Scrungy and Friends

Update:

2008-03-16T15:44:00.000-07:00

Mike has posted his story of his trip to Waldorf, Maryland and his slideshow...go to Windsongs of the Heart.

Scrungy and Friends is in Transition...

2008-03-15T17:26:00.000-07:00

I've decided that Scrungy and Friends is not going to be my main site anymore. A little while back I was trying to make Scrungy's site more for him and the characters in his books--his home base. It will remain...but not as my main site. It will be some time before I figure out what exactly to do with Scrungy's site so I'm not closing it down. I hope what you will come to visit me at Windsongs of the Heart. A site more dedicated to my writing, and not limited to just cat stories. Anywhere you choose to visit I'll get the message. But there probably won't be much activity on this site from now on.

Mike's Adventures, Neighborhood Nightlife, and the Adventures of Ragpuff, will all be posted on Windsongs of the Heart. Gretchen's site will remain and so will Mike the Mysterious, along with his Teleportal site.

When I first started blogging almost a year ago, I wanted to call my site Windsongs of the Heart and felt discouraged about it at the time. I've decided to go back to the original thought as it will be more useful for me professionally. Thanks for being fans of Scrungy and Friends, I'll keep everyone posted when he is active again.

Adventures of Ragpuff: Episode 3 - The Decision

2008-03-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

For more Cats on Tuesday...go here.

The Adventures of Ragpuff: Episode 3:
The Decision

After Ragpuff had mercilessly been dumped in the gravel pit, rescued from certain death from dehydration and starvation by a large, round man living at the edge of the gravel pit, Ragpuff found a temporary home. He had food, water, shelter, and could explore the fields around the house at his leisure while his new companion worked all day in the gravel pit. The food was good, the company was good, and the hunting in the dust covered field-grass was good. Ragpuff should have been content, but he wasn't. In his dreams he longed to be back in his safe chair, behind his safe window, with the funny talking woman and the man who didn't talk much. Ragpuff was restless.

~~~~~~

I have forgotten how many days and nights I've been here with this wonderful, cheerful, round man, but they've been great. At dinner every night, I eat what he eats then I settle down in his lap for a good, long massage. Often he uses his back scratcher on my back like he does on his. It's a wonderful tool, this long piece of painted wood with three curved little fingers. It gets into all those ridges around my spine…all the itchy spots that plague me during the day. I know I have fleas; one can't help but get them living in such a dirt filled world as this. I even had a tick once from my many treks through the tall grass chasing down delectable little critters. The round man found it and took care of it. The fleas…well, they aren't too bad. I mean if a cat can't take a few flea bites now and again, then I guess he couldn't be all that worldly, like I am.

I think it was at the beginning of summer when I was dumped out here and found this wonderful human being. I was skinny and dirty when I first arrived, but now my fur is fully grown out, I'm very plump and I think I've even grown a few inches—I know my feet certainly have gotten bigger. I love it here. I could stay with this man forever. In fact, I think he's going to be really sad to see me go. But the days are changing and I need to move on.

The leaves on the trees are turning yellow and orange; some are starting to fall to the ground. The air feels cooler in the day and is now cold at night. I suppose I really should stay where I am. I'll be warm and safe. But I keep having these nagging dreams about my first home. And as much as I really like this man, this place, I'm lonely somehow for my funny talking woman and the man who doesn't talk much, and I've never forgotten my plan to find my way home. I could be called very foolish for making such a decision as I'm about to make, but I can't help myself. I've got to continue my journey. I need to try and find my home.

So with that decision made, I ate breakfast one last time with my good friend and gave him some really long meows, a bunch of head butts, and an extra loud rumbly purr. My way of saying goodbye. He just laughed, ruffled my fur up the way he does every morning and went out the door to his monster truck to go to work for the day. Then I left.

When I had gotten to the edge of the tall grass I looked back once more at the slightly tilted, shaggy, gray house, sitting peacefully in the shade of some rather large oak trees, then I turned my back on the place forever and darted into the field.

During all those days that the round man worked, I roamed the fields. I have become pretty adept at catching and eating my own meals. I have enough body fat stored, in fact, to last me until I find my home again. So I'm not worried about starving to death anymore. From previous jaunts through the field, I know there is a creek at the opposite edge that runs along a tree line of skinny willows and cottonwoods. I've even picked out the very tree that I'll spend my first night in.

The sun's been coming up later each day and this morning it was barely light out when I left my friend. I'll always remember him and his gentle hospitality. His wonderful backscratcher. But I have plans. I have to move on. I am going on, for as long as it takes, to find my first home.

The sun had warmed the earth pretty good by the time I got to the tree line. I took a long drink from the cool waters in the creek then climbed my intended tree. From its lofty branches I can see out over the field of grass. Off in the distances, the tops of the mountains of gravel are just barely visible. In the opposite direction I can see a black ribbon with many monster cars running up and down it. I figure that black ribbon leads to people, to houses, but I have decided it is too dangerous to follow that foul smelling track. I will follow the creek as far as I can and hope that it leads me to somewhere safe.

The trouble with being dumped out in the middle of nowhere like I was, I don't exactly have any idea where to start my journey to find home. I just know that while I was in my safe chair, behind my safe window, I watched the sun come up every morning. And since I was born in a shelter and never really got to stay long with my mother, I have no idea which way was what. At any rate, all this planning requires a lot of thought. I have gone as far as I'm going to go today.

Not only is the sun coming up later each morning, it is also going down earlier each night. Sitting in the tree, I 'm still trying to figure things out. The real question is, do I follow the sun going down, or go towards the sun coming up? If I shut my eyes really tight, maybe I'll be able to remember the things I used to see around my window when I was safe at home, and where the sun had been when I'd gotten lost and found those buildings. After some more hard thinking, I realized that the buildings I had been attracted to had the sun coming up behind them. So all I have to do now is pick a direction and stick to it. I'm pretty sure I was taken towards the setting sun that day when the lady grabbed me and threw me in that box, so I figured that maybe I ought to go towards the sun coming up. The problem is the creek. I'd like to stay near it as much as possible but it isn't running in the same direction all the time.

Well, after all that thinking, I spent the long, lonely night in the crotch of the cottonwood tree. For the longest time I missed the round man. I even thought I heard him calling me long after dark. He never gave me name, he just called me, Cat. Maybe it was all just in my head. Maybe I thought I heard his voice calling me because I was about to make the biggest mistake of my life by leaving that gentle man. I had to close my eyes tight and concentrate on my plan, or I'd give in and return to my second home in the gravel pit, and stay forever.

Shortly after opening my eyes, the sun rose up over the field and the black ribbon full of cars off in the distance. I feel pretty good about myself now, my ability to find my way home. After a quick breakfast of a few voles I'd found rummaging around the leaf litter, I took another long drink from the creek and headed along its banks in the direction of where I thought my home might be. During the day the sun was my guide. It warmed my left shoulder and flank in the morning and then my right side in the afternoon. Wherever this direction leads, it has to come to a place where people live.

Mike's Visit to Tucson Arizona and the Cat Realm

2008-03-11T13:44:00.000-07:00

Mike's Adventures in the Desert

Mike here:

View the slideshow of all the picutres at the very end...

Oh, the fun begins again. I've taken quite a hiatus from traveling. The last time I went on an adventure was for a week in November, 2007. I had visited Yoggie in Sweden.

I came home from that trip to a chaotic household. Gretchen's Mom Bean (my Mom Bean, too, actually) was ill, our Pa Bean was ill. There had been a death in the family and My Granny Bean was very sick, too.

So it was decided that I stay home for the rest of the year. We had a pleasant Christmas, everyone was much improved by then and I just lay around resting and enjoying the season with my adopted family. I was supposed to start traveling again in January, but there were some technical difficulties to the places I was supposed to visit and more trouble with Mom Bean's heart, so I didn't actually get back out onto the cyber highway until February 21, 2008 when I transported over to spend a week with my pals in the Cat Realm who live in the desert—Tucson, Arizona.

The Cat Realm created a transporter room for me, and Gretchen, at the controls, got to send me on my way. I must say I was pretty nervous at first; I wasn't so sure Gretchen knew how to operate the control panel. But everything went fine. It was so cool, Gretchen counted backwards…3…2…1…and before I could say goodbye, this bright light enveloped me and my little red traveling bag, my melted fur began to buzz a bit, and then I was flying through the wormhole. I could feel the air getting warm as I got closer to the end of the tunnel.

Mrs. Oz, who had been appointed by the Cat Realm to be my official tour guide, had been expecting me and was outside waiting for me. I never, ever, know just exactly where I will materialize, so it was just as much a surprise to me as it was to Mrs. Oz that I popped out of thin air right in front of her face. Evidently, Mrs. Oz had been to a party the night before and had consumed quite a number of nipitini's, needless to say, she had a headache and was a little out of sorts when I startled her by the Yucca plant in her garden.

After my brain-twisting trip through the wormhole, and the different climate that I was definitely not used to, Mrs. Oz took me inside to a lovely spot in front of the cozy fireplace where I could take a nap. She built the fire just for me. She curled up beside me and napped, too. It was cool enough that I actually needed to pull out my favorite blue blanket and wrap up in it. It's supposed to be sunny and warm in Arizona, isn't it? Mrs. Oz told me that normally Tucson gets about 350 days of sunshine in a year, but it seems the sun disappeared and it turned cool just as I arrived.

There are three cats at the Cat Realm. Karl, Emil, and Mrs. Oz. Every morning they make a perimeter check around the house. Usually one of the staff, the Butler or the Maid, goes with them just in case there is a Coyote or a Bobcat lingering about. It was actually chilly outside and I had to wear one of my sweaters.

After our walk through the garden of cacti and yucca plants and palms, Mrs. Oz showed me where the outside bath tub was. It was too chilly to use it at this time of year, but it's the coolest thing—outside, surrounded by beautiful plants and art and little plastic yellow ducks everywhere. The place made me almost want to take a bath. And you all know the kind of bath I got last—in the washing machine and then the dryer…my melted fur was the result. So maybe I'll stay out of the tub for now.

