not very funny today,” she said.
            “How so?” I said.
            “Well, last night I went to bed as usual. But, before I went to bed I locked both doors. The basement door is always locked. Always. I checked all the windows, even though it’s been warm, I made sure they were all closed and latched. The place was secure, you know?” She frowned.
            “Of course,” I said, wondering what she was getting to with this recitation.
            “I don’t let my cats outdoors,” she said.
            “I know, and I don’t blame you at all,” I said.
            “I made sure that I knew where both cats were before I went to bed,” Susan continued.
            “I do the same with my two,” I said.
            “You might think I am insane,” she said. “But, I’m not.”
            “I would never think you are insane, Susan,” I said, beginning to get a weird creepy feeling standing there in the early morning sunlight. I didn’t know why, but I felt a cold pickle on my arms. I rubbed them and waited.
            “This morning, Penny, I went to feed my cats. Instead of my two, there were three cats in my house all precisely identical. This is insane. One of them is not a natural cat and I can’t tell which one it is. They all ate and acted exactly the same!” She shuddered a little.
            “How horrible! I see exactly what you mean!” I whispered.
            “One of them is some kind of manifestation, of what, I don’t know,” she said. “And I want it out of my house! But I can’t decide which two are mine,” she wailed.
            “What will you do?” I said.
            “I don’t know. I don’t really want to go back in there with that. Whatever it is!” she cried.
            “I’ll come with you. Why don’t we go look at them together and see what we think,” I suggested. Honestly, I was as curious as heck. I wanted a look at those cats in the worst way.
            “OK,” she said, and I walked out of my alley gate and over to her gate off the alley and into her back yard. She waited by her back door.
            She went ahead of me, of course. We both stepped into the back of the kitchen. I closed the door carefully behind myself.
            Since we made a little noise coming into the house, her cats came to us as cats do when you come into the house. Two rather rotund, absolutely identical brown tabbies. They wound themselves around her feet, then came and sniffed me too. They knew me. I’d been in that kitchen before.
            “Where’s the other one, Susan?” I said.
            “She was just here when I came out into the garden,” she said, looking a little sick.
            We searched Susan’s house in detail. Every closet, every room and cupboard. We searched the basement and the attic.
            We never found a third cat in that house.
            “I’m not insane, and I can count to three,” she said, as if in a trance.
            “I know you’re not,” I said. “But it looks like everything is back to normal,” I said hopefully.
            “Oh, no! It’s not! Even though there are two of them again, I will never know if one of mine has been spirited away by the fairies, and I am left with an unnatural creature which looks like one of mine, but isn’t! And on top of that, I will never be able to tell if one of them is that awful creature or which one it could be!” She stared at me, horrified.
            The best thing I could think of to tell her was that probably the fey kitty had left by the same way it had gotten into her house, and that it was just something messing with her.
            I sure hoped that was true.

🙀

Atmospheric River Days

 

I have a great number of photos of rain on car windows.
The camera focuses on the rain, not the outer scene, stubbornly.

But this one spoke to me of these days,

Hidden, vague, suggestive.

Some bubbles would look good there.

Brief habitués among the foggy trees.

The street where my sister lives,

Very near my own foggy street.

💬

A Symposium Among The Cats for Purrsday

Ma'ii

 Who is this Hairy Man, and How does he do that Scary Stuff?

