Can You Hear What I Hear?

 

We hear it all!

 

            Suzy and I were having one of those human/cat debates yesterday. You know the one where the cat wants one thing and you need to do something else? Hint; cats don’t care what you want to do.
            Yesterday, when Booker and Sweetie were otherwise occupied somewhere she wanted me to hold her. I did too! And I tried reasoning with her.
            “Suzy, I can’t sit here and hold you all day!” I implored.
            Snug in my arms, me holding her small toes in support, “Why not? It’s really nice!” she said.
            “I want to write something, and I can’t do it while keeping your toes warm,” I said.
            “I assume you’re talking about that thing you keep poking with your fingers,” she said. “Seems like a waste of time. What does it get you?” she said.
            “It’s how I talk to people who aren’t here,” I said, expecting trouble.
            “Ghosts?” she inquired, looking ready to run for it.
            “No. Living people,” I said.
            “How do you know?” she said, still tucked up in my arms.
            “They talk back,” I said weakly.
            “Oh ho, Lady! That shows what you don’t know. Ghosts do talk. I’ve heard them, mumbling away, hissing, and rattling things!” she said, darkly.
            “You’re kidding,” I said. “You hear that? Disgusting. No wonder you’re jumpy.”
            “Not all the time. I hear other stuff too. Like water moving through pipes. And all of these machines you have. They all buzz! To a cat, there is no such thing as silence. They say that if a Forest Giant is around that it gets really quiet. They’d have to prove it to me. I’ve never heard silence,” she said. “In fact, I don’t believe in it.”
            “Even I always hear something. Right now, it’s the fridge. If I think about it, I also hear cars, and an airplane. Normally, humans don’t attend to all of that background sound,” I said.
            “I’m not wired that way. I don’t shut it off. Hunters can’t afford to not pay attention,” she said. “So, where are these not-ghost invisible people you talk to by poking at that thing and watching little marks appear on that thing in front of your face?”
            “Oh, here and there, scattered around the country,” I said breezily. “Several live pretty near Toots, as you know, or should, Suzy.”
            In a bid to delay the inevitable, when she would have to get out of my arms, she said, “Say. Did you ever smell a Plaidie, one of those Fae folk who sneak around outside?”
            “I don’t know. What do they smell like, pray tell?” I said.
            “Grubby gold. It has a smell! And, something like the smell in a crawlspace, dank. Garlic. They eat it raw,” she said, eyes wide and staring.
            “I think you’re pulling my leg,” I laughed.
            “No! Really! Toots and I both smelled one last night. She said she did!” Suzy insisted.
            “Are you sure you didn’t just dream that?” I said.
            “But, Toots wouldn’t have the same dream!” she said.
            “I’m not sure about you two,” I said. “You might have the same dream! Now, skedaddle, Suzy, I need to poke at that thing, or it’ll be another bubble thread!
            So, she wandered off agreeably enough, leaving me to ponder a couple of things.

🙀

The Long Awaited Day, Part 2

 

