A Very Happy Cat Story

     Late Monday evening I received news of an actual small domestic miracle, which I thought was more interesting than the fictional story that I had set up for Tuesday morning.

    It goes like this; my daughter left here early last evening to drive home to Astoria, about a four hour drive, with her two cats in her Jeep. I was a little bit alerted about this trip for some reason so I called her just as she was getting home.  So, it seemed that all was well.

    However, when she unpacked the car, only Charley was in the Jeep.  Mr. Baby was not there!  She had stopped in Longview to take a photo and she had gone to Safeway on the way home also. Longview is a good hour away.  Safeway is near.  She drove back to Safeway and called him and drove around.  No dice.  No cat.

    About then her daughter kept texting her funny things until she had to call her back and tell her what had happened and why she wasn't responding normally. Bubble Woman was distraught and felt terrible because she had lost Mr. Baby!

    My wise granddaughter told her mother to go back to the overlook in Longview and call him. So she drove the hour back to Longview and called him and she could hear meows!  But he was up some awful muddy bank, very steep and awkward and he was scampering around playing coy, and would not come to her, though he usually will come to her outdoors. This is all happening in the dead dark middle of the night.

    Finally, she was able to reach him and grab him because he still had his little kitty harness on.

    Granddaughter and I were both on "alert" last night and thank God my daughter obeyed her daughter.

    It's a tempest in a teapot of course.  Not the biggest deal in the world, but she is thanking God. We are all thanking God! 

    Tonight she was thinking of the shepherd who goes back to find the sheep that was lost, and what you will do to find that lost one, if you happen to be a cat shepherd!

    My daughter is exhausted and scraped up, but very, very happy to have naughty Mr. Baby Sir back at home.

I Think We Shall Have An Art Post!

 

Alexander Max Koester (German, 1864-1932)

Moulting DucksDate: ca. 1900

Medium: Oil on canvas

Object Dimensions: 28 3/8 x 51 3/8 in. (72.07 x 130.49 cm)

Credit Line: Founding Collection, Gift of Charles and Emma Frye, 1952.087

Photo Credit: Spike Mafford

__________________________________________________________________

A Question Of Words

 

Sunday Ponderings

    I woke from my Saturday nap with two words bouncing around in my head.

Exhultation
Exhaltation

    I thought they must be close in meaning. So, I checked etymologyonline.com. as usual.

exultation_(n.)
"act of exulting, g (n.)reat gladness, triumphant delight," late 14c., exultacioun, from Old French exultacion "joyousness, exultation" and directly from Latin exultationem/exsultationem "a leaping for joy, exultation," noun of action from past-participle stem of exultare/exsultare (see exult). The notion is of leaping or dancing for joy. An Old English word for it was heahbliss "high bliss."

 Highbliss! I like that! Sometimes I feel that.

exaltation (n.)
late 14c, in astrology, "position of a planet in the zodiac where it exerts its greatest influence," from Old French exaltacion "enhancement, elevation," and directly from Late Latin exaltationem (nominative exaltatio) "elevation, pride," noun of action from past-participle stem of exaltare "to raise, elevate" (see exalt).
From late 15c. as "act of raising high or state of being elevated" (in power, rank, dignity, etc.); also "elevation of feeling, state of mind involving rapturous emotions." The Exaltation of the Cross (late 14c.) is the feast commemorating the miraculous apparition seen by Constantine in 317.

“state of mind involving rapturous emotions.”

    So, they describe related emotions.
    Now, to get down to it. I believe this is the state in which the angels of God sing to him and about him. They exult in him and exalt him. They express their exhultation by lifting him up in exhaltation.
    Likewise, I think it’s safe to say that in our best moments we can and maybe also do much the same.

"You are the Mighty King!"

Emmy's Day

 

      “I like this day,” she thought because she didn’t need to speak it.  Before her eyes opened in the morning, she felt the air touching her skin. She kicked  her blanket down. She heard her parents chattering, warm meaningless words. She smelled their coffee, the eggs and toast and an unmistakable scent of hot butter.  The smell of home.

       She heard the old one laugh.

