Back Soon

We’ve been away on midlife crisis.

One of our regularly scheduled, every five years or so, midlife re-evaluation of where, what, how, why. It’s when we step back, reevaluate, and decide what is of the greatest importance at each new stage in life.

We are sad to announce that sweet, beautiful Loki has been diagnosed with lymphoma and we do not know how much longer he will be with us. It is not a change any of us want.

Most of the path forward remains the same: passionate about writing and creating stories, collecting and sharing world myth, loving my Bengals and immersing myself in the issues of diversity and inclusion.

There may be a little more on CERT (Citizen Emergency Response Team) and CERT (Cat Emergency Response Team).

Cat Convos will continue.

I may never know what is around the bend, but the Hill will continue its meanders through the space/time continuum.

I’m looking forward to sharing the adventure with you.

~lisa

 

 

 

 

Cat Convos: CERT Inspection 1

Crash! Bang! Thud!

Me: What’s going on in there?

Hiyu: We’re doing an inspection and you aren’t passing.

Loki: Relax, you’re mostly passing.

Kuri: Where do you keep the crockpot and all the big kitchen appliances?

 

Me: What?

Hiyu: We’re doing a CERT Preparedness Inspection.

Loki: Remember, we formed our own type of CERT. We are now a Cat Emergency Response Team.

Hiyu: And you can’t help others until you take care of yourself.

Loki: Yeah, the mantra is “you’re number one”, then “what about you?” If you can’t take care of yourself, you can’t take care of others.

Kuri: Found them. All heavy appliances on the bottom shelf where they can’t fall on your head. Good for you.

Me: You guys still aren’t allowed in the cupboards.

Kuri: Fine, I’ll get on them. Is that better?

Me: What makes you guys think it’s okay to destroy the kitchen?

Hiyu: Official business. We’re pretending to be an earthquake.

Loki: I like practicing opening things anyway.

Kuri: Who knew we would be so good at mayhem and mischief?

Hiyu: I did.

Me: You knock those dishes to the floor and there will be no laser tag for a week.

Kuri: We’re done with the kitchen anyway. Loki and I are going to throw our weight around and see how much furniture we can knock down.

Me: You’re getting a time out.

Loki: Does that mean you don’t have all the furniture attached to the walls? What about these bookshelves?

 

Me: We’re not getting rid of the books.

Loki: You aren’t going to stop us from making sure you’re earthquake ready.

Hiyu: I HAVE A BRILLIANT IDEA! You can rent us out as CERT Earthquake Inspectors. If we can destroy a house, then you’re in trouble if a big earthquake comes.

Me; (carrying three large, squirming cats in my arms): Enjoy the playroom.

Hiyu: Wait! At least run our previous post about how we created the Cat Emergency Response Team. Our readers will want to know.

Loki: Yeah, someone might have missed it.

Me: Fine. I’ll put the original post at the bottom of this one. Happy?

Kuri: May we come out now?

Me: Not yet. Run off some of that energy and then you can sit on my legs while I get some computer work done. Right now, I’m wishing all of our readers an easier time in their preparedness preparations.

~lisa

As promised, the original post:

Cat Convos: CERT

Hiyu: You’re a CERT.

Me: Yes, and…

Kuri: We’ve decided we want to be CERT.

Me: You want to be a part of a Citizen Emergency Response Team?

Loki: Something like that.

Me: You guys aren’t exactly citizens and you don’t have opposable thumbs or…

Hiyu: We know all that.

Kuri: Yeah, we want to form our own CERT.

Loki: It’s brilliant and we can help other cats.

Kuri: Even dogs. We could help dogs.

Me: Let me explain a little bit about CERT.

Loki: We’re going to make our own CERT.

Hiyu: Yes, we’ve figured it all out.

Kuri: We’re going to be a Cat Emergency Response Team.

Me: Cat Emergency Response?

Kuri: I’m going to educate the public about having emergency rations & toys for all of their companions.

Loki: And I’m going to help with post-disaster mental health. I’m good at purring.

Hiyu: You can make little first aid packs for us.

Me: I’m not sure.

Kuri: We can help with search and rescue.

Hiyu: I can get to high places and I’m small enough to get into little places.