⭐

            On that very same morning, Thaga awoke because the sun was shining in the bedroom window, which faced east, of course. Her first thought was to arise and let Harold the tomcat out of the house for the morning. Ooog lay beside her on the door side of the bed, snoring, with his long white braid lying out across the pillow. It took more than a little sunshine to wake Ooog.
            Thaga dressed quickly. She may have had an inkling about the day, because she put on her newest floral print dress, and a nice pink striped apron. It felt warm in the room, no sweater today. She slid into her knitted slippers and went out to locate Harold.
            He was waiting patiently by the door, as always. She opened the door and watched Harold stroll out, tail in the air, then she stepped out herself, to get a breath of morning air. As she usually did, she looked to the sky, to assess the weather and to take some time to plan her day. It was a fine deep blue morning sky. But wait, there was something up there. It was hard to see because of the light conditions. Just a speck of something, very high.
            Thaga squinted up at it. It wasn’t a bird, not even Maeve, not a normal human aircraft either. It was silver and rather cigar shaped. It was still very small, but was descending, growing just a bit larger moment by moment. It looked an awful lot like Mak’s ship, the one she had seen at Cherry’s birth party years ago. Then she remembered Mak’s promise to bring Twigg and Leely home when summer came.
            This could only mean one thing! She headed straight back into the bedroom as fast as she could go.
            “Ooog! Wake up, they’re back!” Thaga called, breathlessly.
            Ooog’s eyes flew open, and he said, “Wah? Who’s back?”
            “Mak! I saw his ship returning! He’s got Twigg and Leely! Put your pants on, Man!” she added, running around the room finding him an outfit.
            “How do you know it’s his ship?” said Ooog. “It might be something else.” He was a bit reluctant to wake up just yet.
            “I saw Mak’s ship way up in the sky! If it isn’t, there are two just like it! We need to get over there!” Thaga pleaded. “Ramona said he would bring them back this summer!”
            So, Thaga got her shoes and socks on, and Ooog dressed too, then they ran through the kitchen, grabbed a bite of leftover biscuit, gulped some cold tea, and left the cottage, heading for the general area of the Home Clearing. Harold watched them go without comment. His mind was taken up by some small squeaky voices, and scratchings somewhere under the floor.
            When Ooog and Thaga tumbled into the Home Clearing, breathing heavily, no one was there. A most unusual sight! A thin column of white smoke curled and ascended from the ashes of Ramona’s morning fire. Not even the wind was there. A batch of unwashed bowls and cups lay in Ramona’s five gallon bucket.
            “He must be landing by the Alder Tree House!” said Ooog. “That’s where everyone will be!”
            “You’re right!” said Thaga, and off they trotted to the meadow, as fast as they could manage to trot.
            Now then, just as Mak’s silver vessel, with a bit of a greenish halo about it, settled silently onto the grass of the meadow, Ooog and Thaga bustled up to join the waiting group. Ramona turned her head when she heard them, startled.
            “Oh, I didn’t even think,” Ramona said. “Of course, you must be  here!”
            “All is well. We got ourselves here as quickly as we could, when I saw the ship,” said gentle Thaga. Ramona put her arm around Thaga, and they all watched together.
            The greenish nimbus around the vessel evaporated. The morning sun glinted off of its curves. For a moment all was still, except for some crows flying low overhead. Impossibly exotic, lay superimposed on the familiar scene of the meadow and the waiting Alder Tree House. The fantastic scene would remain in all of their memories for the rest of their days.
            An opening formed in the ship’s side as naturally as an eye opening, as the silver vessel lay at rest. This hatch seemed impossibly inadequate for a person of Twigg’s stature to step through, but somehow he did. First he appeared quite distant and even small, matching the interior of the ship, but when his feet touched the meadow grass he stood before them, even taller than before he and Leely had gone. He had grown in presence. He smiled at the waiting group, glanced around at his beloved meadow, and then turned back to the hatch, holding out his hand.
            Leely took his hand, and stepped out onto the grass of home. She was beautiful, standing in the sunshine. Stately, and serene, with her long dark hair pinned up and woven full of the flowers of Mak’s home planet, she wore a gown of shifting shining colors. She smiled at Ramona and Ralph, with Maeve on his shoulder, then Cherry and Blue, then Berry and Bob, and Thaga and Ooog. She greeted each one with her smile. Leely had grown in presence too. Little Marge was transformed.
            In Leely’s right arm, cradled against her body, was a child. Just a wee tiny child, wrapped in a fine white blanket.
            Leely went to Ramona, offering her the child. Ramona held out her arms, both were silent as Ramona took him into her bosom. She studied him carefully, noting every feature, except his eyes, as he was sleeping.
            “Mother, we named him Koba. It means star in the language of the Old Book,” said Leely, simply.
            “How can this be, Leely?” said Ramona, in wonder. Ralph attended to the conversation, but was silent.
            “In the Maker, all good things are possible, is it not so, Mother Ramona?” said Leely.
            “I do believe it must be so,” whispered Ramona, cradling Koba near her heart.
            Right then, Mak himself stepped out onto the meadow, saying, “May I have your attention, please!” He was grinning, and his blue eyes were twinkling…

           

Just Bubbles Open Thread for March 29

 

Happy Suzday, Everybody!

