Willow Wednesday

Hershey gets a home!

Good news! It looks like Hershey may have found his new home!!

The prospective adopter came by and hung out with Hershey for nearly 1½ hours. Hershey did great, it didn't take long for him to be asking for pets. After lots of play and hanging out, the adopter said he wants Hershey!! The plan is for me to deliver him on Wednesday evening. Yahoo for Hershey, I think he'll do well in his new home.

I feel some angst about giving him up, but it does help having met the adopter and having a strong sense that he will be cared for well. I insisted on follow-up pictures and stories!

I imagine actually leaving him at someone's home and driving away will not be easy.



After the visit, Hershey got a rare treat, he got some supervised time down in the general population. He loves having the house to explore, which he doesn't usually get because he harasses the resident cats.

Hershey loves the tunnel. It's one of his favorite games, running through and pouncing out the side of the tunnel. He would probably just hang out in there all day if given the chance.

With Hershey on the loose, all the other cats were on high alert! They all kept a sharp eye on Hershey's whereabouts.

I tried to get a jump photo, but he was too quick!

The party ended when Hershey pounced on Nahum.

Hershey update

Mr. Hershey is still hanging out with us. So far several people have expressed interest. The first candidate met him last weekend and didn't immediately fall in love. He was a little unsure about Hershey's bratty biting behavior.

When Hershey doesn't want to do something or gets super excited he likes to express that energy using his teeth. He'll grab a hand with his claws, hold it in position and chomp! He uses a bit more force than is comfortable.

Changing this behavior will take consistently giving him an undesired consequence such as the play and attention immediately cease and I leave the room right after he bites. Hopefully in a short period of time he'll learn that using his teeth brings about something undesirable.

Meanwhile, someone else will be coming over later tonight to meet Hershey! I hope they fall in love!

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In unrelated news, I'm taking a photography class! The photographer who did the pet photos with santa at the big holiday pet adoption event is teaching it. It's a basic "how to get off the automatic setting of your DSLR camera" class. I'm excited and hopefully in a few more weeks I'll start taking much better pictures! You'll have to let me know if you start to notice a difference in picture quality.

cuddle work

One might think that all cats are natural snugglers, that proper snuggle technique is innate.

Nahum and Rose sure make it look easy.

Willow and Buddy might need a little more practice.

Be still

My quest for spiritual nourishment brought me to Saint Edward State Park, one of my favorite parks in the area. This park exists now on what used to be a seminary built in 1931. The seminary building and spacious grounds on the shore of Lake Washington remain beautiful. The day was a rare gorgeous, dry January day. A few puffy clouds shared the sky with the endless blue and a bright shiny object that I've heard is the sun.

I took off on a foot path I've never taken. As the path wound through the tall trees I prayed as I know how to pray. A few minutes later, I hear "shut up" in my head. I pause and work at shifting my brain into "being" rather than "doing". As I continued to meander along the path the words "be still" entered my mind. I rhythmically repeated these words while slowing my breathing to match my strolling pace. In time I connected to the beauty that surrounded me, and began to commune with God in his created space. Yes, this is my heart's true desire.

After a bit my mind quieted and I was more able to notice and delight in the many intricacies of the forest, the very things that drew me to God so long ago. As I walked a hymn from, my faith community in Vermont came to mind -  "Peace, be still and know that I am God". We always sang it in rounds, as a contemplative prayer. I walked and sang this prayer in my mind as I noticed the forest beauty around me.

I noticed little patches of snow around the forest floor, slowly melting. I felt my heart was also slowly melting as my connection with God slowly reawakened.

One summer long ago while attending summer camp, we did what was called a "sit and watch" which involved going off by oneself in the forest away from everything, sitting on a log or rock and just noticing. No talking, no thinking, no nothing. Just being with nature and taking it in for about 15 minutes. It was powerful.