Me: That’s quite a dream you guys have there.

Hiyu: If it’s important to you then it’s important to us.

Kuri: You know how much we like to help. I even have an outfit for it. I can do security detail.

Me: You know I’ve got you guys covered. Your Emergency Go Crate is well stocked with food, water and toys. Your pictures, descriptions and up-to-date vaccination records are also there.

Loki: Why do we need more than toys and food.

Me: In case we have to evacuate. Human shelters only allow service animals and if I need to get you boarding then they need all of your records.

Kuri: I’m not going to be boarded. I’m going to be in the thick of it.

Hiyu: That’s why we’re forming our own Cat Emergency Team. We want to be part of the solution.

Me: My hope is that if there is a problem, you guys will take care of the house and the rest of the family while I’m out helping with recovery.

Hiyu: What if we agree to help birds?

Kuri: Or dogs or reptiles or–

Loki: Fish. I like to watch fish.

Me: I appreciate that you guys want to help.

Hiyu: So it’s settled. We’re your own Cat Emergency Response Team.

Me: I love you guys.

Loki: Purr

Hiyu: I can purr louder.

Kuri: Not as loud as I can.

Loki, Kuri and Hiyu: Purr, purr, PURR.

Me: May all you readers out there be safe and have a plan.

~lisa

 

 

Cat Convos: Signs of Spring

Kuri: What were you thinking?

Hiyu: I can’t believe you said baby slugs are a sign of spring.

Loki: Yeah, that makes no sense. You have us. Why care about slugs?

Me: Slugs are surprisingly interesting. Did you know they have thousands of teeth?

Kuri: I don’t want to know that.

Loki: If you want to know it’s spring, I can shed some light on that.

Me: I don’t believe you just said that.

Kuri: We’re shedding. Get it? That’s a sure sign of spring.

Hiyu: Anyway, back to us. You’ve been neglecting us.

Me: Don’t think so. We play several times a day and I always give you attention when you ask.

Kuri: You went on vacation.

Loki: Yeah, and left us here to shed on our own.

Me: I came back.

Hiyu: You brought gifts for everyone, but us.

Me: I broke out the catnip and you already had a new toy.

Loki: It’s not enough.

Kuri: Why do we only get Fridays? We should have a lot more days on the blog.

Hiyu: Kuri’s right. We can talk about all sorts of things all the time. How could anything be more important than us?

Me: Readers like to hear about other things too. Not everything is about you and your opinions.

Loki: We can read more books.

Hiyu: I like documentaries too, especially about birds.

Kuri: I can recite poetry.

Hiyu: I’m very philosophical.

Me: Yes, you guys are great, but you only get Fridays.

Kuri: You keep that up and we’ll never stop shedding on you.

Loki: I’ll wake you up in the middle of the night.

Me: You already do all of that.

Hiyu: Cat pile on top of her.

Kuri and Loki: Cat pile! Cat pile!

Me: Love you guys too.

~lisa

 

 

Cat Convo: New Year

New year, new life…

Loki: I don’t like any of the changes around here. Hear me scream.

Kuri: It’s not that bad. There’s a fantastic new playroom.

Me: That’s not a playroom.

Hiyu: Why would you tear out a wall and set up ladders and tarps if not for us?

Me: Rainbow Hill has been wanting a makeover for quite some time now. Best face forward for its travels through the space/time continuum.

Kuri: It’s not about us?

Hiyu: That’s very selfish of the hill. And why are you suddenly gone so much?

Me: I’m not gone that much. I’m still mostly at the keyboard.

Loki: Not all the time. First the dog leaves and then you keep going in and out. What’s more important than us and writing your books?

Kuri: And tuna. Tuna is important.

Me: I do go out a little bit more. In order to write about life, one occasionally has to live it.

Hiyu: So what is the soon-to-be-great author doing now?

Me: Volunteering, hiking, photography and helping The Hill make all of its changes. I’ll tell our readers more about it in other blogs. This one is all about you guys.

Hiyu: And so it should be.

Loki: Can we play another game? Catch the red laser dot?

Hiyu: I like catch the feather.

Kuri: Let’s use the playroom before it goes away. Dibs on the highest ladder.