Sending her mind out further, animal sounds.  Those chickens talking in two tones. The dog’s sharp exclamations suddenly. The local small birds commenting on their observations and intentions. High, high above she heard a piercing hawk’s call once and again. Yes, it was good.
      She heard breath nearby, light, small, quiet. Her hand touched the cat’s side. Right there immediately was the familiar soft assurance. The cat. Always near. When she touched Billy he began his familiar purr, insistently, comfortingly.
      “Emmy, are you awake?” Her mother asked softly, just checking.
       When Emmy opened her eyes and smiled, Beth said, “let’s go get some breakfast.” Her mother was the most beautiful thing in her world. Beth, brown haired, strong, sweet, and kind. But first, since Emmy was still just a big baby, Beth sat and nursed her for a few minutes.  Then they went out to join Jessie and Julia in the kitchen.
       When Jessie saw them he said, “Emmy, after breakfast let’s go out and visit the chickens and look at the garden.” That promise got her excited. Jessie plopped her into her highchair, as she giggled and wiggled, as if to escape.
       Julia smiled on it all.
       A short while later Jessie walked, and Emmy toddled outside to visit the chickens and give them some feed and water. They went inside the fence, so Emmy got close to the six hens. She loved them and wanted to hug them, but they gracefully evaded her grasp. She loved their voices and their fussy manner. Jessie showed her where their eggs were laid when he gathered four of them into a small basket for the house. Honda followed them around curiously but was not allowed into the chicken run.
      Jessie put the pinkish-brown eggs in their little basket on the porch and then they went to look at the garden. When he turned back to Emmy she was looking up into the brilliant sky, stretching her hands up and saying, “happy, happy!” He prayed then, that no evil should ever come near her.
      Between the rows of corn Emmy crouched down and looked through the stalks. It was an unfamiliar world. Mysterious, with muffled sounds and new smells.
      She lay down on her tummy on the cool earth between the corn stalks, assuming a posture she had often seen Billy take. She lay her hands before her like he did his paws.  Looking down the row she saw a mirroring image. A great cat lay also between the rows, paws forward. Bright yellow eyes regarded her. Emmy was not afraid. She was delighted to meet such a cat in such a place.
      After watching Emmy for a few minutes, the puma rose to her feet, turned, and walked silently away.
      Emmy came out of the corn stalks and found her father, who was picking green beans. “Big cat,” she said cheerfully.
      “Yeah,” said Jessie, “he’s in the house! Let’s go see Billy!”

They haven't taken my phone yet.docx

Per Bakokitty's Request

    A couple of days ago Bakokitty asked me to post some directions on how to make sauerkraut. I could write out a bunch of stuff, but Joshua here does a good job of explaining, quickly and efficiently.  The only thing to be careful of is how much salt to use. 

    For this last batch I used my French mandolin instead of cutting with a knife.  It did come out more consistently fine that way. But really, how fine to cut it is a judgement call. 

    I did it as LoneStar directed. It worked fine, and now I get carried away and add garlic, hot pepper flakes and caraway seed to the mix.  Wheee!  Getting closer to kimchi, but it smells great.  It's still fermenting out there in the kitchen.

    So, have any of you, besides LoneStar, ever made any ferments? I find them great fun. I have made kraut, kimchi, kefir, pickles and hot sauces, wines, and beer. I am interested in whatever other fermenty things I might try, such as that Italian vegetable relish thing.

    You should thank BK. When I woke this early evening I was thinking about discussing whether God is or is not a collectivist. Oy!  Then attaching that to the concept that homemade is best and why.  See. It's better this way.

