After The Kids Left...

After the kids and other staff went out trick-or-treating Wednesday night, I was left alone at work. I got to playing with some bits and pieces of costumes that were left lying around, including a blonde wig and feather boas. And ya know, perhaps there is some truth to that old saying about blondes having more fun, because I was certainly enjoying myself!

Sun Bird

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Permutations --> Chaos or Order?

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MaLu's Departure

At night,
my friend MaLu,
like all of us,
spins apart
her parts
and ventures forth
to other dimensions.

Using new technology,
I was able to photograph
MaLu in the process of
spinning apart
last night.

Breath in, and SEE:

What's This Bug??

The other night this wee beastie was crawling around on me and on the desk in front of me. I got some photos of it making its way across a piece of mail, but they're not good ones... I couldn't get it in focus, and it tended to disappear in the flash, as if it were transluscent. But you can see it's shape, and pretty colors. I don't recall ever having seen one of these before. Have you? Can you tell me what it is?

Urrrrggghhhh!!

I wanted to post a note here, just to let you all know that I am up to my eyeballs in work at work (I hate it when that happens) and so I may not have time to post for a couple of days... I'll be crunching code and extracting data and writing up wretched reports for big governmental agencies (OK, just one big governmental agency, but it feels like more than one).

Please don't worry- the cats ARE still getting well fed during this period. You all please talk amongst yourselves while I am gone. I'll leave you with this important parting thought about gravity:

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Favorite Cat Bed

I got a new cat bed a couple of weeks ago. It has become VERY popular, but sometimes there's not really room for everyone that wants to be in it at the same time! There are cat beds all over the place around here, but this one is the favorite. Maybe that's because it's the closest one to me, as I sit here at my computer? Here are some photos from earlier tonight, to show you what's going on with this bed:

First Snow!

Well, there had already been snow on the mountain peaks, but today was the first snow of the season here in my yard! Hmmm, where did I put my snow shovel? Brrrrrrrrr...

"Use Your Gills"

I just had a dream of being far underwater, in a deep darkness, swimming upward, trying to reach the light, to reach the surface, to reach the air. Trying to reach the air, so I could breathe again, so I could survive. But it was too far away, I could not get to the surface in time. And as I realized that, I heard a voice, a strong voice, which came from all around me and from within me as well. It said only these three words: "USE YOUR GILLS".

A great time of change is upon us, a quantum leap in consciousness. Because we, and the world around us, are evolving, and expanding into new, higher vibrations. Things may begin to make less sense when looked at from the old logical, linear ways that we've been used to. There will be changes that may be unsettling to us, or even feel threatening. The old ways of interacting with our lives may no longer give us the results that they did before.

For those who are ill at ease with change, this may be an uncomfortable time. But like explorers going into new territory, we have to expect the unknown. We will need to make peace with not knowing, not understanding, not having all the answers... to sit with that and allow it to be OK. The more we are able to trust ourselves, trust the experiences we are creating, trust this process of change, the easier it will be for us. For no matter how it may appear, in truth we are SAFE- we always have been and we always will be.

We are now as I was in my dream... swimming upward, on the brink of learning a new way to be here as humans on planet Earth. Now, and in the near future, we'll begin opening up to many new potentials that are available to us, and reconnecting with aspects of ourselves that have been long forgotten, or pushed away and perceived as 'other'. Now we begin to recognize ourselves again as we drop the false masks. We are redefining our existence. We are redefining who we are, and how we are. Indeed it is time, as I was told in my dream, for each of us to begin to use our gills.

So if you wake up one day and look in the mirror, and see something strange looking back at you... Don't worry. Just give it a smile, and you'll see it will smile right back at you.

New potentials available to us, new answers to old questions, new versions of ourselves - all this is here for us, but is it really new? Or is it just a peeling away of the layers of ancient darkness and illusion, which kept us believing we were far less than we really are? Either way, welcome to the new YOU, and remember to use your gills.

No Place Like Home

There's no place
like Home.

Wild Onions

I picked these lovely wild onions, or scallions, today. They were growing out in a corner of the yard. I'm looking forward to eating them! And aren't they pretty?

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Guest Greta

Meet Greta, a beautiful and charming cat
who stayed with me last week:

Leaves Fell, It's Fall

When I got up today, late in the afternoon, I saw that leaves had fallen while I slept, and covered the front lawn. It was beautiful, but also surprising because it had happened so suddenly. There were only a few fallen leaves the day before. There must have been some big winds as I was sleeping and dreaming strange dreams. I meant to take a photo, but forgot, and then soon it was already dark. So I took this photo a little while ago, using the flash.

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More White Hairs

In my 50s now, more & more white hairs appearing...
Good thing I like them. Though I'd like 'em better
if they were rainbow colors!


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Honey Loquat... YUM

I've been enjoying honey loquat syrup ever since I discovered it several years ago. It's wonderful for soothing the throat. And now I found these honey loquat candies which I also enjoy. YUM.


Loquat is the yellow, pear-shaped edible fruit of a tree, Eriobotrya Japonica, native to Asia, now also commonly grown in California.