Karl, Emil, and Mrs. Oz all had a good laugh remembering that their, now spirit sister, Anastasia, had once lost her glasses in the tub. Last year Anastasia went for a walk in the desert one day and never came back. I can tell by the way they talk about her that she was really special to them and that they miss her very much. I got Goosebumps…like she was nearby.

The next time we went outside it was to see the vegetable garden. I had to put on another sweater outfit because it had gotten colder. They have to keep the vegetable garden protected by fences to keep the vicious Javelina out. But the Butler had built a ladder for us and we got to visit the garden.

I have to tell you that everyone at the Cat Realm wears sunglasses. Even their big cactus wore sunglasses. I got to climb right up in the middle of this huge cactus and get my picture taken.

Because I'm fiber, stuffed with fiber, the prickly thorns don't bother me. I think it did worry Mrs. Oz, though. By-the-way, Mrs. Oz is sitting on the steps in front of their house. It's a cool house, too.

Besides the cats at the Cat Realm, there is Brody. He's a fluffhead like me, but he's a penguin from Antarctica. He wears sunglasses, too.

Karl, Emil and Mrs. Oz don't like leaving their ranch, so on my second day, when we visited the Saguaro National Park, Brody and a chap called Dicky Duck became my tour guides. Dicky Duck is a traveler, too.

First we went to the Tucson Rodeo Parade. There was so much going on that I couldn't take notes fast enough. But it was fantastic. The rodeo is all about horses. There are no motorized vehicles in the entire parade. There was a congresswoman in the parade and she let me ride on the back of her horse for a brief time. She was really nice, and it was really neat to ride on the back of a horse, a gentle swaying, up and down motion…the horses were walking very slowly. I imagine that if they had been running it would have been a very bumpy ride. The horse was all white. We didn't go to the actual rodeo. That would have been too much to do in one day. I bought some souvenirs at the parade. Two cowboy hats, a pink one and a blue one. Karl also gave me a real, authentic sombrero as a present.

On the way back we drove up a mountain to get a good view of Tucson. Wow. I made some notes as we drove over Gates Pass. There is this great view of the Baboquivair Mountains with Kitt Peak at their northern end. From our vantage point we could also see Old Tucson Studios where they say many movies, and the TV series, High Chaparral, were filmed. Brody said it's now a tourist attraction.

When we crossed over Gates Pass we drove into the Saguaro Forest. The saguaros are the largest cactus in the States. They get so high—like reaching 40 feet—and mostly just grow in southern Arizona and western Sonora. Of course, I had to have my picture taken in the giant cactus. Me, Dicky Duck, and Brody. The spines don't bother them either. Brody is a fluffhead and Dicky is plastic. It stayed pretty cloudy the whole time we were out there. Poor Dicky kept telling me the sun would definitely shine again. He said things look a lot better when the sun is out.

We stopped at the Parks Visitor's Center and I took more notes. There were lots of pictures to look at in the visitor's center. Dicky seemed quite spellbound by the pictures of the Javelina. They also had a lovely gift shop where I bought a little book about the desert for Gretchen—and some more souvenirs.

They also had this kind of hands on table that tourist could touch different things. Of course, here again, was another photo opportunity for me and Brody and Dicky. Because we are so small, we were allowed to get up on the table. There was a desert tortoise shell, a Javelina pelt, mule deer antlers, a javelin skull and a saguaro boot.

There's actually a little story about the saguaro boot. "The Gila Woodpecker uses the Saguaro, and burrows through its tough outer flesh into the body of the plant where there is plenty of moisture, and a relatively cool environment shaded from the searing desert sun. Once through the skin, the bird makes a sharp downward turn and hollows out a space for itself. A cactus, being little more than a living water container would continuously lose moisture, and be open to infection if it didn't do something to protect itself, so the Saguaro begins to exude a resinous sap around the void which the bird has made. The sap gradually solidifies to form a hard, bark-like substance around the wound, rather like a scab on animal skin, only this scab doesn't go away. The woodpecker has learned to leave the newly excavated burrow for a while in order to let the sap harden, although other birds sometimes decide to make it their own before the woodpecker returns, particularly desert owls."

It was a very educational trip to the desert. There was so much to see, so much beauty. Once we got home from our long drive, Dicky, Brody and I just had to have a nap in the furry cat bed by the window. A perfect end to a perfect day…even if the sun didn't shine.

It was Sunday Morning and bright blue skies were finally over us. I put on my western duds, my boots and sombrero that I brought along, then we headed out again on another tour. The sun is so warm here. It really makes a difference when the sun is out. Wow! Anyway, Dicky showed Brody and me a beautiful place that just takes your breath away. It juts right up out of nowhere. Big and white in the bright sun. It's called San Javier del Bac, or the white dove of the desert, but everybody just calls it "the mission." They said it took from 1783 to 1797 to get built. Four whole years. Wow! Some person, called Tohono O'odham built it under Franciscan and Spanish direction. They were working on part of it while we were there, fixing it up. I guess they are taking the old crumbling stucco off and putting on the more traditional plaster made from lime, sand and cactus mucilage. The gooey sticky slimy stuff from the inside of the cactus. Yuck. But I guess it works. We got to go inside the mission, too. Wow! There are really no words to describe how beautiful and big that place is. They had a place where you can buy special candles and light them for people who need their prayers answered. So Brody, Dicky and I bought a candle and lit for Gretchen's Mom Bean. We wanted her to have some extra help in getting well.

There were a lot of food booths for tourist outside the mission. I got to eat some traditional Indian Frybread! We met a guy at one of the food booths whose nickname was Duck. And another photo opportunity was born. The food guy, Duck, had his picture taken with Brody, Dicky Duck and me.

It was a good day and it's a good thing I had my boots and sombrero on, or I'd be sunburned. I know what you're thinking…a black fluffhead can't get sunburned. And while that is true, there is my plastic nose to consider…it could get soft and maybe melt. After we got back to the ranch we rested up for the Oscars. Later when the Oscars were on Mrs. Oz was glued to the TV set. The butler said she was just worried about an actress wearing a prettier fur than hers—and a crush on some guy actor.

We almost got in trouble later that night. We kind of had our own little After Oscar Party and we woke the maid. We had used the hearth for a makeshift stage. All the fluffheads of the Cat Realm were invited and we were having a raucous good time when the maid put the kibosh on the whole works. She said that is was in the middle of the night and we should be asleep. I was embarrassed that we had disturbed her in the dead of night. Mrs. Oz was kind of putout that our little party ended so quickly. But we had a good time while it lasted. Karl and Emil had been sleeping in the butler's place and missed the whole party.

Oh, and I want to mention how awesome the sunsets are out here…they take my breath away.

The rest of the week I just kicked back and napped with Emil and Brody in big furry cat bed. Emil gave me his red glasses to wear…don't I look just too cool? Anyway, after we rested a while, I did my interviews with Karl, Emil and Mrs. Oz. Once we had that out of the way we could have some more fun.

Friday I showed off my hats on The Cat Realm's blog. They dedicated Fashion Friday to Anastasia. They still miss her a lot. I wish I could have known her. I think we would have been friends, too.

Karl said that if I can come for another visit sometime, we'll go visit the infamous, Tombstone—you know, where they had the gunfight at the O.K. Corral! I understand there's only been a kazillion movies made about that gunfight. We might even try to get down to Nogales, Mexico and taste some wine in Nogales. Oh, I do hope I get to come back. I think I behaved myself pretty well, except maybe the After Oscars Party we threw in the middle of the night. The Cat Realm was a great host and pretty much wore me out. But I loved every minute of it. And they were kind enough to ship all my souvenirs home to Gretchen by the US Mail. Only my hats went with me through cyberspace.

Even a fluffhead knows that all good things must come to an end, sometime. I really had a great time and have made some new pals. Friday night, my new friends, Karl, Emil, Mrs. Oz, my buds Brody and Dicky came to the transport room with me to say goodbye. I gave them all hugs and thanked them over and over for such a great time, and then before I could blink I was whooshing back through the wormhole and plopped out in my very own control room that the Cat Realm built for me. Gretchen wasn't there right away. She was either off having a snack or a nap. But I didn't have to wait but a few minutes before she came and got me.

Exhausted as I was I had to tell Gretchen everything about the Cat Realm and how nice they were to me, how much fun we had and about all of my tours. She loved the new hats and though she's not keen about having things on her head or around her neck, I think I might be able to persuade her to pose with me someday, her wearing the pink one and me the blue one. The sombrero and those rattle things…hee, hee…they're all mine.

Now for my Interview with the Cat Realm—Karl, Emil, and Mrs. Oz:

Mike: How long have you lived with your bean(s)?
Karl: since October 2004
Mrs. OZ: since September 2007
Emil: since October 2007

Mike: Do you have a favorite bean?
Karl: the butler
Mrs. OZ: the maid
Emil: both

Mike: What's your favorite food?
Karl: beef
Mrs. OZ: stinky goodness
Emil: everything I can get my mouth on

Mike: What's your favorite treat?
Karl: butter
Mrs. OZ: stinky goodness
Emil: whatever they give me

Mike: Where do you like to sleep?
Karl: on the windowsill at the maid’s place, the dresser at the butler’s
Mrs. OZ: on the maid
Emil: on the bed

Mike: Do you dream? What are your dreams about?
Karl: lizards!
Mrs. OZ: to fly
Emil: food

Mike: Do you like fluffheads, you know, those crafty little creatures with fiberfill for brains?
Karl: I have a BIG dog fluffhead but I do not care for it
Mrs. OZ: couldn’t care less
Emil: sometimes I like to play with one for some seconds
ALL: but we all do like Brody!

Mike: How many fluffheads live with you and your bean?
Karl: don’t know
Mrs. OZ: don’t know either
Emil: no idea

Mike: Do you get along with your fluffheads? Really?
Karl: yes
Mrs. OZ: yes
Emil: I guess

Mike: Do have a special fluffhead friend?