All the best!

🤍

Things Cats Know, As Told To Me By Suzy

 

Above all things, cats are masters of observation. They know where it’s at, and who done it, because they were watching. She says you have no secrets from your cat, or cats. More observers compile more data. Nothing is forgotten. Not only do they see, they remember.

Their world is more dimensional than yours. That’s what she said. I’m not absolutely sure what she meant by that. I think I can guess though.

I think what she was talking about must have been seeing things with her cat's eyes that our eyes just don’t pick up. I have to take her word on this. Since I’m human I can’t prove it one way or the other.

She says, and she says Toots says too, that they see:

1.      Wild Men and their Fraus and Kinder.

2.      Ghosts, Goblins, Poltergeists, Knockers, and Whatnot of an ethereal nature.

3.      ETs. Both visible and otherwise. They know when the ships are up there.

4.      All Fae. “The little ratlings!” she says. Her general word for prey.

5.      Skinwalkers, shapeshifters, doppelgangers, and various Indian haints. Not deer!

6.      Dogmen, of all filthy things! "As if plain dogs weren’t bad enough!"

 

Additionally, she says that cats are devotees of comfort. This is very close behind observational skills. That patch of sunshine on the floor? It’s a target. Your wool sweater lying on the bed? She will find it and claim it.

She confided to me the meaning of purring. Purring is meant to convince. It speaks of love, healing, petition, dominance, etc. Purring amplifies their wavelength. It is a power source. Do not discount purring as merely a pleasant sound, she insists.

Finally, Suzy says, and she says that all cats will say the same thing, cats, from the greatest lion to the tiniest new house cat kitten are hunters. In an absolute sense they are predators. Play, from a cat’s point of view, is a form of practice or symbolic predation. What do you think would happen to that red laser dot if she ever caught it? Death. That’s all.

Perhaps I should mention one last little thing, which she thought hardly needed mention. Cats are creatures of habit, deeply into timing. They know when it’s bedtime. Nothing fusses up your cat like messing with your schedule on their shift.

Oh, and that whole acting cute bit? It’s related to predation. Go ahead, mess with that tummy and find out!

🐺😸🦁

A Public Service Announcement From Suzy & Toots

 

 
            I was sitting here, yesterday, minding my own business, tapping away intermittently, when I noticed that Suzy was up on the desk at my right elbow. She cleared her throat in a meaningful manner. Her little whiskers stuck straight out on either side of her face, looking significant.
            “I see you,” I said. “What brings you to my desk this afternoon, Suz?”
            “Toots and I have an important message for people,” she said. “It’s by way of a warning.”
            “Wow! All people?” I said.
            “Only some people,” she said, darkly.
            I turned in my chair, to get a good look at her. “What kind of people, pray tell, my dear?”
            “People Who Are Thinking of Getting Dogs! There I said it!” she said.
            “Alright, let’s hear it,” I said. “What’s the problem with getting dogs?”
            “Well, besides the fact that they are intrinsically repellent, to cats of course, they are, if left in their natural state, dangerous to other life forms. Brrrrt!” she said.
            “I can’t really argue against that. They are pack animals, natural hunters,” I agreed.
            “What we want you guys to know is that a pup is kind of like a dumb step-kid. If you don’t invest a lot of time training the dingbat, it will be a walking disaster, just waiting to happen. I could tell you a story or two, let me tell you, except that I won’t!” she huffed.
            “This is the cat’s eye view of dogs, huh?” I said.
            “You can break it down like this,” she said. “Dogs are not for lazy people! My goodness! A dog must know who is master. It’s part of his gestalt.”
            “Oh! Well, I had a lady wolf. You never met her, that was a while back. She didn’t need much training. She was naturally good,” I said.
            “A wolf is not a dog, and a dog will never be a wolf,” she intoned, giving me a look.
            “Ha! I imagine that you girls have something to say about cats too?”
            “Mew we do! Yes!” she sort of giggled, if you can imagine a cat giggling.
            “What’s funny,” I said, playing straight man.
            “Well, Lady, as you know, we cats are born perfect! Everything we need to know is already on board, just waiting to unfold as time goes on. A kitten is a world within itself, needing no instruction. All we ask of people is a warm spot to nap in, some food, and a convenient litter box, kept clean of course, or access to the whole world out there!” she announced. “Toots agrees, as does any cat you ask, even that Fluffbag!”
            “That’s pretty much what I thought you’d say,” I said, turning back to my keyboard. “Thanks, Suzy. I’ll pass it on!”
            Honestly, I was a bit surprised that she would, offhandedly, refer to the new kids as born perfect! I mean, that was the logical conclusion, right?