Hiyu: Not if I get there first.

Me: Wait…no…oh, dear.

Happy New Year!

~lisa

From my favorite city to yours.

 

 

Hug Your Cat Day

“The nature of the universe probably depends heavily on who is the actual protagonist. Lately I’ve been suspecting it’s one of my cats.” ― Wil McCarthy

June 4th  is Hug Your Cat Day

It’s also Adopt a Cat Month and Adopt a Shelter Cat Month – there are a lot of kittens out there who need homes.

If you are bereft of the love and companionship of a cat, think about bringing one of these remarkable companions home. If that is not a possibility, then I’m sure you’ll find someone who will let you hug their cat.

“Time spent with cats is never wasted.” – Sigmund Freud

When in Ireland if you say something funny, you may well hear. –

“It would make a cat laugh.”

Cait Sidhe (fairy cat) from Celtic Mythology is considered to be as large as a dog. I’m assuming since this is from Scottish and Irish Folklore that the dog is the size of a hunting hound and not a Chihuahua.

The Celts also gave us Grimalkin, a gray cat with magical powers. In Shakespeare’s MacBeth, Grimalkin is a familiar of the witches. Ceridwen, the Welsh goddess of wisdom, was attended by white cats.

Is it a coincidence that the Norse goddess Freya also had two cats? Her cats had fur that was white, gray or blue depending on the source cited.

A group of cats is called a clowder or a glaring of cats.

There’s a clowder of only about 220 million domestic cats in the world to keep over 7 billion people company.

An old Polish black cat named Ovinnik chased away evil-natured ghosts and mischievous fairies.

In Africa, cats not only protect people from rodents and snakes, but also drive demons away.

Also in Africa is Bastet worshipped as a protector cat-goddess by ancient Egyptians.

The Japanese Beckoning Cat, also known as a Fortune Cat, has been popularized in the west by the “Hello Kitty” brand.

In China, cats ward off evil spirits.

“You can keep a dog; but it is the cat who keeps people, because cats find humans useful domestic animals.”- George Mikes

I adore this Chinese story about cats.

Cats used to be in charge of the world. But the cats were lazy so they gave up talking and delegated all their tasks to humans. That’s why they look so superior when they watch us running around doing all the work.

“After scolding one’s cat one looks into its face and is seized by the ugly suspicion that it understood every word. And has filed it for reference.”- Charlotte Gray

In the Islamic world, cats are given the respect they think they deserve. The Prophet Mohammed’s cat Muezza once fell asleep on the sleeve of his master’s robe –instead of disturbing his beloved cat when he had to leave, Mohammed cut off the sleeve of his robe.

And that’s how it is our house – never disturb the cat.

~lisa

Pet Adoption How, Why & the Urgency therein: http://www.petfinder.com/pet-adoption/cat-adoption/june-is-adopt-a-shelter-cat-month/

Cats in Norse Mythology: http://felineforever.com/cat-mythology-norse.html
Celtic cats: http://celtopedia.druidcircle.net/index.php?title=Cat_Sidhe
Cats in Mythology and Folklore http://www.lifepaths360.com/index.php/cat-in-mythology-and-folklore-3292/

More Cat Myth since there is far more cat myth than could be covered if I only posted on cats every day of the year. Perhaps someday I will write my own book of cat mythology.

When Siamese kings died, their souls would pass on to a Siamese cat so he could be present at the coronation of his successor.

In old Bohemia the cat was a symbol of fertility.

Let us not forget the disappearing Cheshire Cat from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

The Pussy Willow plant got its name from an old Polish cat myth.

The Goddess Hecate assumed the form of a cat in order to escape the monster Typhon. Since that worked she made sure of special treatment of all cats thereafter.

Index of Famous cats, real and literary http://www.citizenlunchbox.com/famous/cats-A-D.html
Cats in Mythology http://domesticcatworld.com/cats-in-mythology
Cat Urban Legends http://cats.about.com/od/catloreurbanlegends/
Urban Legends about cats http://messybeast.com/urbancat.htm
Cherokee myth has the Wampus cat: http://www.monstropedia.org/index.php?title=Wampus_cat