Karl: Brody
Mrs. OZ: Brody
Emil: Brody

Mike: Do your fluffheads ever talk to you? Do they talk to your beans, you know, like I can transmit my thoughts to one special bean in my house?
Karl: of course, what a silly question…
Mrs. OZ: sure, why would he not?
Emil: yes, of course Brody talks to me

Mike: You have a very nice place here; tell me about your weather and your surroundings, what is it like outside your house? (Mountains, seaside, desert, woods, etc.)
Karl for all: we live in the Sonoran Desert. Outside of our house are cacti, mesquite tree, all kinds of shrubs, desert stuff. We live right on the East Side of the Tucson Mountains so we have a nice view of those. We also have lots of desert fauna: coyotes, bobcats, rattle snakes, owls, hawks on the negative side (they all prey on us), lizards, rabbits, birds, butterflies, mice, rats, spiders on the positive side (we prey on those)

Mike: Are you an inside only cat or do you get to go outside?
Karl for all: we go out after sunrise and have to be back in before sunset.

Mike: Do you keep secrets from your beans? Sometimes Gretchen and I conspire against her mom bean in the middle of the night. It really freaks her out. Do you do things like that?
Karl: no. I show them the lizards I catch – but I do keep them too by not letting the staff near me when I got one! Hahahahahahahahahaha
Mrs. OZ: no.
Emil: can’t talk about it – the staff might read this…

Mike: Have you been gifted with any hidden talents?
Karl: all my talents are out in the open.
Mrs. OZ: the staff just found out that I am a gifted hunter, in spite of my missing canines!
Emil: I can make myself invisible!

Mike: Is there anything in your house that bothers you? That you're afraid of?
Karl for all: no. If there would be we would have a talk with the staff and the thing in question would be removed.

Mike: Do you stalk and capture real live critters like mice, spiders and stuff? What kinds of critters do you stalk? Do you eat what you catch?
Karl: lizards, rats, rabbits, lizards, birds, lizards. Sometimes I eat them – sometimes I don’t.
Mrs. OZ: birds. I do not eat them, I kill them and play with them. The staff is not happy!
Emil: butterflies, lizards, rats so far. I am still honing my hunting skills!

Mike: Do you have siblings or housemates? Do you get along with them?
Karl for all: the three of us all get along fine. Emil interacts and plays with me and Mrs. OZ, Mrs. OZ and I tolerate each other but don’t really socialize.

Mike: Do you have a sweetheart?
Karl: RUIS, my wonderful fiancé RUIS! I love him very much!!!
Mrs. OZ: no.
Emil: I am not allowed. They say I am too young….

Mike: What is your most fun activity?
Karl: lizards
Mrs. OZ: laying on the maid
Emil: playing with the whirly bird toy

Adios amigos!

Slideshow of Mike's Visit to Arizona

2008-03-11T13:38:00.001-07:00

Making Story Boards

2008-03-04T14:53:00.000-08:00

I had to reproduce and share this article by Veda Boyd Jones a writer for The Writers Magazine. It's exactly what I do to write my novels.

"Map out your story location--

If a house figures over and over in your story, don't rely on memory for important details. Draw a floor plan. You don't have to be a licensed architect or draw every room to scale—just get the basics down. Whose bedroom is next to Andrea's? Where is the window the golf ball shattered? What's the quickest way for the murderer to get from the master bedroom to the study?

If the location of furniture and objects is important to your story, draw a room with everything in place. Refer to it instead of looking back through earlier pages to figure out if the main character puts those critical keys on the night table or on the bureau.

Of course, there is no need to stop at drawing the house. If a town layout is important to you story, draw a map. Label the major characters' homes and the location of any building your charters enter. If you use an actual town for a setting and want to use real places and streets, get a map from the chamber of commerce or on an online map site.

Use your floor plan and map as reference tools. Tack them to a bulletin board above your computer. Using these visual aids will save you time and make sure that little details are accurate."
--Veda Boyd Jones

Since the space in my apartment is quite limited, a drawing board in the living room and little useable wall space in the computer room, I've learned to use the unpolished side of white poster board for large scale maps and sites that I need to keep track of during a story. I use the foam-core board for stability so I can prop them up readily when needed. I also use the notebook size graph paper for the smaller details and keep them in the binder in which I am doing the research.

Sometimes I draw the people, or the characters such as cats…for a more visual effect. When I was writing for the Nano challenge in November I was working on a murder mystery that took place in a large camping area. I had lots of prominent and background characters that I needed to keep track of. It was fun doing all the prep work before writing the story and using the drawings and details I'd mapped out as I went along…to keep me in bounds.

So when I read this little article I was pleased to learn that I wasn't the only one doing that kind of story prep…and that I was right on tract as a writer. To add to the murder mystery's needed characters, I created a sort of casting call of actors that I thought would fit the personality of the people in my story. I did the same with the cats. I gathered pictures and pictures—way more than I needed. I printed little pictures and pinned them or taped them to my story boards as needed. It reminded me a lot of my childhood when I sat with scissors and cut out figures from magazines and pattern books—paper dolls—thus creating the people my sister and I needed for our games.

Today is Squillions Day!

2008-02-28T13:50:00.000-08:00

Go here to see how it all started. Gretchen and I adopted our virtual Squillions on July 26, 2007.

Deedum resides on Scrungy and Friends Site, while Petunia resides on Gretchen's site.
We love our little virtual Squillions.

Sun! Maybe? and a Meme

2008-02-25T12:53:00.001-08:00

My daughter, Paula, who was tagged by Rhonda, tagged me for this 4 Things about Me meme.

4 Things About MEME

4 Jobs I've Had:

Cake decorator, Nurses Aid, Manager of Camp-resort, Ad copy writer-freelance illustrator.

4 Movies Watched Over and Over:

Somewhere in Time, Down Periscope, High Road to China, Pirates of the Caribbean-all 3

4 Places I Have Lived:

Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Texas.

4 Shows I Watch:

Masterpiece Theater, Lost, The Closer, Pushing Daisies

4 Places I Have Been:

The Grand Canyon, Carlsbad Caverns, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park

4 Favorite Things to Eat:

Graham Crackers and Milk, Lemon cookies, Fried Chicken Livers, Banana Nut Bread

4 Places I Would Rather Be:
Hawaii—back in the 1960's, a little white house in the country, a cabin in the eastern mountains, Michigan

4 Things I Look Forward To This year:
Staying vertical, having steady heartbeats, planting flowers, finishing Scrungy and other books in draft.

That was fun…I'll tag Thomma Lyn and Julie and Marilyn

Silent Sunday

2008-02-24T16:47:00.000-08:00

The Sun is Making a Comeback

2008-02-22T14:27:00.000-08:00

The days are getting longer, the sun is trying it's best to return and I am trying my best to recover. After the Ablation they put me on Sotalol and that nearly killed me. I'm now on the medicine Amiodorone for my heart rate and it seems it is beginning to work it's so-called magic. It takes almost 4 weeks to get enough into my system to keep things under control. I've not yet had two weeks worth. So, I'm yet to be a believer, but I did feel better yesterday and I'm trying to do the same today. I have to take several naps a day, but I'm vertical again--more often than not, that is.

Thanks again for everyones prayers, the furryones purrs, and all good wishes to my regaining my health and strength. I walked out to the mailbox today and had to take my cloud pictures.

Mike is in Tucson, Arizona with The Cat Realm. Please check in on them often and see what trouble Mike is into. So far he's postured himself in a giant catus. It's a good thing he's made of fluff.

I'd say more, but it's also time to rest. Till next time...

It's All About Hearts

2008-02-14T15:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day to all my friends...

loved ones...

and occasional visitors...

The sun is shining outside in a perfect blue sky and inside is my heart, now beating better and less stressed. On Tuesday I was supposed to get set up for a pacemaker. However, the specialist thought I should try one more drug and if that didn't work, the pacemaker would be the last resort. In a way I'm glad, especially since now that I know what all a pacemaker involves. I didn't know that they actually cut the pathway from the atrial to the ventricle chambers and then attach the pacemaker to make the ventricle work. Since I'm mostly atrial fib, that wouldn't stop my atrial chamber from continuing to have irregular episodes. It's all a lot of doctor-ease and I'm not at all sure I want any part of any of this anymore. But I do have to have something to control the A-fib episodes. The drug they put me on in the hospital was creating more problems and making things worse. It took everyone nearly a month to figure that out. Friday night's episode in the ER finally woke a few people up. So as of Tuesday I'm feeling better. I'd love to say great! But that feeling great passes when I stand up or have been up too long and keep pushing to do things.

The drug I'm on is not without some very hefty risk of which I shudder to think about and don't really want to go into them. With God's help we'll get through this. When I was viewing the funeral services of our late prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley just recently, I was impressed with something he said to everyone all of the time...even to Larry King once. "It will all work out."

In the past week, while beginning to get depressed and very worried about my heart condition, I kept seeing President Hinckley's face and hearing his words over and over in my mind. "It will all work out." So, as Gretchen has already told everyone, I have adopted his words as my new mantra...it will all work out. I'm up doing more in two days than I've been doing in nearly a month. I'm encouraged, and no longer scared (well maybe just a wee bit scared...the drug's worth hasn't been proven on me yet).

It will soon be time to plant primroses and for awhile I thought I wouldn't be able to do that, but now I think in a week or two, I will be able to plant dozens of primroses. I've even sat at the drawing board, re-mapping and planning Scrungy's next big adventure--his Mission. I'm excited again.

Poor Little Snow Soldiers

2008-02-08T13:52:00.000-08:00

I got an email from my youngest with this picture and these words...

The Perception of Our Realities
"Millions of snowmen die every year in winter's battle. They rally before their death in the fields where the front marches on. Their voices become one in union as they cry for an end to such bitterness but, the harsh realities have been proved to no avail, their feirce opponet has muffled them all." -Amie

I loved this and I had to share it...and I had to move the focus off my last post.

