Zen Cat Art

Holly Hassett...

Holly, so many things without you will not be the same.  You will be missed beyond words.

I really wanted to use words to express a tribute to you and say how profound your loss is to me but I am inadequate; not up to the task.  Maybe I will be able to paint it or sew it someday or maybe I will just be a better person for having known you.  I'll have to wait and see.

But for now, on this snowy morning, I will just remember the good times. 

A New Member of the Family - Charlie!

This is Charlie.

I've been working for the last few days to rescue Charlie from a kill shelter in NYC.  You may had seen him on my facebook page.  Yesterday, I drove to Staten Island and brought Charlie home just after midnight.

Charlie is a love bug, lap cat and a non-stop purr machine.  He is also blind.  He is 5 years old and has a lot of cat life (and love) left in him.

I was pretty car sick when I got home last night after trying to navigate the Jersey turnpike with a Garmin that wasn't aware of road work, detours and was about 100 yards wrong when it finally said that we had arrived.  But Phil being the excellent Cat Dad that he is slept about half of the short (about 4 hours) night on the bathroom floor to make sure Charlie settled in OK.

There will be more about Charlie soon.  What a brave little fellow to come through so much and still purr.  He reminds me a bit of Tommy Cat, the Zen Master.  When I saw Charlie's picture, Tommy whispered to me "save him."  And we have.  

And special thanks to Louise Harmon who saw his picture and said "we can do this" and then spent the better part of several days supporting the process.  You're the best!

~When you save a rescue animal you save two.  The animal and yourself.  

Gratitude...

This video was on the Daily Art Muse. It's wonderful.  It has the gentle voice of Brother David Steindl-Rast, Gary Malkin’s soft, sweet musical composition and of course, Louie Schwartzberg’s utterly beautiful film. Watch it all the way through. Then watch it again.

 

Basho's friend...

We surprised each other this morning.  I thought he was a rock when I picked him up, perfectly camouflaged against my deck.  We both jumped and he hopped into one of my old pansy pots and hid under a stem.

 
Into the old pond
A frog suddenly plunges.
The sound of water.
~Basho

Value...

Every year I pick a word, a word to think about, a lens to look through, something that makes me dig a little deeper into what it is that has meaning for me.  That information comes in bits and pieces, like grace notes, and enhances being here for me.

 

This year my word is “value.”  Merriam says that it is a Middle English word associated with worth, and the past participle of Latin valere - to be of worth, to be strong. It has to do with the relative worth or importance of something, the relative duration of a musical note or the relative lightness or darkness of a color.

"If of thy mortalgoods thou are bereft,

and from thy slender store

Two loaves alone to thee are left,

Sell one, and with the dole

By Hyacinth's to fee the Soul."

~Sadi  

 

So this year with be filtered by what what is of value, what relationship I have to that and how will that value show up in my life and art; intrinsically, metaphorically, and literally.  I don't have all the words for it yet, but that is what this year will be about finding value and making it my own. 

 

What is your word this year?

 

 

Breakfast in my backyard...

  
When I sat down with my cup of tea this morning I noticed this lovely chap sitting on my porch rail looking down at something.  

Then these lovely does came into view, right off my porch deck.  It's nice having company for breakfast. 

They paw the snow and push their noses under it to find the acorns from our cathedral of oaks.

"Hey, who are you looking at Squirrel?"

Tomorrow, the quilts I just finished...   
  
 

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

 
This morning's winter wonderland.  

It was lovely last night watching it fall while we were snug inside by the fire.  It was coming down in big flakes, the kind you see cut out of white paper and pasted on the windows in elementary school.  The gypsy soup was - my favorite - and popcorn during the movie.  Splendid.

And then as a real treat, just before we turned in the night, we looked out the back door and saw three deer (does) in the yard pushing the snow aside with their noses to get the acorns that cover our yard. 

This morning I went out early to take some pictures - the sun was just beginning to touch the branches laden with snow and the sparkle was magic. 

Buddha, as usual, took it all in stride. 

My parents would have been married 58 years today. 

My father was just as happy as any kid when it snowed even though his drive home from his construction job in NY City might take many times longer than the usual hour and he would have to shovel the snow when he arrived.

 
And what a shovel Pop had! Not one of those light-weight bright orange ones that are stacked by the dozens in your local supermarket or in super stores screaming their sameness. It was a serious shovel, purchased with consideration for its quality and durability.

 

The metal scoop looked like the plow on a truck and lifting the shovel without a load of snow would be a strain for me but Pop lifted it like a feather. It cut a path from our Levittown door, down the driveway and into the street. Snow piled up on either side as Pop swung the shovel in the air and snow showered down for the second time.

 

While Pop worked, I played. I made snowmen with my mother and had snowball fights with the neighborhood kids. We built igloos and forts and snow angels. We stayed out in it until our snowsuits were soaked and our lips were blue. Conditions easily remedied by dry clothes and hot chocolate.

We were kids and it was the best time in life.

So... I didn't build a snowman today or made a snow angel. But I thought about my Dad and enjoyed the snow - even the removal part.

 

And who knows, there's always tomorrow...

  

100th post & Nanowrimo

One hundred posts and 50,000 words!  How appropiate they come together!
 
It's National Novel Writers Month again (every November) and this is my 5th year participating. The idea is to write 50,000 words between 12:01 on November 1st and Midnight on November 30th.  I won in 2006 when I made it to the 50,000 words.  I didn't do as well in other years but none of the words were wasted.  Someday they will find life in other stories or flurish when a new idea comes along but they were all fun to write!  And most important, I met some great people from all over the world. 

We had our kick-off meeting at Cozi's in West Hartford - about an hour from me - but I wouldn't miss it.  Here is our fearless leader in "steampunk." 
   
And our group - CT North - some dressed for Halloween - all ready to start writing after midnight!
 
Good luck everyone! See you at the write-ins! 

Frist Snow...

I love the first snow of the season!  Last Thursday & Friday, I was in snowflake heaven!
 
I know it will get deep and hard to shovel and it will get dirty and piled up by the road side.  It will be difficult to drive in and will be hard to remember what the grass looks like but that's for January or February, maybe even March.  But not today.

Today it is fluffy and white and sparkly and reminds me of fairy dust.  Today it is a magical world and we have gone for a walk in it. 
 
Our "first snow" ritual - a walk in the nature preserve. 
 

 

Kitty Grace Note and it's a beauty!

I was having a bit of a frump today!  Twenty-two days of rain just put me over the top - sort of cabin fever covered with mold.  I'm generally pretty happy but my endorphins were all hiding under under umbrellas and just as I was about to jump into a vat of poor soggy me when I saw an envelop in the mail.  An arty envelope, with a picture on the front, and a card inside with a lovely note...and this absolutely adorable kitty bead and a hand stamped charm. 
 
How cool is this?!  Thanks, Kim!  You are the best.  This "grace note" absolutely brightened up my day.