🐶

Houses Dream Too

 Mother said, "Why?"

I said, "Sometimes a place just talks to ya. That porch."

"You can't let him play out there alone anyhow," she said.

I knew that. I knew everything she knew. She made sure of it.

I liked the historicity of it. 

Not specifically the sagging floors or the jungle outside.

It was fine though.

A porch like that, a stoop they say, is meant for generations.

There will be chairs, benches, toys, plants, food, living, on that porch.

Windows. Lamps. Stories in the stories.

"Let the old house dream one more time," I said.

"Have it your way," she said, "you always did."

"Yes, Mama," I said.

🤍

The Long Awaited Day, Part 1

 

 
            It was a perfect summer day. The forest stood dreaming in the warm air. It was abuzz with life. All creatures flourished, from least nematode setting about its duties in the soil, to the mighty creatures of the air, and their small cousins. Each four footed thing was in its given place, from mice to deer and even bears, illusive as those creatures are.
            A salty breeze blew up from the Sound, becoming infused with the scent of wild flowers and rampant vegetation as it blew over the two meadows. Everywhere was brightness, and color, and life.
            If a person stood in the right place, and concentrated, he, or she, could hear Twigg’s friends, the B’s going persistently about their work  And maybe, if she squatted down, as Marge used to do, examining a bank of blackberry blossoms, as white as stars in their dark foliage, she would see a Beula or a Betty, working those same blossoms, and hear their small busy hum.
            The arc of the year was at its highest.
            Morning light came early, therefore Ramona woke early, sensing the day beginning, even as she lay in the dim light of the cave home. It was like she could hear morning, and maybe she did. Deep in the forests of the PNW, there is a bird whose call sounds like running water. There were crows calling out too. She stretched, yawned, and sat up. Ralph lay still, as constant as the earth itself. Cherry sighed and rolled over, causing Blue to move over a little in their cot.
Bob and Berry opened their golden eyes for moment, noting Ramona’s movements, and closed  them again, dozing on.
            She slipped outdoors and found that Maeve was already there, sitting by the Fire Circle with her eyes closed, until she heard Ramona come out to start the day. Ramona smiled when she saw the great Raven. Maeve uttered some comfortable sounds deep in her chest, a sort of gentle knocking.
            There was still dew on the grass that grew right outside of the Home Clearing, but it wouldn’t last long in the coming sunshine.
           