It's odd to see the snow like this. The Oregon beaches sometimes look like this on very windy days. Only instead of snow sculptures, they are sand sculptures.

I also found that another daughter, BK, had used this same picture for WW.

I'm doing better in someways, but still have irregular heartbeats and not so good days. It's a struggle to get back to normal life and I cannot wait until I do.

A Ruby Day

2008-02-03T15:03:00.000-08:00

Yay! We've made it to the Ruby Milestone. As of Groundhog's Day, yesterday, my hubby and I have been married 40 years. Now all we have to do is go for the next 10. Right?

I'm feeling better and sitting up at the computer a few hours a day now. I wanted to spend more time visiting with friends today but after posting two blogs, I'm going to have to come back and visit later. I forget I need to rest until I start to hurt, or go into A-fib. Tuesday's a doctor's day; maybe I'll have some more answer soon. Or questions.

The sun keeps popping in and out of storm clouds laden with heavy downpours. Gretchen gave up chasing the sunny spots and went to her bed to nap. I'm about to do the same.

I've received more great cards from Gretchen's furry friends…thank you all. You've been a wonderful motivation for keep me moving forward instead of wallowing in misery.

I'm starting to get itchy to write a short story and work on my novels…
I know better than to try that right now, but, boy is it hard to resist.

Hugs to you all for being so supportive and such great friends.

Still A Bit Out Of Focus

2008-01-31T13:47:00.000-08:00

Do I look a little fuzzyheaded to you? You don't look so clear around the edges to me, either.

I've been home a week and don't feel all that much better except that all the mind bending drugs have worn off and I'm now faced with reality. I'm so washed out that when I look in the mirror I can't see myself.

I don't have a lot of strength yet but I just had to post and thank everyone, again, for all the cards and comments and emails. I’m not able to respond the way I would like to right now, but today I'm sort of vertical—for awhile, at least. So, for now, I have slipped to into the margins of blogging and have become a "temporary lurker". I'm there reading, but not commenting. It takes a good deal of concentration to type and I'm not there yet.

I'm still not sure of all the facts yet, because I now have a whole team of cardiologists and they tend to talk only among themselves and not so much to the patient. It appears I was in a ventricle flutter when I summoned the paramedics. I was more worried about Gretchen getting scared and bolting out the open door, than of dying. I had to be zapped twice while awake; there was no time to put me under…so they say. Actually, I had no pulse by then and they apologized as they revved up that machine and zapped me anyway.

I made it up the road to the hospital and went into Flash Pulmonary Edema. This is the fourth FPE event and I'm not too thrilled about surviving it again. The main reason being that in all likelihood there is still another chance for it to happen again. When next I woke I was up in a Portland Hospital Cardiac Care Unit. I wasn't allowed to be kept totally asleep while on the ventilator this time because they couldn't keep my blood pressure up. Finally they started giving me a combination of pain meds and mild sedatives that didn't drop my blood pressure and still keep me at a reasonably comfortable level. I'm not going into anymore details about those hours of half-life. I had to stay hooked up to the ventilator while I was run through another angiogram. I still have a strong heart, no clogged arteries—no heart disease. I was quite relieved that they could finally remove that breathing tube. I didn't need it to do the next procedure; the first of what I have just learned will be many ablations to come. An ablation is where they go into the heart through the leg, in the vein like the angiogram, and burn, or cauterize the nerve endings on the heart. They figured on fixing my problem in one fell swoop. Unfortunately, there were way too many little damaged nerve endings to take care of all at once in my condition. They took care of a few and then will do some more later on, once I've received some of my strength back. They totally changed all of my medications and are waiting to see if what they have given me will hold a normal sinus rhythm, otherwise it's a pacemaker. Something else I'm not strong enough to go through right now. I can tell you the drugs are not working and I'm like a wet noodle most of the time, just riding out the waves of low, or fast, beats, waiting for that nothing feeling that is an actual normal sinus rhythm. Those moments are few and far between. Every time I'm left in A-fib too long it damages the nerves in my heart which creates scar tissue and has to be burned off. I guess my heart is a pretty big mess at the moment.

Well, this has taken more out of me than I thought it would. I wanted to say so much more…but that will give me something else to talk about another time, won't it. I just wanted everyone to know that I have appreciated, am appreciative, and still appreciate all the prayers (and the purrs from Gretchen's friends) good wishes, cards and thoughts. You all mean so much to me. I miss blogging and writing and visiting with friends.

You're all a great bunch, so please be patient, I'll stop by to visit someday soon.

Warm hugs to you all...

The Beat Goes On!....sort of...

2008-01-25T12:58:00.000-08:00

Thank you, one and all, for every good wish, kind thought, your prayers, purrs and warm cuddly fuzzies..emails...comments and smail mails.

I came home from the hospital yesterday afternoon. I thought I was ready to come home, but now, some 24 hours later...I think another week...or two in the hospital would have been better. Of course I have a slew of appointments ahead of me, at which time I hope to be able to determine what happened to me. At this point, my husband (who came in as the ambulance was packing me up--and daughter #3 who lives three thousand miles away) knows far more than I do about my heart--flutter-- I'm told it was first thought to be a heart attack because I was in V-tac (whatever the heck that means) and had no pulse or heart rate. I was shocked...twice! Not something I'd look forward to having to go through again awake. My cat didn't run out the door in fright...that was my only worry. My Cat.

So when my brain clears from all these nice relaxing drugs and I no longer have the desire to sleep for 24 hour straight. I'll be back. I'll try to read a few of the comments and good wishes a little at a time over the next few days…and if I miss somebody…please excuse me ahead of time and blame it on the mind numbing drugs. I have a strong, clean heart….go figure…but I have/had some electrical problems that had to be fixed (burned) and I'm on some new rhythm drugs.

Love you all for being my friends and caring so much. ((((((((BIG HUGS))))))))))
PS….if you can't make sense of what I just written, then neither can I…Everything is very, very fuzzy right now.

Lots of Prayers and Good Karma Needed

2008-01-18T12:23:00.000-08:00

This Paula from bassetknitter here to say that Gretchen's bean (my Mom) is very very ill. She had a cardiac emergency and had to go by ambulance on Wednesday to the big hospital in the city.
She is in the cardiac care intensive unit and hooked up to a ventilator and many kinds of machines and having many tests and procedures done.

We have been quite worried and concerned for her so if you could send good thoughts, prayers, karma, etc... her way it would be very much appreciated.

Gretchen was a bit shook up by all the commotion of the paramedics working on my Mom and taking her away in the big noisy rig, but she is being comforted and soothed by her Pa bean and actually they are a comfort to each other as he was shook up by this event.

I will continue to post updates about my Mom on my blog and also if anyone wants to send her a card you can also email me through my blog.

Cats on Tuesday: Neighborhood Nightlife: Episode 6

2008-01-15T00:18:00.000-08:00

Cats on Tuesday is hosted by Gattina.

Neighborhood Nightlife is the continuing ruminations of Necco, an apartment cat whose only contact with the feline race is through the open windows at midnight, while her guardians sleep.

Episode 6: The Mystery Lights

The sun's warm, yellow rays finally tipped over the tops of the trees, bringing Necco back awake. It took a few minutes for her mind to focus. It was dawn, the nightmare was over. Had it really happened? Necco yawned, stretched and shuddered, a flurry of cat hair rained down from the windowsill onto the carpet.

Still sitting in the windowsill where Necco had waited for the low slung sun to break over the easterly line of trees around the village, she delicately washed her face by carefully licking a paw, dragging it across an eye then down the bridge of her nose. Shifting paws, she licked the other one and repeated the process. All was quiet in the neighborhood now.

It had all started around midnight, the usual time for Thorny to visit his feline friends in the apartments at Rainbow Estates Senior's Village. Necco was usually always the first to jump onto her windowsill, her human guardians having opened the window a crack to let in some fresh, cool night air for sleeping. December was always a rainy month in the moderately cool northwest. This year it seemed even more so. Colder, too. Sometimes, so cold that the sliding glass windows could not be opened more than just a tiny sliver.

Because of the heavy wet winter clouds, Necco had missed seeing the stars and the cycle of the moon's phase for the whole month of December. As fantastic, mysterious, and exciting as December had been for the village, with all its bright, twinkling lights decorating each leaf-barren tree along every walkway and entryway, windows filled with decorations, often a small Christmas tree twinkling in front of the large plate glass windows of living rooms around the village, nothing was as fantastic as the lights Necco and her friends had witnessed for the past few hours. The red, green, gold, and blue of the Christmas lights, winking and blinking and bringing wonder and amazement to Necco's wide, curious eyes, could not be compared to the glowing, red, green, and gold-white lights that seemed to hover over her building, spreading terror and awe into all who witnessed them.

At midnight her guardians had drifted into a sleep that locked out the world around them. The man and woman in Necco's life seemed to be able to sleep through anything and had slept soundly through this event as well. Her friend, Frog, was the first to spot the lights above them. Easterly, more to the south, they twinkled and blinked. Just distant curiosities. Then, after first having gotten the latest gossip from Sissy, the white Persian that lived in the first apartment on the corner, Thorny arrived for his usual visit.

The night had been clear, cloudless for the first time in nearly forty-days. The air, though damp from the constant rains, was cold and crisp. Only the largest of the stars twinkled brightest through the bare tree branches above the competing village lights. The moon's first quarter phase having just set over the southwestern horizon, an hour before midnight, left the clear skies in inky darkness. Thorny sat on the hood of a tenant's frost-covered car, alternately shifting his massive body from one paw to the other in an effort to keep his pads from sticking to the frozen metal. With puffs of frozen breath he gave a report on the events of his day and the latest gossip of the village. But, Frog's attention was on the mysterious lights looming larger.

