The Cuckoo's Nest: Our Newest Resident

This isn't an actual picture of the cat who has adopted us, but it's close enough to her that I decided to include it to give you some idea of our little charmer.

She showed up about a week ago, skinny and noisy but very friendly.  I'm not sure if she has a home in the neighborhood or was just dumped in the area, but it was clear she hadn't eaten in a while, so the residents of the Cuckoo's Nest have adopted her and we've begun feeding and petting her.  She's been a regular part of our lives since then.

She doesn't come inside, but hangs out near the front door of the facility, often sleeping on one of the chairs placed in the area for those of us who smoke (one of the two designated areas).  She greets me every morning at 6 AM when I come out for my first cigarette and cup of hot tea and waits expectantly for her breakfast.  I put down a bowl of dry food, which she samples, and then she hops on my lap for a few pets while she waits for the squirrels to make their appearance.

She's great at stalking the squirrels and birds, but not so great at actually catching them (thankfully).  They let her get just so close, and then scamper up the tree or fly off.  Kitty hasn't yet learned the art of tree climbing, but she soon will, I guess.

For those of us who miss our pets (pretty much all of us), she is a god-send.  I know I've fallen under her spell, and judging by the little bowls of various kinds of food left in "her" spot, she's worked her magic on all of us.

She reminds me of that old hymn:

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

 

 

And she brings a lot of cheer to us old farts.

Sunday Funnies

Cartoon by Matt Wuerker and published 9/4/14 at Daily Kos.  Click on image to enlarge.

Been Down So Long ...

(Cartoon by Yaakov Kirschen and published 9/2/14 on his blog.  Click on image to enlarge.)
I've decided to ease up on my compulsive devouring of the news.  All it does is depress me.  Here we have this perfectly fine planet, one we ought to be taking better care of and one we should be sharing with other humans and all the other creatures on board, yet the only thing humanity appears to be interested in doing is blowing things up or blowing them away.

The Middle East.
Sub-Saharan Africa.
Germany.
Iraq.
Missouri (for cryin' out loud!)

One of the things I've learned over the past year or so is that life is precious -- all life.  Apparently I'm in the minority.

I think I'll curl up with my sleeping assistants and pull the covers over our heads.

ENOUGH, ALREADY!!!!