            “Seeing you here, early, blesses me,” Ramona said, in formal Saslingua.
            “I am she who is blessed,” said Maeve, who also spoke the Old Language of the forest.
            “It felt important to be here,” added Maeve in our common language.
            “You’re probably right,” said Ramona. Then she set about coaxing and feeding her fire. They didn’t need the heat, but cooking requires fire anyhow. So, first she gave the coals some little dry twigs, which they accepted greedily, then she added some broken branches, and finally some moderately large chunks of deadfall, gathered after the last wind storm in the spring. There was always more deadfall, and Ralph kept the forest floor tidy, by bringing it to Ramona to cook his food.
            Ramona and Maeve gazed into the flames, as everyone always does. But it was different this time. This time there was a blue flame in the center where the flames were highest. The blue part of the fire grew larger, becoming spherical. When it was the size of the Fire Circle ring itself in diameter, an image formed. It was Twigg. He was smiling and he said one word. “Today!” And then the vision was gone. Ramona and Maeve looked at each other in amazement. Both began to speak at the same time!
            “Something said today was important,” said Maeve. “I couldn’t stay abed!”
            “Oh, Birdy! I can hardly breathe,” cried Ramona.
            “Let’s wake everybody up!” said Maeve.
            Ramona ran back into the cave with Maeve close behind, airborne.
            “They’re coming home today, Baby! Wake up!” cried Ramona, shaking Ralph’s shoulder. His eyes flew open and he sat up in bed, throwing off the big quilt.
            “Cherry! Wake up! Twigg, and Leely are coming home today! I think they have a surprise for you too!” said Ramona. Blue started howling and Cherry jumped out of bed. The puma bros. stood up suddenly on their ledge, eyes wide.
            “Today!” yelled Ralph, in a voice like quiet thunder. He didn’t ask Ramona how she knew, because he knew Ramona.
            Everybody rushed outside into the summer morning. All were talking at once.
            Ramona set up a pot of cowboy coffee with trembling hands. Then she started beating some of Thaga’s hen’s eggs for a great omelet. Before she put the eggs on the pan she fried a bunch of oyster mushrooms, then added the eggs. It cooked in a flash and soon everyone was eating eggs with mushrooms. Then the excited chatter started up again, while the adults, including Maeve had a cup of coffee and collected their thoughts. Cherry and the animals had some warm mint tea.
            “Where shall we meet them?” said Ralph at last.
            “Well, by the Alder Tree House, Baby,” said Ramona. “But Mak would find us wherever we waited, I am sure!”
            Ramona gathered all the cups and bowls and put them in her five gallon bucket for later.
            “Let’s go!” said Ralph, and the whole party, the three Forest People, the white wolf, the puma bros., and the great Raven all walked out to the meadow, past the Gifting Stump where Twigg and Marge had first become friends, and learned to love each other.
            The Alder Tree House stood waiting. It looked like a tall dome made of alder trees with their branches interlaced together at the top. Black berry vines grew up the trunks, covered in those white blossoms. There were bird’s nests in the trees, full of hungry fledglings. Ooog had made a clever wooden door into the space between two of the trees. He had painted it a dull red. Inside the flat river stone floor was beautiful and level. A small wood burning cast iron stove stood inside. Its pipe came out between two trunks. It was all properly insulated of course. Ooog had gotten the small stove from an abandoned cottage up in the woods near his place and had polished it up and made sure it worked.
            Ramona was inspecting everything, as she had many time before, when Ralph shouted, “Look!”
            She and Cherry, and Blue and Bob and Berry, and Maeve all looked up, and there descending slowly out of the blue sky was Mak’s silver ship.
            Slowly, gently it settled down on the grass of the meadow.

🤍⭐🤍

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.

🤍

All Tomorrow's Flowers

 

 