"Frog," Thorny asked, abruptly stopping his gossiping and turning to look at the spot of space that had so captured his friend's attention, "what is so interesting up there? You've been staring off into space the whole time I've been talking and…what in the world?" Thorny had noticed the lights blinking on and off; red, green, and gold-white. They were not moving the way an airplane or a helicopter would. There was a country airport nearby where small planes often landed in the darkness. Sometimes helicopters would buzz overhead late at night, too, often scanning the earth with their large, bright-white search lights, helping the cops chase down a crook, no doubt. So seeing red, green and gold-white lights in the skies around the village were not unusual at all.

Markus looked up at the same time as Thorny. Necco was next to spot the lights growing in size. She shifted her feet uncomfortably on the wooden windowsill, fidgeting nervously, her paws sweating as she remembered thinking only last month how the new cats above Frog, the polydactyl sisters, were somehow alien to this world and had come in disguise to overthrow the earth's human population and replace them with cats who had opposable thumbs. At the time, she had dismissed that ridiculous idea after contemplating on her own oddity, the single rapier on the side of her right front paw. Could it be true after all? Were aliens really coming?

Her male guardian was a huge, huge fan of science fiction movies and TV programs. He watched them over and over and over until Necco, who'd often be sleeping in his ultra warm lap, would get so bored with them, she'd move to the other room to finish her nap on the bed, even if it meant sleeping on a cold comforter. Flashing endlessly across the large, wide TV screen she'd seen strange lights in the sky that would grow brighter and brighter as they hovered over a house or a person, then, suddenly—poof—they'd be gone in a flash, the alien spacecraft disappearing into the blackness with them. Sometimes the shows her male guardian watched seem so real that she often dreamt about them. Maybe that's where she got the idea in her head about the two polydactyl's being aliens. Too much sci-fi.

To be sure she wasn't dreaming now, she leapt from the windowsill, bounced once in the middle of the sleeping couple, bounded down the hall and leapt onto the living room windowsill. The outdoor village lights spaced about the landscape produced too much light for her to see anything in the black sky but the brightest of stars. To further take her mind off such ridiculous notions of alien ships coming to the village, she decided to have a bite to eat. As she purposely stood over her bowl of kibble, crunching nervously on a tiny, fish-flavored morsel of goodness, her ears perked backwards, towards the open window in the bedroom. She heard the faint gasp of her friends and rushed back to the windowsill, expecting to see a spaceship landing in the parking lot, flooding the air with blinding light while scooping the cats from their windowsills—sucking them up into its giant mouth and disappearing with them forever.

Was Necco a coward? Was she going to shrink from disaster while her friend's lives were in peril? What could she do, really? She was locked behind a heavy, double-paned, glass window, only open to the outside world by an inch. Barely room enough to slip a paw through the crack. And then what? What could she do to help save mankind—catkind, from the evil forces that filled the skies above them right at that moment?

Imagination gone astray is a terrible thing to a cat. Cats are grounded creatures. Sure of foot, sound of mind. Balanced. Sensible. Sane. Aren't they? They knew the order in which the earth rotated. East to West. Didn't it? Necco wasn't sure anymore. Many times she had let her imagination run wild and ended up feeling remorse for her thoughts, for recently accusing Sissy—Miss Prissy Prudence—of being a snob, stuck up…for accusing the web-footed polydactyl sisters with the extra toes of being aliens…

In the silent darkness, the red, green, and gold-white lights blurred into one massive, spinning display. Suddenly, as Necco had feared, an enormous round shape overshadowed the parking lot, the village, and the trees around them. One by one the round globes of the village blinked out. The stars seemed to disintegrate. Then she saw it. Just like on the TV screen, a hot, bright-white light shot out of the mouth of the beast as it hovered over them, over Thorny, and suddenly…poof! Thorny was gone. It was too much for little Necco's heart to bear. She tore at the window, pawed desperately through the one inch crack at the screen. The great light that sucked Thorny up into its belly now searched the windows for the others. Necco watched in horror as Frog was torn from his windowsill, siphoned through the small opening of his window like liquid sucked up through a straw. Markus was next. Then polydactyl sisters were drawn into the beast belly like the others. Everything happened so fast, not a single yowl had escaped from anyone's lips.

Her mournful yowls, however, could have wakened the dead; it should have wakened her guardians. Wails of terror spewed from her throat. Hot, lava-like tears fled from her eyes…there was nothing she could do. Her guardians seemed frozen in place—why wouldn't they wake up. It was too much to bear—she bounded from the windowsill, and back again, then back to the bed where she pounced, pawed, and nipped at the cold, stiff humans lying in the bed. "Wake up!" She screamed as she tore at their covers, "The aliens are sucking up my friends! Wake up!"

"Necco?" The voice was distant, alien.

Oh no, I've been sucked up into the beast as well.

"Necco?"

A bright-white light was shoved into her eyes, making it hard for her to focus on the strange being at the other end of the light wand. She suddenly became aware that she was on a metal table, strapped down. Tubes and probes hung from every orifice. "They got me," she screamed with silent despair. "They got us all!"

The light darkened and the voices resumed. She could hear the metallic clinking of surgical instruments and muted voices laughing in the distance. Laughing at her? How terrible. It is one thing to be abducted by aliens and quite another for them to be laughing at her! How rude.

"Necco, sweetie…it's time to wake up, little one. It's all over."

Oh no, that voice. The aliens have my female human, too?

The veterinary assistant lifted the multi-colored cat up off the table and placed the drowsy feline back into her guardian's arms. "She's going to be a bit out of it for awhile, a slight hangover effect…like too much catnip. We only gave her a small sedative to clean her teeth. You can take her home now."

I'm Still on The Planet

2008-01-09T23:49:00.000-08:00

I love taking pictures at night. I stepped outside after it had quit raining for a few minutes to mail a letter and couldn't resist trying to capture the jewel-like raindrops on my tree. Naturally, they don't show up the way I saw them. But all the trees just sparkled in the outdoor lights.

I appologize for not being around for so long. I didn't realize it had been nine days since I'd last posted something. I had good intentions, just really busy. I had been working on getting a submission packet ready to mail for Scrungy: Abandoned. It got put in the mail today. Now I wait. Actually, I'll be pretty occupied with other writing while I wait. So I've crossed my toes in hopes that someone at the publishing house will be thoughful enough to send me a rejection slip. I'm far below my quota. I plan to fill a wall with them.

I had intended to get a cat story written also, but Tuesday has come and gone and I have not even started one. So next week.

I'll be back.

Cats on Tuesday: Gretchen Tells A Story

2007-12-31T22:13:00.000-08:00

Cats on Tuesday is hosted by Gattina. For more cat antics go here.

The Christmas Tree Skirt
as told by Gretchen the Cat

This is the third year I've gotten to spend Christmas sleeping on my favorite bit of cloth. In the human world it is called a quilt, and in this particular case, the bit of cloth that I love so much, and only see for about a month in the dead of winter each year, is called a Christmas tree skirt.

The simple, but colorful bit of cloth that is tied around the base of the tree each year has a story that I'd like to tell. My human being (or my Mom Bean in my world) has told this story to many visitors, and reminisces about it with her daughters, and husband, each year, so I pretty much know it by heart and would like to share it with you.

Today is what the human world calls New Year's Day. A day, when typically, my mom bean removes the bright, red and green decorations and the tree that has been so brightly lit for several weeks, and places all of these things back into old cardboard boxes, then removes them from the house. I will not see these things again for eleven long months. I don't even know where they are taken. But every year they disappear, only to reappear again when it's time for Christmas.

Everyone I know, so far in my life's journey, makes such a fuss over Christmastime. Not only do those, mmmm…smell so good boxes, come back inside the house and release their familiar scents, but the humans in particular, seem so busy. So bothered by shopping and wrapping and baking and visiting and cards getting mailed on time. It's an exciting time for everyone, including me. Boxes come in the mail with more strange scents to explore; envelopes containing pretty cards come every day, too. Once they are ooed and awed over, my bean hangs them on a red or green string for all to enjoy. I must admit that their sparkly, bright, red and green, gold and silver colors do add to the festivity and excitement of the month.

But given all that fuss and commotion, there was a time long ago when my favorite bit of cloth was transformed into the all important Christmas tree skirt. Today, I watched as my mom bean picked it up, shook out the pine needles (even artificial pine trees seem to shed their needles), folded it and set it aside while she gathered up the rest of the pretty Christmas things, wrapping them in bits of tissue, and putting them carefully back into those boxes. I put my paw upon my folded bit of cloth, breathed in one last long sniff, and then said goodbye to it one final time, before it disappeared to that place I don't get to see.

My bean said that even though they've had some meager Christmases since then, there was none so remembered in the hearts of her family as the one that this tree skirt was made for. It happened, I'm guessing, close to thirty years ago. Long, long, before I came into this world. My mom bean, pa bean, and all the kid beans, had just moved from a place called California to a place called Illinois. They had a really nice life in California and always had nice Christmases. But she never really had a pretty tree skirt to put underneath the trees over the years. I think she said they either used a large white sheet or fluffy cotton batting under the tree to look like snow. I've never seen anything but my bit of cloth, so I couldn't really tell you for sure what it was they used or why they even wanted it to look like snow.

Anyway, this one particular Christmas where my fond bit of cloth was transformed into a tree skirt, was the poorest Christmas my bean family said they'd ever had. They had no extra money for a tree, or presents…not even wrapping paper and ribbon.

So one day my mom bean had an idea. She told pa bean to go hunting in the woods with a saw. Now, if they had lived in another state, perhaps, they could have gone out into the countryside and cut down a traditional Christmas tree. Where they lived that particular December there was no such place to cut a free pine tree. So mom bean suggested that pa bean go out into the countryside somewhere, and search the woods for a deciduous tree (the kind that lose their leaves in the fall each year), that was shaped most like a Christmas tree, cut it down and bring it home.

In the basement mom bean had found a bucket of white house paint. In the garage, pa bean had emptied a bunch of junk out of a five gallon bucket and filled it with rocks. When mom bean had painted every branch white and it had dried, they brought it inside and set up in front of the large windows of the living room. She then taught the girls how to make ornaments for the tree. Some they had from other Christmases, but this tree was much larger than any they'd decorated before, and with no pine needles, there were lots and lots of spaces to fill. She said they didn't even put any lights on the tree, either. Anyway, the tree soon bloomed with ornaments, and garlands of popcorn, and even without lights, she said it was the prettiest Christmas tree they'd ever had.