Along the trail was a bench that provided the perfect spot for sitting and just being. I took the invitation and sat and listened and watched.

Tears came as so many old memories rose into the consciousness. Faces, voices, experiences - all gone now. My heart was grieving the loss of my faith community in Vermont. I realized it was at this time in my life where my worship template was formed. I didn't know at the time that such a place and experience would never be again. It was a once in a lifetime few years which forever shaped who I am and how I commune with God.

As I resumed my walk the words "I miss you God" bubbled up from my heart. More grieving, this time from a place of missing regular meaningful connection with God. I know I have not been intentional about creating space for that connection and the natural landscape and architecture of this area doesn't naturally foster that relationship.

It feels good to grieve, to feel. The emotional thawing I am desiring is underway, perhaps the Spring thaw has come early!

Maybe it's not too late for a New Year's resolution; to be still.

name those cats!

Oliver's son and daughter need their official names and I'm hoping you can help.

Tomorrow, it will be exactly one year ago that I trapped Oliver's offspring, two sons and a daughter. They were spayed/neutered, vaccinated and then returned to the yard for Oliver to look after. Even though Oliver has become friendly with me, his off spring have kept their distance - until recently that is.

Oliver's unnamed son is darling cute! I just want to pick him up and snuggle him!

Each day he seems to get a little more comfortable being around me. He's now willing to share the porch with me when I put out the fresh breakfast. Of course he stays at the opposite end of the porch, but that's only about five feet (1.5 meters) away.

He likes hanging with his brother, MK (on the right). MK generally keeps a greater distance than his unnamed brother, often preferring to wait just outside the door while I prepare the food. MK however spends a lot of time on the porch playing and lounging with Oliver.

enough with the flashy box, time for foods!

Sometime recently I discovered that this unnamed boy has taken up residence in Oliver's heated guest house! The other day I was taking out the trash in the middle of the day and I happen to glance in the door of the guest house and there was a black cat with golden yellow eyes looking back at me. At first I thought it was Oliver, but when I called out Oliver's name, out shot this guy in a fright, apparently he didn't like being mistaken for his dad!

This sweetie is long overdue for a name!

Oliver has some breakfast while his unnamed son waits 

patiently for the human to leave so he can have some too!

I've not been able to get many good close-up pictures of Oliver's daughter yet. She doesn't come around quite as much as the boys, but she does still visit. She still spooks easy and doesn't allow me to get near her nor even get a good look!

Here are a few pictures of her from last summer using a large telephoto lens through my dirty windows! At least I think it's her!

Sometimes telling her apart from her brother is quite the challenge. Her face, particularly her muzzle appears different to me and I think her little white spot is a tad larger than her unnamed brother's. She is also smaller than both of her siblings. Seeing them all together makes it easier to tell who is who, but it's very rare to see a full family reunion.

MK (left) hanging out with his unnamed sister

I'm having a hard time coming up with the perfect names for these perfect cats. Please share any name suggestions you might have for these stunning beauties. Your help is greatly appreciated!

MK lounging on the Dining Hall roof last Spring

love bomb

Nahum looked different Monday morning. He looked like he somehow got more floofy and lighter in color. I suspect he had Willow bathe him all night so he's all clean and extra-soft!

I tried to get some pictures of his new look, can you tell the difference?

Nahum Monday morning

Nahum a few weeks ago

It's kind of hard to tell, but he's lighter! I promise!

And then Nahum got tired of the photo shoot and...

out of the blue he charged the photographer...

knocking him to the floor...

and then it got ugly...

he demanded head rubs.

The look of a successful love-bomb!!

Someone's looking rather happy with himself while his victim lay near death on the floor

16 pounds of fluffy cat holding you to the floor can be overwhelming

especially when he demands even more loves

When will it end?!

Finally, he relents. And thankfully sweet Willow came along and nursed me back to health, so I lived to tell the tale. Flufferoonies! Watch out for that super fluffy Nahums!