 
            It had been a strange winter and early spring. When it should have been snowing, it didn’t. Or not much. Long days went by when there was no snow in the Great Forest. Oh, it was cold alright, but the clouds hanging heavy in the sky withheld the expected snow.
            One morning that spring when Ramona woke and put her feet on the stone floor of the cave home she could tell that something was different. The light, just a tiny line of light, around the big wooden door was dead white. Finally. She knew that the weather had changed overnight at last.
            She stretched and looked around the dim interior where her family slept. Ralph was flat on his back, snoring. Cherry and Blue made one indistinguishable mass under her quilt. Bob and Berry slept on their ledge, face to face, like stone carvings. She thought of Twigg and Leely and the new one.
            Then Ramona padded silently to the door and passed outside.
            Flakes of snow like goose feathers swirled down filling the air of the Home Clearing. They fell too thickly to allow her to see much further than a small area where she stood. Glancing at the fire circle, she saw a small, thin column of smoke passed upward through the falling snow. She wouldn’t need a lighter or kindling. Her fire was alive, just really small.
            It was almost silent, but if she listened, she could hear a kind of whisper, the sound heavy falling snow makes. She heard the wind high in the tops of the firs moving their branches just a little. It wasn’t a blizzard, just a snow storm.
            Cold doesn’t bother Ramona, but she set to work building up her fire. She found the remaining live coals and fed them some small dry twigs. Then she knocked the snow off some larger pieces that Ralph had stacked near to the fire for her. It didn’t take long to have quite a large fire burning. She began considering breakfast. There were no fish waiting in her bucket. She had some raw venison, but that would take too long. She was out of eggs. Thaga’s hens were on their winter slow down. So, it would be oatmeal and raisins. She had those in the cave.
            When she went back inside for supplies and her big pot, Ralph was awake.
            “It’s snowing, Baby,” she whispered.
            “Oh, good!” he whispered in answer.
            They went outside together. She made the pot of oatmeal with raisins then went in to wake Cherry and Blue and get bowls, spoons and butter. Bob and Berry slept on. They would hunt up some breakfast for themselves later. Neither cared for porridge.
            “Oh! It’s snowing,” said Cherry. She was getting to be a bigger girl, but she could still float when she wanted to. She rose up through the cold air, looking to the sky, allowing the feathery flakes to light on her face.
            The four of them, including Blue, had their oatmeal porridge and then Ramona made coffee for herself and Ralph. Cherry and Blue had some warm mint tea in Ooog’s clay mugs.
            “What shall we do today?” Ramona asked in formal Saslingua, because she wanted to make sure that Cherry could speak the old language.
            “I would like to go visit Thaga,” said Cherry, very correctly.
            “We can do that, Cherry, if you like,” Ramona said, smiling at the child still overhead tasting the snow falling in her face.
            Ralph said he would take the cats and his big leather backpack, made by Ooog for him that one Gifting season, and do a bit of hunting and wood gathering. It’s a daily chore for Ralph, king or not! Wood and food, every day.
            The dirty dishes went into the five gallon bucket, for later washing at the river. Ramona and Cherry went back into the cave and brushed their hair with a nice brush, from the same Gifting day, and then they were ready to go see Thaga.
            Naturally, Maeve appeared just as they were ready to leave. Given the choice of going with the hunters or the visitors, she chose to go with Ramona and Cherry. The white snowflakes on her black feathers looked very fine, and she knew it too!
            It wasn’t a long walk. The snow was piling up. It was up over Ramona’s ankles, almost to her midcalf. Cherry didn’t walk through it; she drifted along beside her mother. Maeve couldn’t fly that slowly, so she just sat on Ramona’s shoulder.
            Everything looked so different from the days before. The path was white and smooth. The early buds and leaves each had a tiny cap of snow. The snow sat up on top of the deep grass, so it would have been a little hard for a human to push his way through. But Ramona had no trouble with it. She trudged right through. They had a good time with it.
            It was the only cabin out there, and Ramona knew that, as did Cherry and Maeve, but it seemed a little changed somehow. Maybe, it was hard to say. The garden and outside areas looked a little bit like something was missing, but maybe it was just that the snow was covering some things.
            However, there was a thread of white smoke rising from the chimney, and there was a light on. They could see it, deep in the room that the window opened on. So, Thaga and Ooog had to be home. The snow continued to fall thickly, obscuring the view. That had to be why the house seemed a little changed.
            Ramona brought her child and her friend Maeve to the porch, stomped the snow off of her lower legs and feet and knocked on the door. They waited for a couple of minutes there in front of Thaga’s door.
            At last the door opened. A rush of warm air greeted the callers.
            “Hello?” said the young woman in the doorway. “May I help you somehow?”
            She was short, like Thaga. She wore her hair up like Thaga. She wore a print dress that was ankle length with a handknit sweater in blue wool over it. She was so much like Thaga. Her blue eyes held nothing but questions. She smiled tentatively, and said, “Please come in!”
            “Thank you,” said Ramona, a bit weakly, and they trooped on into the kitchen of the cabin, where a young man in leather pants, with long dark hair, was eating breakfast at a wooden table much smaller than the one Ramona remembered.
            “We were looking for Thaga and Ooog,” said Ramona. Cherry stood at her knee and Maeve watched solemnly from her shoulder perch.
            “Why, of course, we are Thaga and Ooog,” said the young woman. “You have most certainly come to the right house. We built this place not so many years ago. No one else has ever lived here, my dear,” she told Ramona.
            Maeve whispered under her breath in amazement.
            “Sit down at my table please. What did you say your name was? It’s cold out there. Maybe we should have a little nibble and figure this out!” said Thaga.
            They got seated around the table. Ramona introduced herself, her child and her bird.
            The young man, with a grin, said, “I’m Ooog for sure! The only one around here!”
            Thaga served gingerbread cookies and tea with sugar. They all just took a moment and looked at each other.
            “You are very much like Thaga and Ooog, whom I have known for many years,” said Ramona, “but so very much younger! I don’t understand!”
            Thaga looked thoughtful for a moment or two, without answering. Ooog sat there, having a few more cookies and smiling.
            “You know what I think, Ramona, Cherry, and Maeve?” said Thaga. “I think that you just came early! I don’t know how you did it. But, I believe we will be good friends, and that I will come to love you very much. I can see that much. That’s the only thing I can imagine has happened. Some talk about a wrinkle in time!
            “Next time you come to visit, I believe we will know each other as we always did!” said Thaga. “Please, always come again!”
            “We will. We will always come again, Thaga,” said Ramona, but there were tears in her eyes because it was so strange. “We will go home now. Thank you both for your kindness!”
            Cherry went to Thaga and hugged her, as she always had. Then there were some tears in Thaga’s eyes. She held the child for a long moment.
            So, Ramona took her leave, with Cherry and Maeve, and they began to walk home through the heavy falling snow. It was even deeper now, almost up to Ramona’s knees. As she walked she noticed that some early blossoms also had dainty caps of snow.
            “Evermore..” muttered Maeve, as if to herself.

