September seemed like a very Cat month in pictures.
It was very hot most of the month and it was the driest September on record. Seems like Maryland is turning into Florida. Still in the 90’s even now in October. Maybe I will put the dogs in bikinis for Halloween.
Sofie is the only dog in the pack that does this. She appears to watch the world go by from her perch. Maybe it is because her body fits perfectly on the step (or at least it used to). Where is your favorite viewing spot?
Why is it that I cannot resist jumping into a box, any box, no matter what the size. I feel obsessed with anything box. Is this normal? Should I seek professional help?
Sincerely, Binky
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Dear Binky, Your obsession with boxes is absolutely cat-normal. We all do. I love a good box. A box makes me feel safe and is comfy and cozy. A good box gives me a great vantage point from which to jump out at my brother or sister cats, and even at those pesky dogs (if I wasn’t afraid Sofie would eat me). In a deep box, no one can crawl up behind me. As you can see in this video, boxes are a natural part of being feline. Just relax and enjoy your obsession. Your friend, Noel
When I drive up to the house after work and pull into the driveway, I can always hear the dogs barking their heads off because I am home. But what warms my heart tremendously is the sight of Nine in the downstairs window, checking me out when I get out of the car. I am not sure if he is glad to see me or he just wants dinner (because I am the preparer of all things food).
“If the world were merely seductive, that would be easy, and if it were merely challenging that would be no problem. But I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve the world and a desire to enjoy the world. This makes it hard to plan the day.” – E.B. White
I know exactly what White meant when he said this. In the beauty of the autumn days, it is almost impossible to concentrate on the tasks at hand and not just want to grab a leash, some water, and a day pack and head out into the woods or along the river. It is on days like this, when the air is crisp and cool but not yet cold, when the sky is bluer than blue and the clouds hang in the distance like fluffs of cotton that were placed there just for my observation, that I am forced, by my thirst for connection to mother earth and all her creations, that I stop saving the world and just bask in the gift of the day.
Anticipation of the colors that will come in the next few weeks from the changing season brings me great happiness. The reds, yellows, and oranges of the changing Maples, Oaks, Elms, and SweetGum. On our walks, the acorns and large nuts are falling in large numbers on our heads. I kept thinking that the Squirrels were aiming for us, but I realized it was just… fall. Are you familiar with the ‘GumBalls’ that drop from the SweetGum? They are prickly and roll underfoot. On many a walk, because I tend to be looking everywhere else but down at my feet, I have ended up flat on the ground after stepping on one of those silly balls. I always laugh when that happens, because the dogs come to me as to say, “Mom, Mom, are you Ok? What are you doing down here?”
What an incredible opportunity the change of the seasons provides us in understanding the cycle of life and the importance of change. The having to say goodbye to things, like butterflies and hummingbirds, that will make their way to Mexico or Panama, or some other nice warm southern spot to winter and reproduce, and say hello to the wild swans and the geese, coming down from the Yukon or somewhere in Canada to winter on my Chesapeake Bay.
Fall for me is the time to take stock of myself, my world, and my place in it. It is a time to regroup and prepare for the ‘going in’ of winter. To clear my slate, with humans and with nature, for any wrongs I have transgressed in the previous months, and to start fresh for a whole new year. Today I will enjoy the world – tomorrow I will get back to saving it.
(Originally posted DogDaz 9.26.12 Today I Will Savor The World with updates)
Looking back at my favorite black and whites. L’Shana Tova.
I know exactly what White meant when he said this. In the beauty of the autumn days, it is almost impossible to concentrate on the tasks at hand and not just want to grab a leash, some water, and a day pack and head out into the woods or along the river. It is on days like this, when the air is crisp and cool but not yet cold, when the sky is bluer than blue and the clouds hang in the distance like fluffs of cotton that were placed there just for my observation, that I am forced, by my thirst for connection to mother earth and all her creations, that I stop saving the world and just bask in the gift of the day.
Anticipation of the colors that will come in the next few weeks from the changing season brings me great happiness. The reds, yellows, and oranges of the changing Maples, Oaks, Elms, and SweetGum. On our walks, the acorns and large nuts are falling in large numbers on our heads. I kept thinking that the Squirrels were aiming for us, but I realized it was just… fall. Are you familiar with the ‘GumBalls’ that drop from the SweetGum? They are prickly and roll underfoot. On many a walk, because I tend to be looking everywhere else but down at my feet, I have ended up flat on the ground after stepping on one of those silly balls. I always laugh when that happens, because the dogs come to me as to say, “Mom, Mom, are you Ok? What are you doing down here?”
3-year-old Sofie in October 2013