 

A Drowsy Picnic Somewhere In A Meadow

 

          It was the appointed day, so Thaga set to work while it was still dark. She was yawning, but she could hear morning birds starting to practice their morning calls and statements already, so she knew it was time to get going.
          She took hard red wheat from the big bucket, five cups of it. Then she ground it into coarse flour with her hand grinder clamped to the big wooden table Oog had made years before.  It was hard work, but Thaga had the arms to do that work. When it was ground she got out her sour dough starter and poured a good dollop into the flour, added some salt and some water and a little butter and she worked up a nice dough.  Then she made two loaves and set them to rise.
          She got out a pound of good Virginia peanuts and roasted them in a dry skillet on the woodstove in her kitchen.  For a Neanderthal chick, Thaga has a pretty extensive kitchen. After they were roasted she ground them also.  She did it twice to make sure the peanut butter was smooth.
          Oog was still snoring, but she started making breakfast anyhow.  He would smell it and come looking for the good smells. She fried up some nice thick bacon, her sources are her own, and then she fried three eggs.  Two for him and one for her.  She made a big brown pot of strong black tea and got out the sugar bowl. There was a small jug of cream too.
          Then she sat down and rested while having a morning smoke, and a cup of the tea with sugar and cream. Soon Oog came to the table, and they had breakfast.
        Then after a little nap, Thaga liked a little nap, she put the bread to bake in her woodstove’s oven. It smelled so good that Oog came looking to see what was happening in the kitchen. Oog is pretty fond of a good thick slice of new bread and a truly self-indulgent layer of butter.
          After the bread had cooled a bit, she sliced a generous number of slices. She spread them with peanut butter on one side. Then she put butter on one side of matching slices and added her jam made of black berries that she and Ramona had picked late the last summer out in the clearcut near the forest. She wrapped each sandwich in brown paper and put them in a basket. She included a jar of sweet tea.

          She reminded Oog that she was going to visit Ramona and Twigg today and that he must fend for himself for a while. He made one of those noises that husbands make and went out to do something he had been thinking of doing but hadn’t gotten around to.

          It was late morning by then. Thaga went out of her nice solid green door, heading for the deep forest and Ramona’s cave where she lived with Ralph and baby Twigg who actually wasn’t such a baby anymore. There was a well worn path. It threaded between tall ferns, all sorts of underbrush and stands of fireweed. Soon she was under the great solemn fir trees, in the deep cool forest.  She could smell the slight fungus scent of the forest floor and she could hear insects buzzing around and the birds still at it, as they are on a peaceful day. Their echoing trills filled her with an emotion she didn’t have a definition for.

         The path led right up to the cave with its firepit in the clearing before the cave which now had a clever door made to fit its irregularly shaped opening.
          Twigg, who was old enough to speak reasonably, saw her coming with the picnic basket. Twigg was an unusual young Squatch in that he had been raised speaking English unlike his parents who had to learn in adulthood.
          “She’s here,” he yelled, “Thaga’s here!” He ran first in to alert Ramona and then back out to engage Thaga. He danced around her like a wild thing and said, “what’s in the basket?”
          “Well, it’s a picnic,” said Thaga. “You will see soon.”
          Ramona came out with a small bag of apples, and they all set out walking to a certain meadow where lupines and fireweed grew, and the sun would be warm.
          “What’s Ralph up to today,” asked Thaga.
          “Oh, that lady puma and some bear have been squabbling over territory again, and he went to try to talk them out of total war, convince them that there are enough deer and bunnies for both of them.  I don’t expect him home before dark,” said Ramona.
          “Those two again,” said Thaga with a laugh.
          Twigg’s style of following the ladies was pretty much like any young guy.  He’d run way ahead and then zip back.  Then he would fall behind looking at some bug or something and Ramona would have to call him to hurry up.

          In the meadow, they found a nice grassy spot in the drowsy sunshine. Thaga opened her basket and gave Twigg one of her really good peanut butter and jam sandwiches. He loved it.  He sat right there and ate every bit, getting brown bread crumbs on his furry belly and jam and peanut butter on his clever little face. Ramona really liked hers too.  She didn’t get a lot of sandwiches in the cave and hadn’t advanced to baking yet herself.
          Soon they were sleepy. Twigg snuggled up to his mother and they dropped off for a quick little nap.  So did Thaga. What a peaceful scene they made; I think.
          While they were asleep two hikers, a man, and a woman, came upon them suddenly. Just as suddenly and silently they reversed course and left the sleepers sleeping. They felt that they had had a narrow escape, but really they were perfectly safe, as we know.
          As the sun moved around the sky and shadows began to form, Maeve, she who sees all, landed with a rather solid thump on the grass near the basket and was just peeking inside when everyone woke up.
          “If I can have a sandwich,” said Maeve, “I’ll tell you a secret!”
          “Oh phooey,” said Thaga. “Help yourself. What’s your big secret?”
          “Well,” said Maeve, neatly picking a sandwich to bits with her big black beak, “you have been spotted.  A man and a woman came upon you while you were all snoring out here in the open, and now they Know About You!”

