The Painted Lady

                                         

I am painting cats these days (well pictures that is) although I did have an absolutely stupid idea one time (Yep, only once!) that involved painting a real cat, sort of. I decided to put red paint on Pookie's foot (one of our three cats) and use her paw print as the logo for my MPRints cards. I managed to get the paint on just before she tore away and sprinted through the house tracking red paint all over the floor and then managed to "wash" her foot, face and ears before I could stop her. She looked like she'd been in a terrible accident and looked at me like "ARE YOU CRAZY!?. ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!? I tried to gently wash the paint off amid the sqiggling and yawling but to no avail. She had to endure pink ears and paws for about two weeks. You could tell she was humiliated and I felt like a fool. Have you ever apologized to a cat. Forget it. They just give you a go to you know where look, turn and swish their tail and walk away.  Can't say that I blame her.  The next time I have one of those "Watch This" kinda ideas think I'll rethink before doing.   Anyway, I'm sticking to painting cats only on paper these days. I'm sure Pookie appreciates it.

One Of Those Days...

A while back I was on my way to Columbia, MS and am driving along, humming to the radio and feeling pretty good about how my day has gone so far. As I pull away from the red light and accelerate slightly I become aware that cars all around me are speeding by; leaving me behind. I look at my speedometer and verify that I am going the 65 speed limit. I wonder where all of these people are going in such a rush and am feeling smug about the fact that I will not be the one getting a ticket. I look out the window and the trees appear to be standing still. I feel like I am in slow motion as the cars keep whizzing by. I press the accelerator steadily and am alarmed when I see that the dial reads almost 100 miles per hour. If I am going almost 100 miles an hour just to keep up, then how the hell fast is every one else going? And why?  Is there some catastrophe I'm not aware of.  I have been on the highway for about fifteen minutes and have gone maybe 10 miles. I have 20 more miles to go. At this rate it will take me two hours to get there. Am I in a time warp, having a stroke, finally lost it completely? Were the mushrooms I had on my pizza at lunch "funny"?  I now have that funny tingly feeling you get from an adrenaline rush.  Before I totally panic, I decide to call my husband. As I explain the situation, I realize how ridiculous the words sound coming out of my mouth. I'm going 95 miles an hour and I feel like I'm in slow motion I tell him.  I can't keep up with traffic I say.  I'm trying not to alarm him but I know he will either go into high alert or laugh at me.  He doesn’t have a clue what could be going on he says. Tells me to take the car in for a check up. Doesn’t do a blasted thing to make me feel better about this predicament I am in nor does he even try to assure me that I am not luny tunes; mainly because he probably thinks I am. I take my foot off the accelerator and slow to 60 miles an hour and wonder if I am actually going to have to get out and push the car. The cars keep whizzing by. Fifteen minutes later hubby calls back – I knew it ! - he really does think I’ve gone over the edge and is checking up on me. He asks if I see something on my dash that says ME. I see the ME button and he says to press it. I do and when I look at the speedometer it says I am going 45 miles an hour NOT 85. It just came to me he tells me; that it somehow got switched over to metric. I notice that he is careful not to say that I am responsible for the switch, which I am grateful for although I know he's thinking it.  A rush of relief floods over me; I am not crazy after all – well not completely. I thank him and continue on my journey at what now feels like an out of control speed.  At 65 miles an hour, I am now passing other cars and the trees are a blur and no longer standing still. I wonder if other people have these kinds of days or if I am the only one lucky enough to have something this crazy to make me laugh … mainly at myself.

A Few Of My Favorite Things

     A  Few Of  My  Favorite Things



Dew drops on flowers


Chocolate


My husband's dimple


The sound of rain on a tin roof


Puppy breath


Turning leaves in fall


Old houses


Snuggling with my Sweetie on a cold night


Old books


The shapes of bare trees in winter


Photographing my daughter

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.

If I Had To Do It All Over Again

September 29, 1973

September 29, 2009

Tony and I celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary on September 29th.   We went to the camp in Bay St. Louis and spent five wonderful days.  The weather was perfect and we fished and ate (a lot) and shopped and watched movies and reminisced.  We both seemed to find it hard to put into words our feelings about the fact that we've actually spent the past 36 of the 39 years we've known each other, married.  I think it's the reality that that much time has gone by.  Gone!  36 years, that's 13,140 days, or 315, 360 hours or 18, 921, 600 minutes or 11, 352, 960 seconds.   Each and every one precious.  Each memory imprinted in my mind and on my heart .  No one could ask for a better husband than mine but he is so much more than that.  He's always been my best friend, my staunchest supporter, my biggest cheerleader, my comfort in sickness and my joy in health.  I have never had a moment's doubt that I am loved.   If there is such a thing as a true soul mate...I was blessed to find mine when we were both so young.  We've grown up together but more importantly we have grown together.  I look forward to many more wonderful years together.  Remember  I said that "We've Only Just Begun" was our song?...Tony reminded me that we have only just begun to enjoy the rest of our lives together.  If I had to do it all over again....he's still the one! ~    

Melancholy Baby

                                               Still Crazy (in love) after all these years  

I'm not sure that melancholy is the right word but I can't seem to come up with a better one.  I guess you could say I have been melancholy if it's based on being teary and emotional.  Not really sad but pensive ... yes pensive, that's it!  Every year around this time I get into this same emotional state.   There are several reasons I have been able to identify. First of all, September 29th will be our 36th wedding anniversary.  I am overwhelmed each and every year by the depth and breath of the love that wraps itself around me and fills me with a sense of  wonder at it's endurance and strength.  More about that around our anniversary date. Second, in the fall of 1976 I was suffering from a severe optic neuritis and was completely blind in my left eye.   I also wanted desperately to become pregnant and could not.  I remember clearly the day that I climbed the small pine covered hill behind our house and sat on the pine straw and asked God to do what I could not do for myself. 



I remember the feeling of complete peace that came over me and I knew everything would be OK.   My eyesight began to clear and by late fall I was pregnant with my wonderful daughter.   Third,  this is the time of year that someone very dear to me died. I still miss her terribly.  So I guess in essence there is a compilation of so many snap shots and snippets from the tapestry of my life that flood my head and my heart this time every year.   I may be teary when I stop to remember, but they are tears of both happiness and sadness. Happy for all the moments of joy and love I have been blessed with and sadness for the losses and the moments that are forever gone.   I was listening to a Carpenter's  CD as I drove along the other day and I knew I should skip "We've Only Just Begun" but I just couldn't do it.  That was our song , sung at our wedding.    My eyes welled with tears and suddenly it was 1973 again.   This past weekend Tony and I were listening to the same CD and he asked if  "We've Only Just Begun" was on it and I said yes but we can't listen to it until our anniversary.  He said we could listen to it now and then...little did he know that I struggled to hold back tears as it played.  I guess maybe I am just an old softie but I'd rather be a Melancholy Baby than nobody's baby at all.