Tag / cats

by Janet

Black & Blue

A Cat Poem

I am the queen of the castle,
I’ve earned my place on the throne.
I deliver goods to my people,
Be it feather, or fur, or bone.

My enemies cry for attention,
In the darkness they growl and mew.
I chase them down the alleyway,
Until my paws are black and blue.

I am the queen of the castle,
I’ve gained full access to the inside.
I nap, I nibble, and roll in the yard,
My coat of dirt is worn with pride.

I’m resting now, in this blanket of fluff,
Now go, please let me be.
I know you yearn for affection,
But all I have is complacency.

So, our cat Gypsy belongs to my son and she lives in the back unit with him. She never used to hang out in the house, but recently she discovered that my super warm Pendleton blanket is also super cozy. This was how I found her today; covered in dirt from head to paw (minus the oil paint effect that I added to tone the filth down a notch).

She reminded me of Pigpen from Charlie Brown. The dark patch on her face is actually the only spot that was clean and untarnished. Isn’t she a ham!? I’m sure she just spent time rolling in the dirt, as usual, but I thought she looked rough – like she’d been in a fight. Hence, the “B” words came to mind for my Alphabet Game – Black and Blue.

I suppose we can just cross off another – using “C” for Cat, so that’s three down and twenty three to go! I shot the pic with my iPhone and then used BeCasso to add the oil paint effect. Anyway, that’s about all for now… I hope you enjoyed!

See you around soon for the letter “D.”

by Janet

A Curious Thing

The mind is not a vessel to be filled but a fire to be kindled.

Plutarch

I didn’t plan to use our cat “Gypsy” for my featured image, but when I thought about the word curiosity, the old phrase “curiosity killed the cat” came to mind. I’ve never cared for that idiom because I think curiosity is a wonderful thing (and I love cats).

But, I’ve learned that the expression is more about nosiness—sticking your nose into other people’s business where it doesn’t belong. Now THAT I understand. So, it looks like curiosity is another one of those double edged words.

Curiosity, to me, is very similar to awe and wonder. It challenges our minds to ask questions and it makes us want to learn about things. When I got caught up in the rat race—working hard and playing hard—I lost my curiosity. Honestly, I think that losing curiosity may be one of the first steps people take toward losing hope. It’s like a total lack of interest in life and the world around you, and it breeds complacency and indifference.

Having no curiosity can also lead to taking things (even LIFE) for granted. It makes me think of a young teen (or even some young adults) sulking in his (or her) room—sitting next to a laptop, an iPhone, and a television—complaining because life is sooo BORING. On a side note… I think I actually did that when I was a teenager (minus the laptop and iPhone). Oh, the things I could have been learning if I had only been more curious!

I think curiosity is a bit like engine fuel. When we pay attention to what’s going on around us, or when we look at the world with awe and wonder, we realize that there is so much more to know, and so many things we can learn about. Curiosity sparks up that ignition and gets those old gears and wheels turning (and I know nothing about cars so please excuse me if my car analogies make you auto buffs cringe).

Come to think of it, if curiosity is like fuel then it’s one fuel that we can never run out of. EVER. There’ll always be more questions to ask, more things to be curious about, and more to learn because we’ll never know it all. So, unless you’re planning on sticking your nose into someone else’s business…

Stay Curious!

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Walt Disney

That’s about all for now.

Thanks for joining me for the letter “C” in my series Life: From A to Z.

by Janet

Coloring: Day 2

I’ve never been able to help the fact that I’m easily amused. I’m extremely grateful for this fact—especially during these past few days (or weeks, or months)—when it’s so easy to be moody.

I know that my coloring projects aren’t “originals” but they are dear to me nonetheless, so I’m going to share them damn it! 🙂

I’m tempted to print some and color them for real, with colored pencils or maybe I’ll even whip out my paints that I bought back at Christmas and never used (shame on me). This new hobby is SO RELAXING! And it’s so hard to get excited these days—when we’re still so restricted—so I will take what I can get.

This particular page (that I’ve edited just a tad) comes from Judy Clement Wall, who is an artist, illustrator, and author, so click on the link if you feel like joining in. She has even added a quarantine selection which I just discovered, so I’ll be visiting her pages again.

That’s all for now. I just wanted to share my “Cool Cats.”

There Are Two Means Of Refuge From The Miseries Of Life: Music And Cats.

Albert Schweitzer

Have a wonderful day!

Word of the Day Challenge: Moody