          “No one will believe them,” said Ramona, laughing.
          “Yeah, probably not,” said Maeve with a beak-ful of sandwich. “It was the only secret I could think of right then.” She seemed quite pleased with herself in spite of the not very exciting secret.
           Then they all had one of Ramona’s apples and a couple of guzzles of the tea that Thaga had in a jar in her basket and the picnic was over.

           Maeve flew off to check for more secrets.
          They walked back into the forest and made their way to the cave where Thaga asked Twigg, “well, how did you like your picnic?”
          “I liked it Thaga.  Thank you,” he said, nodding earnestly. “Can we do it again tomorrow?”
          “Well, maybe not tomorrow, but there are many days in a summer, and we can use some of them for picnics Sweety,” she said.
          Then she walked back to her house somewhere rather obscure in the foothills of the Cascade Range, to see how Oog was getting on with his project and make him a little dinner.

A Trip To Texas, by Karla

 Photo by Professor Farnsworth

A Letter to his grandkids.

    "Well kids, one time back in 2024 when yer dad was about yer age, yer grandma and me decided we'd all go to Texas to check out a solar eclipse. Yer dad, yer uncle Calvin, yer aunt Lucy and Scooter, who was a little mutt we had back then, who was crazy 'bout your grandma, so we couldn't just haul her off and then leave him home by himself, so we all loaded everybody up in that old Chevy Wagon we had and headed out. 

    When we got to a place called Gatesville, TX we stopped to look at this really nice lookin' courthouse building they had there and then we saw they also had some fliers tellin' folks all about the eclipse thing, and selling weird little pieces of carboard with holes in 'em, to hold up to the Sun when the Moon was blocking it out, so folks didn't burn out their eyeballs from just plain lookin' at it, so we knew we had reached our destination. 

    Then we noticed a sign sayin' "Prayer Tent", and so we went on over there and found out we could get yer Uncle Calvin saved and baptized, right there in that parking lot!

     Your Uncle hadn't made that decision yet, but by golly when he saw he could bypass all the fuss and embarrassment involved at the church and just get 'er done right there in that parking lot he was all for it. They had a preacher and a stock tank all set up right there for just that very thing!

     Yep, so we went ahead and got that done, and then headed on over to The Feed Mill and had us some Texas steaks for supper before we went looking for a spot to park for the night 'cause all the motels was full and they probably would never have let Scooter stay in one of 'em anyway. 

    Then, since it was still light out, (eclipse stuff didn't start till the next day) we went on out to look at all the prisons. By golly they had 5 of the dang things right there in that one little town! I figure not enough folks in those parts got around to gettin' their savin' and baptizin' done on Sundays, so they had to open all them prisons up later on to put all them poor lost souls in. So I reckon then all the churches decided to start puttin' them little prayer tents up all over town so folks could just go ahead and get saved whenever they really felt like it. Probably not such a bad idea. Anyways, tomorrow I'll tell ya all about that eclipse thing."

Part Two

    Well kids, I don't want to make this here letter writin' a habit, but I did say I would tell ya about that eclipse thing! Bein' here in Texas made it pretty easy too. Here's a photo we got of it that people was sellin' all over town. Shore glad all these other folks was takin' pictures. Anyway, here's what the eclipse thing looked like from here in Gatesville! Some folks say this is what it looked like all over the whole state of Texas! Sure hope that it's is good omen of things to come! Bye for now... keep your powder dry and maybe I'll write to yall again if we head out on another adventure someday, holdin' that the creek don't rise.

                           Love from Gramps