Adorable Kitty Pics - Must See!

A friend sent this link of adorable kitten photos to me, and you simply must drop EVERYTHING that you're doing and go look at these RIGHT NOW. I promise you, they will make your day.

http://www.stud.ntnu.no/~shane/stasj/pics/dyr/cats/unger/

editor@lipstickmystic.com

The Magic of String

If there's one house chore I particularly detest, it's recycling old newspapers. Now, I'm a big tree hugger from way back, and I totally support the process of recycling. It's a very worthwhile endeavor.

That said, I DO wish that my honey didn't subscribe to QUITE so many newspapers. (He really has to to keep on top of news reports in his industry.) It seems that, the minute I've cleared the papers off of our dining table, ten more immediately take their place.

We're preparing for a party event here next week, so this weekend was scrub down the old, dusty, spider-ridden farmhouse weekend. Fun! Silly me, I didn't even think to get some rubber gloves. Now the tips of the fingers on my right hand are actually BURNED from using so much bleach on stuff.

But the other big chore was to tie up about a year's worth of newspapers (well, really, maybe a few weeks' worth) to get them ready for recycling. We have a recycling dump where we take everything. We're not set up to have a truck pick up everything here at our place.

So, there I was, armed with a huge ball of string and a hefty pair of scissors, prepared to tackle this huge chore.

And guess who showed up to help me?

About every cat within a mile's radius, that's who.

Well, really, it was just Roman (orange cat), his sister Becka, Tiger, and Smoky. Quite the cat convergence. How sweet of them to all "help" me tie up the newspapers.

Really, they're so cute and hilarious as they jump on the string. I'd much rather play with them all day, anyway!

But I had to wonder something as I saw them go bonkers for the string. What makes cats crazy about string, anyway? I mean, it's not like string naturally occurs in the wild. Feral cats aren't accustomed to hunting down roving packs of string to bring home a tasty supper. (If they are, then I missed that episode of the Animal Planet.)

And yet, when you take out a ball of string, some natural instinct takes over in the local kitty population. Their nervous systems would appear to be hard-wired to enjoy string.

After many detours involving chasing games and cat and string tag, I did eventually finish my recycling work.

And, even though it took longer than it would have if ours were a cat-free home, I have to admit that the delays and detours were a lot of fun!

Cats Going for Walks in Woods

I'm lucky enough to live on a big farm property where road traffic doesn't have to figure into the whole cat equation. So all of our cats have the option of being indoor/outdoor cats if they choose.

I love how it still gets dark pretty late in the evening, because I can take an evening stroll in the woods. There's this special area at the corner of the property where a stream and a spring naturally converge. As you might guess, it's a vortex, and it has a lot of powerful energy. I like to go down there and sit on a log and chat with the local devas. There's a large wood deva who seems to be guardian of the area. I see her in my mind's eye as a very big female fairy creature, beautiful, serene. I'm not always tuned in enough to hear what she's trying to tell me, but some days, I'm able to receive "downloads" about what's happening on the land here.

The cats seem to recognize that this is a sacred spot, because whenever I'm headed down there for a moment of meditation, inevitably, one of them will accompany me. Many of our cats like going outside in the evening. Teddy, the big tabby who joined us this winter, likes to follow me down to that spot and sit with me as I communicate with the devas. Little Becka, our two year old tortoiseshell, also likes to come along with me, but not if she sees Teddy following me. (Teddy likes to chase Becka and has bitten her more than once. We're trying to work on his manners, but he's like a drunken Irishman at times, all bluster and brawn with the other cats. He means well, though.)

Little Roman, Becka's orange tabby brother, also loves to go to that spot in the woods with me. Roman is an easy-going, sweet-hearted fellow, happy to follow along. As soon as I sit on this huge fallen log to meditate, Roman curls up in my lap, purring his approval of the entire experience.

I like it when the cats accompany on my walks. It's one of those things you just can't do with your cats if you live in a heavily populated area with lots of traffic. But, out here, I have to say, we've become rather spoiled. It's such a pleasure to be able to do things naturally, on impulse, following your intuition where it takes you, instead of worrying about danger lurking around every corner.

If you ever get the opportunity to go on a nature walk with your favorite pusscat, I highly recommend it. In busy areas, you can also train your cat to walk on a leash with you. When I lived in Princeton, I regularly saw a man walking his pusscat on a leash in the evenings. Of course, walking along with a cat is a non-linear experience, with lots of stops and starts as the cat explores things, rubs whiskers on stuff, and just generally takes time to soak in the environment. It's very different from walking with a dog, but fun in its own way.

The nice thing about walking with your cat is that you don't have to carry along a poop scoop and do doody patrol. You can just enjoy your journey together.

editor@lipstickmystic.com

Hello again!

Hello, cat lovers. Yes, I've returned to writing in this cat blog. I'm in the process of launching my new website, www.lipstickmystic.com, and it has a cat gallery section that links to this blog. My hope is that feline fans will visit here frequently to learn more about the shenanigans (catnanigans?) that my seven, er, eight or so pusscats have been up to. Also, I'll occasionally post information on mystical stuff about animals in general and I'll include links to sites or articles of interest to cat lovers.

I have a bunch of photos I am going to add to the cat gallery so that you can see which pusses I'm talking about when I post a story about them. Until the photos are up, I probably won't make any new entries to this blog. But I'd say check back in a week or two, and things should be squared away.

Also, if you know of a worthy feline charity or organization that does good work for cats, send me an email about it, and I may add a link to their site in the cat gallery section. I already have two wonderful groups profiled - Tabby's Place and Alleycat Allies, but I know that there are many others out there deserving of recognition.

And if you readers have a funny cat story of your own to relate, whether it be a personal story about something that happened at home or a more mystical/psychic event, email me your essay. I'm always looking for interesting material to post here that will tickle the fancy of cat-lovin' readers. I'd love to read your stuff!

You can submit personal stories, interesting sites or articles, or links to feline organizations here:

editor@lipstickmystic.com

Until we meet again here in my blog, here's wishing you happy whiskers rubbing against your face . . .