Loquat fruit photo above taken from
http://www.loquatworld.com/
where you can order loquat fruit
and have it shipped right to you.
I think I'll get some next spring!

Blood Stains...

Some of you may find this rather gross, but... it is what it is. It began with a bloody nose... the blood always fascinates me, so bright, so richly saturated with red red red... Anyway, after staunching the blood flow, I was left with stained paper tissues, and one of them evolved into these:

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Fantastic Cat Morph Video

Wow! This is such a fabulous cat video! It was brought to my attention by my friend Jana, and now here it is for YOUR viewing pleasure! Thanks Jana!

Goosey Girl

Here is Lucy, the dog, most often called Goose, or Goosey. This was taken yesterday, while she sat outside holding one of her 'babies' in her mouth. She adores stuffed toys, and has a wide selection of them. Some people are surprised to hear I have a dog, because they only hear me talking about the cats. Lucy's official job description is 'Cat Guardian', and she is pretty good at it. If Lucy gives a serious bark alarm, the cats will take notice, sometimes even growling and running off to hide. Goosey is a good girl.

Click on the image to see a bigger view of Goosey.

Restoring Grandpa Herman...

I wanted to put the great new photographic portrait I got of my grandfather Herman Aaron here on my blog. But the photo, probably over a hundred years old, was a bit deteriorated and stained, so it needed retouching to look its best. Below is the cleaned up image. This is only the second photo I have ever seen of him, so it means a lot to me. While he died long before I was born, I feel a real connection to this man. The photo is undated, but I'm guessing it was taken near the turn of the last century, when he would have been 38 years old.

click on image to view larger

And below is a list of passengers, showing Grandpa Herman, and Grandma Julia, along with my 14 year old father Gloster and his older sister Jean, on a return trip from Europe, sailing on the SS Olympic, in 1927. They are at the top of the list. Click on the image to see it large enough to read their names.

Doodle Drawings #3

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Jaya's Tombstone

I thought this would make a lovely tombstone for me, at some future date. (Or perhaps it is my tombstone from some previous incarnation.) There will be a group of cats who around it, with attendants who come to feed them. The cats will also have a small mausoleum nearby, with soft, fuzzy kitty beds for them to sleep in.



And, for the pleasure of my visitors, in the back of the tombstone there will be a nifty dispenser of delicious chocolate truffles, hand made by my pal MaLu. Yes... I don't want gloomy guests! I want them standing around my grave exclaiming with sensual delight: "Mmmmm, Ooooo, Yum yum yum!"

Cats Eating Corn

Well, I never knew cats had a corn fetish... although, I wonder if they really like the corn, or are just going for the butter that's on it. I don't know. But I do know that after watching these videos I want some corn on the cob. YUM. Please excuse me, I need to pop over to the grocery store now! But here are some videos for you to watch while I'm gone:

The Light Is

Poem of Dreams

Dreamed of anger,
raging hot,
and the shame
that it brought forth...

Dreamed of flowers,
pure and white,
of lying among them,
breathing...

Dreamed of a golden shoe,
that fell from a delicate foot,
and aroused the blush of desire...

Dreamed of you,
dreamed of you,
dreamed of you.

Jaya Joins PayPerPost

Recently I signed up to be a member of PayPerPost, and they accepted my blog. This is very cool. For those of you not familiar with PayPerPost, let me explain. They offer a variety of subjects for bloggers to post about. Then the blogger chooses ones that interest them and writes about them on their blog. If they write good posts, following the guidelines set by PayPerPost, then they get PAID for them. PAID!! Yahoooo!

I first learned about PayPerPost by reading posts like this on other people's blogs, and I also saw it being talked about on some of the blogging discussion boards. So I checked it out, and saw it was a good thing! If you're a blogger, and you'd like to earn some money on your blog, you can sign up too.

What you are now reading is my very first post for PayPerPost. Yes, they're going to pay me to spread the word about PayPerPost, and let you know that I'm now a member. For this little post, PPP is going to pay me $20. Easy money! Getting paid for what I love doing! That's great. Thanks, Pay Per Post.


You see, even Shmitty and Punkin are impressed with the PayPerPost opportunity. Could it be because they know that the money I earn may be spent on catnip toys, or tasty cat food? Maybe so. And of course, there will be more money in the future, as there are already other opportunities waiting for me at PayPerPost. No doubt my cats have plans for how that future income will be spent... winter is approaching, it might be time for some new soft, fuzzy, warm cat beds.

New Mexico Walk...

I drove up into the Sangre de Cristo
(Blood of Christ) Mountains yesterday.

I stopped, and walked into the woods
on the path above. I came across the
ruins of an old foundation, below...

This mini cave had formed among the
foundation rocks. Perhaps it was home
to the little ground squirrel I saw earlier?

Then I emerged from the woods,
out into the large sloping field, and
found this flat rock to sit upon.

I sat, I breathed, I gazed upon the land.

There were few summer flowers left,
but I did find this brave yellow blossom.

And I found this old thistle still standing tall.

And the sun was shining bright above me...

...shining bright, and powerful.

This image peeked out from an aspen tree.
(Perhaps I could sell it on E-Bay as a sacred icon?)

I paused to look up,
before I left the forest.

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