Carbo-meme

 Hahahaha sigh. 

All the Way Across the Sky

It had rained just a tiny bit (though the thunder had been quite more significant), and I stepped out the front door to go fetch lettuce for the bunnies. And lo and behold, there it was, all the way across the sky. 

Lovely.

Are there Birthday Candles in Gan Eden?

 Herself speaks.

My lovely Daddy would have turned ninety-two today.  

Happy birthday, Daddy. 

I miss you. I don't want to dwell on sad things on your birthday, but I have to say that nothing is the same without you here any more. I miss your calm reliability, your dignified presence, your quiet kindness, your good humor.  I hope that wherever you are now, you are enjoying peace, beautiful music, and love all around you, and that the care that you showed people during your lifetime is returned one hundred-fold to you. 

You were an exemplary human being. If there were more people like you in the world, it would be an infinitely better place. 

Twenty-Five

 Herself speaks.

It has been twenty-five years since the planes crashed into the twin towers.

I remember where I was when I heard:  I had just parked down the block from the grade school, and was walking Offspring the First and Offspring the Second to class (Offspring the Third being too young to go to school yet), when another mother just ahead of me on the sidewalk said something about it. It didn't seem possible or too serious, yet.

Oh, how little we knew then. 

The unimaginable unfolded over the course of the morning, and by the time I fetched Offspring the First and Offspring the Second at the end of the school day, the world was never the same. 

-----

It is still horrifying to see photographs from September 11. The World Trade Center and New York City, the Pentagon, the Flight 93 field. It will never not be shocking. I always think of the statement by Obi-wan Kenobi in Star Wars, when he says: "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened." The ghosts from that day, in those places, will forever remain. 

We remember the lost, and we honor them. 

Godspeed.

For The Birds

 The birds have been quite adept at tidying up any dropped kitty food on the patio. And then some. 

Inside Friends

 While we are viewing kitty pictures, let us enjoy some pictures of Offspring the Third's kitties, who are paying us a visit. 

One inside kitty supervises outside tuxedo kitty. 

Comfy kitty. 

Comfy kitty, again. 

Two kitties momentarily sharing a nest. 

Pensive kitty. 

Kitty on a teeny couch.

Comfy couch.

Stretch

Allow me to give you a more detailed introduction to the tuxedo cat who started the kitty-food-buffet on the back patio. 

She (I am assuming) did us the kindness of relaxing very near the camera the other day, so that we could get a good view of her face. When she is feeling serene, she stretches -- including a stretch of all of the toe beans -- before departing from the yard. 

I have an inordinate fondness for her. I cannot try to domesticate her, because we have Offspring the Third's kitties inside and cannot add a further kitty to the mix, but I will do my best to ensure that she has a safe place to stay in the yard, and food and water readily available.

Good kitty.