Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful

     Don't   Hate  Me  Because  I'm  Beautiful


Seems that we have an unlikely celebrity in the family.  Pookie.  You might know that the "other" woman in Tony's life would end up stealing all of the limelight.   Was there ever any doubt that I'm just chopped liver.  Check out my blog "The Other Woman"on 9/08/08 for the rest of the story.  She was the headline story for the Paw Print Post on January 21, 2010.


Today's rescue story: A cat who showed 'pretty toes'

Caption;  A reader named Marti writes this about a cat they saved from a shelter:
"This is Pookie. She is a beautiful black and white Tuxedo cat who is about 9 years old. Our daughter went to the shelter looking for a companion when she lived alone. When she passed Pookie's cage, the kitty reached out her paw though the bars and "showed pretty toes". That was it. Those toes CATapulted her(excuse the pun) into a life of luxury.



When our daughter moved back in with us for a few months while she was in college, Pookie came too. Pookie fell deeply and madly in love with my husband, Tony. She's in his lap every time he sits down. She stretches out on his chest, rubs her head on his chin and reaches up with her paw and touches his face. No doubt that this cat is in love.

Needless to say, when our daughter moved out into an apartment, Pookie stayed behind. She has the sweetest disposition of any cat I've ever known. We say she is the Mother Teresa of the cat world. On weekends, we take her with us to our house on the gulf coast (about an hour ride). When we bring the cat carrier in, as soon as she sees it she goes to the litter box and gets ready to go. I used to have to say "go potty Pookie" but now she's ready to roll!   It still melts my heart when she comes up to us and stretches up and spreads her pretty toes. We decided that it's her way of saying hello. Although I am second choice in her world - that's ok. I wouldn't exactly say Tony is her owner. He's more like her person."  Well there you have it.  How can I ever compete with that!?

A Lovely Way to Spend An Afternoon

                                                                      Duncan


Last Monday I had the pleasure of spending the absolutely glorious afternoon photographing my little (not quite one year old) neighbor, Duncan, in my backyard. He is a beautiful child and so photogenic.  Always smiling...a real heart breaker already. He has recently started walking and is now busy exploring everything in his universe.  Since he's become mobile, the world is a smorgessboard of endless ways to excite his sense of touch, taste, sight and smell ....we will discuss hearing in a minute.  His Mom and Dad, Susan and Chad, helped me by trying to gently persuade Duncan to go in certain directions or pose in certain ways.  Toddlers, however, have their own agenda .... staying still or in one place was most definitely NOT on his agenda.  A great deal of our time was spent with extracting leaves, bark and small twigs from his mouth.  Leaves in particular seem to be of great interest to him.  Oh, and I mentioned hearing ... he was not in the least interested in hearing his Mom ask him nicely to spit out the leaves.  Unfortunately this period of turning a deaf ear, so to speak, gets worse before it gets better but I didn't want to alarm Susan this far ahead by bringing up the terrible twos!  That will come soon enough.   It is amazing how much ground a person that barely comes up to my knee can cover and very quickly at that.  It became clear early on  how much energy he has and I don't.   It's been a long time since I've chased a toddler around.  Sorry Tara .... hey what can I say, it has been a long time since you were that age!   I  simply moved along with him and watched with delight as he proceeded on his journey of discovery.   His expressions changed with each new thing and I managed to capture some wonderful moments.  It reminded me of all the afternoons I spent photographing Tara.  I cherish those memories.  I pull out the photos often and I can remember the exact place and moment I took each one.  Every image a snap shot of a moment preserved  in the tapestry of our lives.   I hope the photographs I took of Duncan will preserve memories for his parents.   What could be a more lovely way to spend an afternoon than rediscovering the world through the eyes of a child and making memories. 

PS: I hope Mom and Dad will forgive me for including some shots.