 
            “M’now!” said Suzy. “Is everyone here? Toots? Sammie?”
            “Right here,” said Toots. Sammie nodded. “******!”
            “Charley?” said Suzy, not expecting her to pick up really.
            “I heard you,” said Charley.
            “Buddy? You there?” asked Suzy.
            “I’m your cat!” said Buddy. “Merrrrow!”
            “I’m here too!” said Uncle Mr. Baby Sir. “Ahem, I  have some expertise in the matter.”
            “You do? Since when?” said Suzy, giggling.
            “Arizona. I rest my case,” said Mr. Baby Sir. “Been there. Done that!”
            “Done what?” said Suzy, losing focus completely.
            “Mrrrp!” A new voice entered the arena. “Serena here. I heard the call. May I enter?”
            “Of course, Serena! If you heard the invitation, it was meant for you too,” said Suzy.
            “Anyone missing?” said Suzy. “I mean anyone besides my dear brother, of blessed memory?”
            “Well, just the new kits,” said Toots. “How about them?”
            “I think we’ll just leave it open. If they have anything besides mewing to add, it’ll be allowed,” said Suzy. “All right then. To get to the subject at hand. Who is this Hairy Man? Anyone?”
            “I’ve actually seen some! Might be the same one coming again and again,” said Toots. “They slip down the highway like moon walkers under cover of darkness! I think they have extra joints because they don’t jog along, like a human person. They kind of emanate or manifest. It’s quite horrible!”
            “So! Since you’ve seen them, what are they?” asked Suzy. She already felt a little sick to her tummy at the description.
            “They look like big ugly people up to no good!” said Toots. “If they were kind and sweet would they be skulking down the highway at 2AM? No, I say!!”
            “Point in your favor, Dear!” intoned Suzy.
            Mr. Baby cleared his throat just then. Suzy nodded to him.
            “Ma’ii tells me that Mágítsoh is a man. A kind of giant. He lives in two worlds. He confuses modern man,” said Mr. Baby.
            “Who are we talking about here?” said Suzy.
            “Coyote, Ma’ii told me!” said he. “The natives in Arizona call the wild people Mágítsoh.”
            “I don’t like it!” said Buddy, speaking up suddenly. “Regular non-wild people are weird enough, given their heads!”
            “Good point,” said Suzy. “We’ve all heard the camping stories! Brrrrrt!”
            “I have an idea,” said Sammie, who had been silent so far. “What if people believing in them makes them more visible? That means we will see them more and more!"
            “That could explain a lot!” said Toots! “Brrrrrtt!!”
            (General hubbub, meows and off record commentary…)
            “Miss Suzy,” said Serena, speaking up suddenly. “I don’t believe we have any Giant Hairy Forest men here! Bless all your hearts. We do have bears, ahem, and college students, if you get my meaning!”
            “That must be a comfort to you, Ma’am,” said Suzy. “We don’t have that luxury, I must say.”
            “Just roughly, I would say that we mostly agree that they are a type of man, bigger, and less technical. My sense is that they surely are confusing. It probably has to do with wave lengths. Cats see more than our people do, but we don’t see it all, unfortunately. Is this mostly agreeable to you all?”
            (All vote Aye.)
            “Right then. Now. The things they do. Anyone?” continued Suzy.
            “It strikes me,” said Buddy, “that the things they do, that we know they do, function as self defense tactics. There is, by definition, everything else they do, which also, by definition, we don’t know!”
            “That’s like saying ‘if it’s not one thing, it’s something else!’” said Suzy. “Now you’re confusing me too!”
            Mr. Baby cleared his throat in a professorial sort of way, for attention.
            “My source, Ma’ii, told me, quite authoritatively, that the smells described from time to time, the sense of dread, the immobilization experiences, all of that are tactics to allow the Hairy Giants to escape safely, or to protect one of their children from discovery. That sort of thing.
            “This includes the odd noises, howls, whistles and such, which are also used to communicate among themselves. I, however, think he’s pulling my whiskers over that point. I am of the understanding that they are in constant telepathic communication. So the noises are just more special effects for Man’s edification and benefit.
            “He couldn’t tell me in biological terms how they do those things, however,” said Mr. Baby, who then fell silent.
            “IOW, you don’t know, and neither does your buddy, Coyote!” said Susy.
            “Pretty much,” said Mr. Baby.
            “I posit that the whole phenomena could be explained in perfectly natural ways,” said Serena, “if only you wanted to.”
            “You must remember,” said Toots, “that I have seen them with my own eyes, my dear. There’s no explaining that away.”
            “I’ve smelled them!” said Sammie. “Eau d Sweat Socks and Dragon Barf, with some City Dump mixed in.”
            “It is hard to argue against direct personal experience,” admitted Serena, graciously.
            “Well,” said Suzy, “in conclusion, I guess we have addressed the situation, even though our conclusions are not so very conclusive. We must continue to keep our senses on guard, our eyes and ears open, and to raise holy hell if one gets in our houses. It’s the least, and probably the most, that we can do!”
            (General assenting purring and conversation among the members..)
            “OK, let’s call it! Thanks for your contributions! Stay alert! Our people don’t have our senses, and they need our help in so many ways, friends!” said Suzy.
            “Let’s Purr™ together for a moment,” said Toots.
            So, they did. The new kits added some mews and purrs, and everyone went off to pursue their own interests as evening fell.
            Outside, in the forests, fields and river courses, some canny Hairy Men smiled because only they knew their secrets, and they liked it that way.

🌿🤎🌿

Some Other March 18th. 2010

 

Every year the blossom date is different.

This year, they are still tightly closed.

But I can see the petals there, ready to go.

Japanese Pear.

It was only a wee twig when we moved in here in 2000.

26 years of Dream Time.

🤍