My Good Little Boy

Day 235: My love, my good little Boy, Tickle-Monster, Spaghetti Monster, it was a long, long way to Tipperary, but when I brought you to share my life, you gave me so much love. When you got into mischief, it was funny: shredding an entire roll of toilet paper, pulling spaghetti out of the cupboard and playing with the spilled jackstraws. You demanded your tickles, urging me to chase you into your tunnel where you'd roll over and bunny-kick my hand while I tickled your tummy. And the "Gotcha game"...never a claw, never a bite as we roughhoused. And you wanted your hugs, arms around my neck, wanted to be tipped over in my lap and held against my chest, purring, purring, purring. You let me do those "wicked things" to kitties without objection, like baths and toothbrushing, trusting me completely because you loved me so much. My little Boy, my Tippy, my love!

From the East, the direction of the Mountain and of the rising sun
Comes strength.
From the South, the direction of the Earth
Comes stability.
From the West, the direction of the sea and of the setting sun
Comes harmony.
From the North, the direction of the wind and of the aurora borealis
Comes the Current of Life.

My Skunky-Girl

Day 151: She came to me at roughly six weeks old, blue-eyed, tail hairless as a rat's, and scrappy as a few ounces of kitten could possibly be, having defended herself against two cat-killing dachshunds. She had nearly lost a paw in the set-to, but under my care, it healed nicely. She was a funny little thing. I called her a "water-cat." When I showered, she would often get in the tub, take up a position on the drain, perfectly content as the tide rose around her. I took advantage of the fact and introduced her to a regularly-conducted bath protocol, so her fur was always as soft as a bunny's. She also liked to pat the water in her drinking bowl or stand with one hand in it, requiring me to make accommodations for the spills by setting it in a larger bowl. She enjoyed drinking from the bathtub faucet, and before I learned to leave a water dish for her on the tub drain, she'd "sing in the shower" with a voice guaranteed to peel paint to let me know she needed the water to be turned on. When she was a tiny babycat (that's one word, "babycat"), she would crawl under the covers with me, nestle in the crook of my arm, massaging my chest with her front paws until she got sleepy. Then she'd worm her way down to my feet, remaining there for most of the night. In her younger days, we'd play the Stare Game, in which she would lurk behind a piece of furniture, one eye showing, and I would take a position on the floor where I could stare at her through the legs of a chair or around a corner. We'd sit that way for a minute which seemed to expand time, and then slowly and deliberately, I would blink. As if on cue, she'd rush me, galloping across the floor at full speed. Her favourite toys were three stuffies: a little squirrel (we went through several over the early years), a skunk roughly the same size, and a larger wolf. Wolfie was for kneading, and she would spend long minutes working her paws into his soft padding.

Always an indoor kitty, her health was excellent until she turned 7 and contracted an ear infection. She was given medication which destroyed her eardrums and went deaf in a matter of days. I nursed her through what can only be described as a deep depression, but unbeknownst to me or her doctor, other damage had been done to her system and her health continued to decline. Yesterday (March 12), I made the hard decision and laid my beloved kitty-girl to rest here in the only home she ever knew, beneath my big Doug fir.

Lost In The Stars

Day 137: The true Trekkies among my readership will recognize the title of this image "Lost In The Stars" as one of the cuts on Leonard Nimoy's first LP (vinyl) album, "Mr. Spock's Music From Outer Space." They may also recognize my rather inept oil painting as one of "The Two Sides Of Leonard Nimoy" portrayed on the cover of his second album. You see, I have been a Trekkie from the very beginning, and in my opinion, the character of Mr. Spock was the icon of the series. It probably goes without saying that he was also one of the major crushes of my life, hence the portrait.

I had a bad feeling when I saw the announcement of Leonard Nimoy's hospitalization a few days ago, so I was not entirely surprised to learn this morning that he had passed away. That said, it was not news I wanted to hear. I've seen numerous posts honoring him today, but lack of artistic skill aside, I wanted to create a special tribute of my own, something from the heart, emotional human that I am.