Now, for the tree skirt part. Mom bean said she was a scrap saver. She had moved a lot in her life and the one thing, beside the kid beans, that she made sure traveled with them, was her box of fabric scraps. The girl beans were old enough that year to sew and from her scrap box they made all their gifts for their family…that included grandpa and grandma beans as well as auntie and uncle and cousin beans. Everybody had a handmade gift that year. And every gift was wrapped in tissue paper, too, my most favorite kind of wrapping paper.

Somehow, there was no white fabric, no cotton batting, not even a white sheet, large enough to be used as a skirt for the tree. All she had left, after the girls had made all their gifts, were small bits fabric, nothing large enough at all for a tree skirt. She was in a hurry to come up with something. Pa bean had just brought home some brand-new, clean, large pieces of thin, white cloth that he'd used at the machine shop where he worked. She confiscated them and turned them into a circle of cloth. With the bits of red and green scraps she cut out trees, candy canes, and a pair of bells that she appliquéd onto the white circle. She sewed a bit of red edging around the top to make a tie. One last thing she did before placing it under the magic white tree was to embroidery the year, 1980, and the address where they had lived.

The following Christmas things returned to normal. They had a live, spruce tree that year and many store bought gifts and wrapping paper. Mom bean worked for a fabric store that year, too, and instead of just buying a new, fancy tree skirt, she brought home some red Christmas print fabric for the backing of the white circle, and some red and green trim with red and green fuzzy balls.

She remade the little tree skirt and filled it with some fluffy stuff to make it poofy. She then quilted around the appliqués she had sewn on the year before. It looked pretty. She said it was a reminder to all the family that the poorest Christmas they'd ever had, was also the best Christmas they'd ever had. The very last thing she did to the newly, redesigned tree skirt that year was embroider the date, 1981 and the new address where they were living.

Each year after that, the same little tree skirt had been unpacked from the Christmas boxes, a new date and addressed added, and then placed under the tree, until the last kid bean had grown up and left home. Mom bean said that many times she wanted to buy a store bought tree skirt of velvet and lace, all fancy and new. But each time she opens the Christmas boxes she changes her mind and puts the old one under the tree.

It is a family jewel now. A treasure of Christmases past. The white tree, the bits of cloth, the additions of backing, and quilting a year later, and all the addresses that they'd spent their Christmas at: it's too priceless to toss aside, now. For that I'm happy. For me, it's been the best part of all the fuss and muss of Christmas, and since my very first Christmas here, I've claimed a corner of it as it was spread beneath the tree. It's now my bit of cloth, my tree blanket, and even though it's been washed a few times, it still carries all of the smells of love and happiness past.

Happy New Year Everybody!

Mike's Belated Adventure to Sweden--with Yoggie

2007-12-25T23:37:00.000-08:00

This Cats on Tuesday is sort of a few hours late getting posted. I'll blame it on the holiday...

For more fun stories and pictures about cats and their antics...visit Cats on Tuesday host...Gattina

Mike the Mysterious aka Mike the World Traveler

Episode 4: Visit to Sweden

Mike here:

Well, this is Christmas Day and I've commandeered my caretaker's computer to write about my visit to Skane, Sweden that took place over a month ago. I left Oregon with plenty of things in my luggage to keep me warm. I even took along my blue blanket. Visiting British Columbia, Canada, didn't prepare me for how cold it really was in Sweden. Thank goodness I decided to just go cyberspace all the way there and back. I mean I enjoyed my plane ride experience to Taiwan and all, but once I got to Yoggie's place I was glad I was spared the airport business and the cold blustery winds off the sea. So, on November 19th, I left my warm apartment and popped into Yoggie's warm house. If it hadn't have been for Yoggie's hanging bed on his radiator, I'd still be cold.

Now, I know what you're going to say, that a fluffhead like me wouldn't know hot from cold. But like I've said before, I'm magical and mysterious, even a little bit mischievous, and I experience hot and cold just like any other creature. So, I no sooner said hello to Yoggie than I opened up my suitcase and put on all my warm things. I must admit, I should have told Gretchen's bean to pack mittens and booties, but I didn't think about those things until after I got there.

Yoggie let me wrap up in my blue blanket on his cute, hanging bed. It was this big, soft, furry like hammock. Yellow with huge black paw prints all over it. I mean his hanging bed was huge. There was more than enough room for both of us to sleep in it at the same time. Yoggie's not a half-pint either. He's a big fellow, Gretchen. Pictures don't do him justice. Not only is he a huge mancat, but he's a lot more handsome in person. We also hung out on the bean's bed a lot, too.

For those of you that don't know, already. Yoggie, and my furry sister, Gretchen, are sweethearts. I'm not kidding! They really do love each other. They've never met outside of the blogosphere, but they write notes to each other all the time. Yoggie is a romantic Cat poet. He can write the neatest stuff. He gets all goofy looking in the eyes, when he talks about Gretchen. Now that I've actually met Yoggie, and spent some time with him, in my opinion, Gretchen has got nothing to worry about. He's a real prince o f a mancat…she actually calls him her Prince and he calls her is Pearl. They've got some serious feelings for each other. He even asked her to marry him a few months back. Poor Yoggie, Gretchen had to turn his proposal down…for the moment, anyway. While I had the opportunity, I explained things a little better to Yoggie. Gretchen is so young, and so shy, and had just started meeting other cats on the web, that his proposal kinda of scared her a little. She just needs more time, I told him, and he seemed to understand that; at least to say, he was cool with it, for now.

The land that Yoggie lives in is very far north and is pretty flat, at least the part that I saw. He lives very close to the sea and he blogged about it a few months back. I would have loved to have shown you all the pictures he posted of the Swedish countryside, but they were pretty small and I'd forgotten to ask his permission before I started writing this. So here is the link if you want to see where he lives ... go here...You'd be amazed, honest!

Yoggie said that Sweden is a virtual paradise for cats—almost everybody in his country has a cat or two. There are at least nine million humans and over a million, point three, cats. Heh, the woofies are in the minority at only seven hundred thirty thousand something. Honest! That's what he said. He should know, he lives there. But to be honest, how do humans know for sure how many cats and woofies there really are? Surprisingly enough, he said they don't have any rabies, either.

Yoggie lives at the very southern tip of Sweden, and if you go way up north, there are real live reindeers and wolves and brown bears and a whole bunch of Swedish dogs. Heh, all the woofies live in the north with the bears, and all the cats live in the south with the humans. Pretty good arrangement, I'd say. Oh, and I forgot to mention, lots of friendly Moose live in the south, too.

If you like fish, this is the place to be. Cats are well fed here. Somehow, even the cats here like the cold…and I'm talking, minus a bunch of degrees, cold. And dark? Wow, only mid-November and it's darker longer than it is back in Oregon. I don't know how they do it. I know Yoggie and I did sleep a lot of the time. I guess what I'm saying is, not only bears hibernate. I was seriously thinking hibernation was really good idea. Yoggie told me the summers make up for the long, dark winters though; they get the midnight sun up there.

Yoggie has this magical little friend, too. His name is Jingle Bells. He's really called a squillion—a cute little ceramic cat with a tiny bell hanging around his neck. He gave me a tour of the library. Floor to ceiling bookcases filled with books. Gretchen's bean would be so jealous for all that space for books. And, lo and behold, if there wasn't a green fluffhead bookworm hanging out on the bookshelf. He claims he's read almost every book on the shelf, already.

It was only the middle of November and Yoggie's beans had put up their little Swedish Christmas tree just for me to enjoy while I was there. We didn't tell anyone that I actually climbed the Christmas tree. I didn't hurt any of those cute, little Swedish ornaments, honest! We had a lot of fun running around the house. We didn't go outside or anything like that…too bloody cold to go out into the garden, but he showed me lots of pictures of the birds and other creatures that he'd seen.

On my last night in Sweden, Yoggie threw a surprise party for me. Imagine, me getting a surprise party. Wow, I was so overcome with emotion. He invited all his friends and we had fun all the long night long. I had been wrapped up tight, in my blue blanket, snoozing away on a green pillow when the Christmas Mice from Norway came in and shouted, SURPRISE!

A special fluffhead Moose had also come all the way from the Swedish forest just to see me. We became good friends. We've both got fluff for brains, but he's got something magical, like me, going on up there in between those antlers, if you know what I mean. I got along famously with Yoggie and his little friends. I truly had a good time.

Soon it was time for our interview and then I had to pack and get ready to leave. I hated to say goodbye to any of them, but my week was up and I had to get back home. So, on Tuesday, November 27th, at six in the morning, I put all my stuff back into my suitcase, zipped it up and said goodbye.

And now for my interview with Yoggie:

Mike: How long have you lived with your bean(s)?

Yoggie: I live together with them since February 2006.

Mike: Do you have a favorite bean?

Yoggie: I love them both! My female human is at home more often and we snuggle up to each other a lot. My male human is great for playing!

Mike: What's your favorite food?

Yoggie: FISH!

Mike: What's your favorite treat?

Yoggie: Vanilla ice cream or pudding.

Mike: Where do you like to sleep?

Yoggie: In my cat bed at the heater or on the bed of my humans or in my cat bed in the living room.

Mike: Do you dream? What are your dreams about?

Yoggie: FOOD! Gretchen.

Mike: Do you like fluffheads, you know, those crafty little creatures with fiberfill for brains?

Yoggie: Well, I like Mike! And toy mice!

Mike: How many fluffheads live with you and your bean?

Yoggie: It would take more than 9 lives to count them... About 200???

Mike: Do you get along with your fluffheads? Really?

Yoggie: I like to nibble on them…

Mike: Do you have a special fluffhead friend?

Yoggie: MIKE!

Mike: Do your fluffheads ever talk to you? Do they talk to your beans, you know, like I can transmit my thoughts to one special bean in my house?

