Zen Cat Art

Winter - Part Two

The road I live on is about three miles long.  My house is nestled in a cathedral of oak trees about half way up.  It's a beautiful road.  When I drive down toward town early in the morning there a few places that catch the sun light and take my breath away.  When I saw this I had to turn the car around and take the photograph.  The photos don't do it justice. 

It was stunning.  I stood there until I realized my feet were cold and I was going to be late. 

When I came back from my appointment I took a picture of the stream on the other side of the road.

Spring and fall may be famous for their colors but sunlight glinting on the snow.  Ice crystals on the windows. 

Lovely, just lovely!  

Winter

Winter has settled in...

The deer come at dusk and paw at the ground.  They push aside the snow with their noses and look for acorns hidden beneath.  Thousands fall from the trees that surround our house.  We used to rake them up in the fall but we've left them in the past couple of years and will rake the remains up in the spring when everyone has been feed.

The deer are shy and I've only been able to take picture through window.  If it ever gets warmer I'll sit outside on the porch and wait for them. 

Of course, some in our house are less worried about the snow...

 

Whiskers On Kittens

In the some of “my favorite things” category… whiskers on kittens are right up near the top.  So I was very pleased when my friend Noriko sent me a drawing she did of her daughter’s cats, Elsa and Leo. 

I met Noriko many years ago (maybe 30) when I was looking for ingredients for Japanese cooking and found her store in Huntington on Long Island.  To my delight, I found tempura batter mix, seaweed for making hand rolls and Japanese rice plus things that were identified only with mysterious characters that added to their mystery.  In no time, the store became a restaurant.  I had moved to Huntington and it quickly became my favorite place to eat.  Still is.  We became friends and became part of each other's lives.  It’s easy to “practice happiness” with Noriko, her smile is quick, her laugh is rich and she always has a good word for people.

I will be making a photo album with some of Noriko’s delightful paintings in it – I’ll keep you posted. 

I was also drawing kittens this week, well sort of drawing… I belong to an art group online (ZNE) and some of who are interested in photography are working with a book by Karen Michel -“Altered Imagery.”  Here’s a photograph of Katie, my calico, which I sanded and scratched and painted with dyes.

And speaking of books—here’s another one of my favorite things—a book by my friend Karen Eckmeier.  She is a nationally known quilter. I take that back, since she is going on a teaching tour of New Zealand in February, we’ll have to make that internationally known.  Here’s a picture of the cover.  You can get it on Amazon (link is on the right hand side) and find out more about Karen on her website www.quilted-lizard.com.

And just for the fun of it… here is a necklace that I made to celebrate my favorite 4 pm cup of tea.

 

Life is good.  As my dad would say... have fun! 

a few of my favorite things...

I love coffee. I love tea.  I love a java jive and it loves me…  That is the first line from one of my mother’s favorite songs by Bill Kenney and the Ink Spots.  Last week, while I was pretending to be Julie Andrews twirling and singing “these are a few of my favorite things,” I realized that there are a few things that always make me smile.  And a hot cup of tea at around 4 o’clock in the afternoon is one of them.  It reminds me of my English Auntie Dobbin who taught me to heat the tea pot with hot water before adding loose tea, cookies are selected during the four minute steeping process and if you really want to do it right—china cups and cloth napkins are a must.  Very civilized but also definitely an anti-stress process that sooths and refreshes.  Thank you Aunt Dobbin.

My life as been filled with hot beverages.  As a child I was awakened before dawn on Saturday mornings by the sound of hot coffee being poured into a thermos—a sure sign my father and I were going fishing.  Perking my first pot of coffee (we used to make it that way in the “old days”) heralded adulthood in a way being able to legally drink or vote never did. 

I responded to an ad in match.com asking me if I would drive a hundred miles for a good cup of coffee.  I was drinking a latte that I had just driven 6 miles for so I thought it was a bit short but hey… I wound up driving 125 miles to meet my sweet husband Phil and the rest, as they say, is history. 

I’ve owned stock in Starbucks, included a picture of their logo in my photo quilts, and bought a cappuccino machine—a real one that froths the milk to a perfect 140 degrees.  It makes the most impressive noises but the cats are not impressed.  I have closed million dollar lighting deals over espresso with Sambuca complete with three floating coffee beans on top—it’s called Samuca con mosca (literally, "Sambuca with flies").   Yuck!  The Italian restaurateur who served it said they represent love, life and laughter.   Much better! 

Coffee and tea are some of my favorite things… “and when I’m feeling sad, I simply remember my favorite things, and then I don’t feel so bad.”  Thanks, Julie, you were right! 

***You can tell me what your favorite things are by leaving a comment, no need to sign up for anything, leave it as anonymous and include your name. 

Little Things

I have been trying to practice happiness.  It’s a mixed bag.  Sometimes it’s so easy and sometimes I think I’m crazy for even trying.  But here a few little things that have made me smile.

The sun breaking through the trees in my back yard. 

A rusty bell from the wind chime by my back door.

A seed pod in the nature preserve. 

Little things, little joys.  Being in the now and noticing.  Practicing happiness.  A joyful mind...

Practicing Happiness

I was listening to a lecture by Pema Chödrön from her CD titled Don’t Bite the Hook where she talks about the Tibetan Buddhist teachings which ask us to “always maintain a joyful mind.”  Right.   Chödrön suggests that we practice happiness.

I so often forget that what my mind thinks is up to me.  If I focus on the annoying things about the day – and some days it’s hard not to – I can whip those little annoyances into righteous wrath until I feel strangled by them.  It’s amazing how badly I can feel treated when I dwell on it.  Even the sunshine seems to be coming in the wrong window.

Good grief, what was I thinking?  If I stop a moment, stop the incessant chatter of my mind, stand in the present moment another side starts to surface.  There are so many really good things in my life.  So many things little things that make me happy.  If I can focus on them instead of brushing them aside I can “maintain a joyful mind.”

Yesterday, I walked in the nature preserve near our house at lunch time.  It was the closest thing to spring we can get in January.  The air was fresh and the sun was warm and everywhere there were little sights to delight the eye: a paw print in the snow, a red berry against dried leaves, a bird’s nest almost hidden in the thicket with its top hat of snow.  What could be better than that?  It’s easy to practice happiness there.

This batch of Clementine’s are exceptionally sweet, if I am practicing happiness when  I eat one--the fresh citrus scent curls around my nose the minute I start to peel it.  I can appreciate the perfect little sections, as I bite down I can feel the sweet juice dancing on my tongue.  It’s perfect but if I am not present in the moment I will miss it. 

Hot tea, dark chocolate, a friend’s voice on the phone, cats napping in sunny windows, “brown paper packages tied up with string…” we can all make our own list.  These little joys surround us all the time.  I just need to practice being aware of them. 

 

So my resolution for 2008 – to practice happiness.  What could be better?! 

A Whole New Year!

It's the beginning of a new year and we haven't yet left our foot prints on it.  I'm not fond of New Year's resolutions because they are too fixed, too pass-fail, too serious, too often unattainable.  But I am a big fan of potential and the idea of building something new!  And here I am with a whole year of potential stretching out in front of me.  The anticipation is sweet!