🌸🤍🌸

A Few Observations From The Road Today

 

 

            Since I ran out of story writing time on Suzday, I thought maybe I’d just do a short report on driving my kid back to Seattle. It’s always a bit revelatory. Every trip is different.
            It was a good day for driving. A nice gray day. It wasn’t raining. Just even cool light. I don’t care for driving southward into the low winter sun.
            I headed south on Evergreen which becomes old 99 when you get south of Everett. It used to be the highway. The north/south route. I actually remember before they built I-5. When first completed, it was never crowded. It was so easy to get around the area quickly. Not so now.
            After some fish and no chips at Mikie’s in town the first characteristic thing we came upon was a protest at the intersection by Aurora Village, a shopping mall. People holding this year’s model of protest signs crowded all four corners of the intersection. Most were against ICE picking up illegal gate crashers. Many carried No Kings signage. I’m never quite sure what that one means. I suppose they imagine this president wants to be king, for there were also many Traitor Trump signs.
            The people seemed very pleased with themselves. Many were photographing each other. There were tall important looking men, no doubt personages of some nature. Goodness knows. I don’t.
            These people looked well-off, all white. Classic libs. My thought was that they wouldn’t have to live with the results of what they want done. No, it would be the average lower class members who would have to live with the increase in crime and all the other results of illegal migration. But I’m sure that’s considered acceptable for the class of people standing at the intersection.
            Seattle proper, the city, seemed quiet. You don’t see many goofballs on the street in cool gray weather. They seem to come out when the sun shines.
            However, on 35^th NE, I think it is, I notice that the RVs and cars sitting along the road were back, the ones selling drugs openly on the street. Every once in a while the city moves them out, but they were back. Some of these RVs process stolen goods too. Quite a scene.
            Navigator lives in a nice Jewish neighborhood a few miles east of the U, so it seems pretty safe for a downtown neighborhood. Her bus connections are perfect. Bus stops right at the door of her building and the hospital where she works.
            Heading back north, I drove over  to the freeway to just make the trip quickly. No traffic to speak of. As I got out of town, I noticed that the foothills of the Cascade were half occluded by cloud, probably I was looking at snow falling. Mt. Baker, which is usually visible from the freeway was completely hidden, but the slopes of the foothills were patched with great swathes of snow. I was pleased to see it, as we need the mountains to be deep in snow.
            Even here, the clouds are low and look snowy in that white, opaque way.
            So, I had opportunity to compare the folly of mankind to the patient existence of the mountains and the snow coming in its season.
            It was an easy trip. The old Element ran like a good little old machine. I was thankful.

🚗