Yoggie: Sometimes they talk to me and say that I should stop nibble around on them. They talk constantly to my female human. They are her friends. That's why they are everywhere in the house. She told me that she still have some (a LOT) of them in the apartment of her parents and that they (the fluffies) will come over to Sweden as soon as the baby is born.

Mike: You have a very nice place here; tell me about your weather and your surroundings, what is it like outside your house?

Yoggie: Around my house are just fields and fields and fields... But it's close to the Baltic Sea, too: only 7 km!! That's why it is so windy here. The wind always comes from the sea. It paints the sky orange at night and we have wonderful sunsets and sunrises here.

Mike: Are you an inside only cat or do you get to go outside?

Yoggie: I LOVE my garden!!!! I love to play around there and go hunting and practice my jump skills.

Mike: Do you keep secrets from your beans? Sometimes Gretchen and I conspire against her mom bean in the middle of the night. It really freaks her out. Do you do things like that?

Yoggie: I don't tell my humans how often I scratch my claws on the back of their living room chairs...They are still pretty new.

Mike: Have you been gifted with any hidden talents?

Yoggie: I am a talented jumper!

Mike: Is there anything in your house that bothers you? That you're afraid of?

Yoggie: Well, in the garden there is the striped cat. We have lots of catfights. Inside the house?? No, just loud noises I don't like.

Mike: Do you stalk and capture real live critters like mice, spiders and stuff? What kinds of critters do you stalk? Do you eat what you catch?

Yoggie: I have hunted birds, moths, rats, mice, butterflies, bees, flies, bugs, spiders. I ate everything of them but not the birds and rats. I just presented them to my humans.

Mike: Do you have siblings or housemates? Do you get along with them?

Yoggie: I have no housemates besides my humans. Siblings?? I can't remember…

Mike: Do you have a sweetheart?

Yoggie: YES!!! Gretchen!!!!

Mike: What is your most fun activity?

Yoggie: Playing with my male human.

Merry Christmas All

2007-12-23T19:27:00.000-08:00

Personalized Glitter Graphics

Cold Fuzzy Moon

2007-12-21T17:07:00.000-08:00

I steppted outside to take out the trash and couldn't resist taking a photo of the, not quite full, cold, fuzzy moon through the branches of my winter bare, Japanese Maple.

Mike's Adventures to Taipei, Taiwan: Part 2

2007-12-18T19:16:00.000-08:00

Mike's Adventure to Taiwan

Part Two:

Yesterday, I left you wondering what Adan and I were talking about, besides the pigeon sisters. We talked and laughed, snickered, and giggled over the first ten interview questions that I ask of my host. Interviews are fun and I learn a lot about my new friends. It took us all afternoon to finish, we had our supper, played with Michico, and then went off to bed. Michico suggested that we go to sleep early because she had a big day planed for me. Adan doesn't like to go outside, so it was perfectly alright with him if I spent time being a fluffhead tourist.

And what a crazy tour Tuesday was. Because it was a weekday, Michico couldn't take me to this next spot. So Michico's Grandpa took me to the tallest building in the world in 2007. It's called Taipei 101. He said that it is the tallest in the world right now, but next year it will not be. I guess that means that somewhere in the world there will be one taller than this one. Whew, I'm dizzy just thinking about it. The whole time I was standing on top of the world, 508M high, I was thinking about Gretchen. She doesn't like to leave the apartment either, but I wished she did, because sharing this wonderful, awesome sight with her would have made it all the more special. Michico's grandpa went out of his way to see that I had a very nice time. I was very happy touring with Grandpa and enjoyed our time together gazing out over all of Taipei.

Pretty soon it started getting dark and all the street lights were turning on. Taipei was so beautiful at night. Grandpa pointed to a green circle way across the city. He said that was Miramar Wheel and it was our next stop. I thought that high tower was something, but you should have seen this great, gigantic, super huge, Ferris wheel. It was all lit up with green florescence lights and our carriage went round and round, while the lights all over Taipei glittered and sparkled in the night. When we got to the top, the wind got so strong that it made my carriage shake. It was breathtaking. I wished for Gretchen to see what I was seeing, but now that I think about it, it would have scared her to death. I was even scared there for a minute, but, wow, what a ride! It was so interesting, too, because when my Ferris wheel carriage got to the top, I could see the Taipei 101 building.

I cannot tell you how utterly and completely worn out this rag bag, meaning me, was when I got back to Adan's apartment. I curled up next to Adan and went right to sleep.

Talk about a whirlwind tour. It took me all day on Wednesday to get over the spectacular sights I'd seen while touring with Grandpa. That night, Michico took me to a really special place where cats and people to hang out together. It was called Minimal Café. I was a very relaxing place. Michico told me that this was her favorite cat's café. She said that there were lots of café's like this one, but she liked this one best. It had a very unique atmosphere. The lights were turned down low so that the cats would feel calm and comfortable. She said the dark interior design let people go inside and feel peaceful. It was like a store for cats and the café's owner took care of many street cats that hang around this café. She worked very hard trying to care for all the stray and abandoned cats. Each cat in the café had its own life style. Everyone on the café's staff worked very hard to help momma cats give birth to their kitties, and help the sick ones get well by having charity bazaars and stuff to raise money for the veterinary bills. The café owner's philosophy was that cats give people joy, so the staff worked very hard to keep the cats safe.

I was introduced to the main café cat, a very beautiful, gentle cat, giving tender love and care to all the café's customers. She was very nice to me and showed me how very warm the coffee machine was. She said it was the best heater for cats.

We left the Minimal Café and went through the night market near there. So many stores and most of them had shop cats. A boutique, a hair salon. Wow, the whole city seemed to love cats a lot. It was pretty exciting to see all those furry little bodies hanging out and preening themselves in the shop windows.

Thursday, Adan and I spent our time playing and hanging out in front of his windows, taunting the pigeon sisters, and then we finished the rest of my interview questions.

Friday was the icing on the cake. We went to the Night Market in ShihLin. It's a fascinating place. Gobs and gobs of people, shops and food…lots of food, everywhere! Michico held on to me really tight. She was afraid I'd get lost in the crowds. Besides all the food shops, I also got to see the Night Market's temple. But the food—I couldn't stop eating. Michico kept bringing me things like fried chicken. She had to stand in line for a long time just to get me a juicy piece. I also had something called Pepper Pasty…that was very famous, too and also had long lines. And something else called Water Fry-fun. Dumplings, I think. But it was very, very tasty.

On Saturday, it was time for me to leave. I was very sad to say good bye to my new, friends. I had such a wonderful time in Taiwan. I saw so many wondrous things. I found out that I really liked being up high and looking out over the universe. Arion and Michico took me to the airport and told the people at the boarding gate that I they had to take very special care of me and make sure I was comfortable. I gave Michico and Arion huge hugs. I'd given Adan a huge hug, too, before I left him at his apartment.

I have to say I had no trouble at all with the flight, once the plane left the runway. I had my own seat by the window, next to an old, white-haired gentleman carrying a large teddy bear with a huge pink bow around its neck, home to his granddaughter in Oregon. Of course, I asked him if he knew my beans and Gretchen. But he shook his head and told me no, that Oregon was a big state and there were a lot of people in it—he didn't know everybody. But he was kind, had a soft soothing voice, and didn't seem to mind talking to a fluffhead at all. While I rested my weary, wiry, black head on his knee, he told me the story of his life. I think. I woke up when the plane was landing. I needed to find some cables in a hurry and get home to Gretchen and her mom bean. I found a telephone station and teleported the rest of the way home.

Taiwan was a wonderful experience. Adan is a great cat and friend. Michico is a warm and charming hostess. Anyone planning on visiting them will have the time of their life.

Part 3: Mike's Interview With Adan

2007-12-18T19:00:00.000-08:00

I saved Adan's interview for last. It was a great interview, even if there were too many questions.

Adan's Interview:

Mike: How long have you lived with your bean(s)?

Adan: 10 years. There are 3 beans taking care of me, one is Pamilla mommy, and Michico aunite, the author of my blog, and Toshie aunite. I live in Michico's room since I was 1 year old.

Mike: Do you have a favorite bean?

Adan: Wowww this is a sensitive one, hehehe. But I would dare to say, my favorite bean is Michico. I think it's because she taking care of my food and litter box every day, and I snuggle with her everyday (Can you see the smile in that picture? Yes, I am happy to be with Michico). But, my favorite body temperature is Pamilla's, because her body temperature is the hottest, but she dislike I snuggle with her in summer, she says it's too hot. And my favorite massage skill is Toshie aunite. I always could sleep very quickly after she massage my hand.

Mike: What's your favorite food?

Adan: Still ordinary cat-dry cookies, but right now sometimes Michico also cooks something for me, I love them very much as well.

Mike: What's your favorite treat?

Adan: Dry laver!!! Dry laver!!! Dry laver!!! Dry laver!!! Japanese Dry laver!!!

Mike: Where do you like to sleep?

Adan: I think the answer is obvious, I love sleeping on Michico's bed always~!

Mike: Do you dream? What are your dreams about?

Adan: I have dreamed in a warm world and everything is made of dry laver, and when I woke up, Michico already took the dry laver in front of my face. And I have dreamed seeing Pigeon sisters with Margaret. The others are not so clear. I forget my dreams after I woke up.

Mike: Do you like fluffheads, you know, those crafty little creatures with fiberfill for brains?

Adan: Oah...Gee... I can't tell if I like it or not? I even can make the difference about their head or tummy.... But to me, I believe your brain is not made of fiberfill, because you know traveling around the world, my fluffhead doesn't.

Mike: How many fluffheads live with you and your bean?

Adan: Well, Michico has many dolls, but no fluff ones, let me introduce you a fluffhead, it belongs to Toshie aunite, it's a sea otter. This sea otter is given by 3 sisters's mommy, for Toshie's gift. Toshie keeps it until now.

Mike: Do you get along with your fluffheads? Really?

Adan: I think I often sleep with Toshie's sea otter on the shelf. I used him as a pillow.

Mike: Do have a special fluffhead friend?

Adan: Actually no I don't have my own fluffheads , but I think Toshie's sea otter is my fluffhead friend, and so are Michico's dolls.

Mike: Do your fluffheads ever talk to you? Do they talk to your beans, you know, like I can transmit my thoughts to one special bean in my house?

Adan: Sometimes, the sea otter will fall from shelf to bed. I think he was talking to me he go to bed first. And same time talk to Michico, I made him falling again and again. He often transmit his thoughts to Michico that I always make him falling all the time. hehehehe~!!

Mike: You have a very nice place here; tell me about your weather and your surroundings, what is it like outside your house? (Mountains, seaside, desert, woods, etc.)

Adan : The features there are night market next to our house, so people eating things are easier and convenient, and there is a mountain next to ShihLin, so, it hold some monsoon, not easy to get rain. And let me show you the night market near my house, this is our surrounding.

Mike: Are you an inside only cat or do you get to go outside?

Adan: I am an inside cat, I am afraid of going outside.

Mike: Do you keep secrets from your beans? Sometimes Gretchen and I conspire against her mom bean in the middle of the night. It really freaks her out. Do you do things like that?

Adan: There are not many things I can keep secrets, but I try. Sometimes I do something interesting, like I love stay in front of bathroom's door while Michico or Pamilla mommy is taking bath. After they open the door and seeing me they will surprised, or shock, that will make me happy.

Mike: Have you been gifted with any hidden talents?

Adan: I think I have telepathy. Hehehehehe~!

Mike: Is there anything in your house that bothers you? That you're afraid of?

Adan: Oah, Yes. I like to open every drawer in my house and adventure, it really bothers me that I can't get inside every drawer. But I am afraid of when I get in, Pamilla and Michico will displease~! There are some places I am not allowed to go.

Mike: Do you stalk and capture real live critters like mice, spiders and stuff? What kinds of critters do you stalk? Do you eat what you catch?

Adan: Well, I catch some bugs, yes. But there are no mice in my house, a little few spiders and tiny one, if Michico didn't see bugs before me, I usually catch them for fun.

Mike: Do you have siblings or housemates? Do you get along with them?

Adan: Right now, I am an only cat, but I have a turtle - ASHIRA.

Mike: Do you have a sweetheart?

Adan: My Pigeon sister? Noooooo, it's my Pamilla Mommy, Toshie Auntie and Michico~!

Mike: What is your most fun activity?

Adan: Playing Toys for sure~!!!

Mike: Adan and Michico, thanks for your invite this time, I am really, really happy. This trip and interview is now finished.

Adan: We are also glad you can be here~! Next time you may come again, there are more places you haven't been there~!

The End

Next Tuesday I will tell you about my trip to Sweden. It is so cold there that I had to pack special things in my luggage to keep extra warm.

Mike the Mysterious Is Back...

2007-12-17T22:30:00.000-08:00

Cats on Tuesday...for more cats in this group visit Gattina, here:

Mike the Mysteriuos, aka, World Traveler, is back home for the holidays and is catching up on his travel log...this is part one of two on his visit to Taiwan.

Mike the Mysterious: World Traveler:

Visit to Taiwan
Part One:

Mike here:

It's time to get back to my travel log and tell you all about my visit to Taipei, Taiwan, and with my host Adan and Michico.

I left on November 10th, yeah, you're right, that's been over a month ago. But right after I got back from there, I zipped off to Sweden to visit Yoggie. While I was in Sweden my human caretaker, and my live, furry companion, Gretchen, were having a few crises to deal with at home. So, I apologize to my gracious host Michico, and my new live, furry friend, Adan, for taking so long to write my story and tell everyone about all the fun things I did while I was visiting them.

First off, I teleported up to Portland PDX, caught a flight on an airplane with humans, and crossed the ocean to Taipei. They let me sit up front in the First Class section next to this little girl with long red braids. She was scared to fly and the flight attendant let her hold me on her lap the whole way. Of course, I'm sure everyone thought it kind of strange that I walked into the airport on my own, waited at the gate with all the other passengers, and then boarded the flight right behind the little girl. Humans are strange. They must have thought that I was some kind or battery operated toy, walking around the way I did. No one picked me up, or even asked me any security questions. I guess having my passport strung around my neck helped. But after crossing the ocean on that big jet liner, in the care of that sweet little redheaded girl, I think people came to think that I was just the girl's toy and never gave me another thought.

It was a really long flight, too. We seemed to fly all night long. I got to gaze out the window, the little girl had a window seat, and I saw all the stars in the universe. What a sight that was. Not every fluffhead, mysterious or not, gets a chance like that. The little girl and I had a great time watching a movie on the back of the seat in front us. I couldn't hear what was being said because the little girl had the headphones on her head. That's okay, though, she had no way of knowing that I was a special kind of fluffhead and would have been interested in hearing the movie, too.

The big jet thundered across the sky and landed with a little jerk on the runway. It sounded like a million lions all hollering at the same time, and if I fly again, I'm going to ask my caretaker for ear muffs or something. Because I'm so magical, my ears are pretty sensitive to sound. More so than the ordinary cat. Anyway, I could see this little island far off and it didn't look like it was going to be big enough to land that huge plane on. But to my surprise, it landed just fine, and when I got off the plane, via the arms of the little red headed girl, I could see that Taiwan was a big place and had lots of room for airplanes.

I recognized Michico right away and jumped down from the little girls arms and raced across the huge airport. Michico recognized me right away, too, and we wasted no time in finding a seat on the bus, and then the train that took us to Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. We boarded Taipei's Metro to Jiantan Station where Michico lives with Adan in ShilLin. Jiantan Station is very beautiful and very busy.

Michico spoke English to me, but she could have spoken in her native language, I understood her every word, because I'm so mysterious, and all. She took me into her apartment high up and I could look out over the city around us. Wow, what a view that was!

Adan greeted me right away and we got along famously for the whole visit. I was pretty tired when I first arrived, even for a magical fluffhead, and I took a long nap with Adan on his blanket. Teleporting over there would have been a lot faster and less tiring, but I was a little afraid that I'd drop out of cyberspace over that vast, cold ocean, and no one but the sharks, would have known it. So I'm really glad that I took a human conveyance with wings.

The next day, Adan woke everyone up very early, wanting his breakfast, and as he usually did, he went right back to sleep as soon as he ate. Michico had a great many things for her and me to do, so we told Adan, we'd see him in the evening. Adan seemed to be okay with that. He wanted me to hang around and see his pigeon sisters, but he agreed there'd be plenty of time for that later. So Arion (that's Michico's cute boyfriend) came by and took Michico and me to see a Film Festival. There were three films. We saw two of them…Asiemut, about a couple that went on their first cycling expedition, 8000 kilometers across Asia. Discovering the world and themselves at the same time. The next one, Mountain without Barriers, was about two blind men and a man with no legs that tackled a 100 foot rock tower in Italy, wow, now that was something! Michico said it "really rock my heart!" She talks so cute.

The best part came after the Banff Film Festival. We stopped to eat Haagen-Dazs ice cream. I got to talk a lot with Arion. He's a very sweet young man, just perfect for Michico. And Adan sure likes him, too. I can tell. I slurped up all the strawberry ice cream I could while I had the chance. Yes, I do eat some things…

When we got back to the apartment, Adan greeted me, happy to hear about my day with Arion and Michico. He could tell I'd had strawberry ice cream and licked the leftovers off my wiry fur. I told him all about the movies and how much fun and exciting being out in the world was with a whole lot of people around.

Oh, wow, was Adan in for a surprise on Sunday. I'm sure glad I got to go with Adan. Michico brought out the red carrying bag and Adan knew right away where they were going…to the VET! Yikes, I'm sure glad I'm made of fiberfill. Being a fluffhead, and magical, to boot, sure has its advantages. Adan didn't want to go anywhere in that red bag. He ran into the bedroom and hid under the covers. Auntie Pamilla was there and she pushed Adan into the bag, while Michico quickly zipped it shut. He was almost too strong for those two girls.

Michico showed me around the VET's office. I have never been to an animal doctor before and it was filled with a lot of sick pets. The doctor introduced me to this beautiful cat named MOMO. She belonged to the veterinarian.

Adan was taken out of the red bag and sat down on a cold, metal table. I sat right beside him and I could feel his anguish. He didn't like that hard old table, and frankly, neither did I. I felt sorry for all the poor cats, and other pets that have to sit their bare, little butts on that cold, metal. Then Adan had to have his temperature taken…the hard way. He was so embarrassed that I was there to witness that probe being projected into a particular sensitive part of his anatomy. All I could do was tell him to hang on, it'd be over with in a second. His temperature was perfect and next he got a shot—I guess for good health to come. Michico was taking pictures of the whole experience, heaping more embarrassment on poor Adan.

As soon as he got his shot, Auntie Pamilla, who was giving him words of encouragement, also, helped him relax a little and he let Michico take his picture with the doctor. After he got weighed, 4.67kg, Adan quickly jumped back into the red bag and eagerly waited for someone to zip it up so he could go home. He was very happy to be home again, and we just hung out on his bed, resting up from his ordeal.

On Monday, we sat in front of Adan's huge windows and watched his pigeon sisters fly around. He told me that one particular pigeon sister flies to the sixth floor air conditioning unit on the building across from his, everyday.

We also watched the busses go up and down the street way down below us; way, way down below. It's really cool to be so high up. Everything on the street below looked so tiny…and so busy. After we were tired of watching pigeons and busses, we decided that it was good time to start the interview. Adan told me that he thought the interview questions were really too long, so we only worked on the first ten questions.

Speaking of a long interview, I've decided that my travel log is a bit long at this point, for one post, so I hope you will come back tomorrow, and I'll finish telling you the rest of my adventures in Taiwan.

Your friend, Mike, the World Traveler