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Such a Leading Question

Daily writing prompt
How would you describe yourself to someone?
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Who would I be talking to? Someone I just met, my boss, my doctor, or even my best friend? The answer, of course, depends on who I’m talking to and how much I trust them.

Since this blog is public, meaning anyone can read it (although my actual audience isn’t as broad as that statement would imply), I won’t share anything really private. And frankly, some, if not most, of my answers will come as no surprise to those who’ve been following my blog for any length of time. But here goes, in no particular order, some things that are important to me and some qualities I think I have.

We’ll start with some hobbies. I love classic movies, so much so that I have another blog dedicated to them. It’s called Classic for a Reason and while I haven’t posted anything in a couple of years, I’m proud to say I have around 200 posts dedicated to movies from the 30s, 40s, and 50s, with one or two more recent films as well. What’s my favorite movie from that era? It’s hard to pick. All About Eve stands out to me, as do the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. But there are many others I can rave about.

Another hobby? I’m an avid knitter. I’ve posted a few things about that on this blog and I have another blog dedicated to my knitting projects called Designs and Words. I actually have yet to write about my latest projects but should get that done soon. I think the last things I wrote about were the scarves I made my brother’s family last Christmas. I loved knitting those, in part because the patterns were so much fun and in part because I was excited to give them as gifts.

Some of you know I’ve been working on a novel. Well, I finished the first draft and I’m getting geared up to go back and revise. I have massive notes from my writer’s group that I need to implement into my story. One chapter at a time…

But about me on a personal level. I’d like to think I have empathy. It’s something that’s come more naturally to me over the years as I’ve addressed the issues in my life, and it’s a characteristic I’ve tried to develop. It follows the teachings of Christ to have empathy, which makes it that much more important to me. These days I’m struggling to face a foe with feelings of support and understanding. It’s a test of this quality that I find so important.

Of course, I love my cats–and cats in general. If you follow my blog you see that all over, so I won’t expand on it here. If you don’t follow my blog you can take a peek at this post and it will give you an idea about my love of cats.

I’ve tried to think of other characteristics to describe myself and nothing comes to mind. Do I have a good sense of humor? Of course, but I think we all do, just different kinds. That last sentence answers a lot of questions you could ask about me.

But one thing I’ve been told about myself is that I’m hard to get to know. I keep things private. Well, I guess I’ve done that once again in this post. Just the way it is.

Image Credits: Circle of Friends © Thiraphat; film clapperboard © Royal studio; yarn and heart © Zen20; helping a friend © notivestudios. All, stock.adobe.com

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Mimi On Alert

I think she’s looking at the front door. Probably hears the delivery team dropping off my neighbor’s groceries. Note the back leg of the wicker chair. It’s just about the only leg that hasn’t been scratched to shreds, and that’s only because Walter and Mimi can’t get to it.

Anyway, I think she looks pretty sweet in this pic.

Which is sweeter–the kitty or the donut?

Image Credits: Cesar Cat © Belinda O, Paws in Heart © Bigstock Photos, The Kitty or the Donut © pattozher–stock.adobe.com

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Silly Question…

Daily writing prompt
Dogs or cats?
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If you know me at all you don’t need to ask that question. It’s cats, of course, right now my precious Walter and Mimi. It goes back to when I was eleven and we got our first cat, Whittier. From the start, my dad tells me, I was drawn to that cat far more than the multitude of dogs we had.

Which is why it was devastating when, after only a few short weeks, Whittier was run over by a neighbor who didn’t see her when he drove his truck into our driveway. I mourned that sweet, pretty kitten for days. Then we found out the folks we’d gotten her from had two more kittens available, Hugo and Petunia. We ended up taking them both home. Petunia, like Whittier, was a calico, while Hugo was a tabby.

Okay, this isn’t Salem, but she was just as pretty–and long-haired.

As you might guess, Petunia had kittens when she was barely grown herself. But again, tragedy struck, and Hugo was mauled by another neighbor’s dog. (Turns out that dog had attacked other pets before and eventually tried attacking a child. The end of the dog.) We’d come to enjoy having two cats and kept one of the cats from that litter, an all-black cat we named Salem.

When my parents divorced, we had a dilemma: what to do with all the animals. My mom moved out of state while my dad got an apartment. My brother, sister, and I didn’t have the space or resources to care for our pets, so our broken family found new homes for them. Actually, the story behind the cats was a little different. My brother took them with him to college, where they eventually found new homes with other students’ families.

Fast forward to the time I moved to Nashville. I wanted a cat and after living there for a year finally adopted Paco, the cat of my heart. I’ve told the story of how Paco and I saved each other in my blog post Coming Home to Paco, so I won’t go into it again here. I lost him thirteen years ago, around the time Walter and Mimi were born.

However, I didn’t adopt Walter and Mimi until they were about six months old. They’d been abandoned by the folks in the apartment above me in the middle of January. It was cold and icy out, and their cries kept me up all night. Despite the fact that I had no job and was in debt to the Cat Clinic, I brought them in. One of the best decisions of my life. Today, as I write this, one is at my feet and the other is on the windowsill. We just celebrated their birthday.

I think I’ll always have a cat in my life, at least as long as it’s practical. So Cats or Dogs? Cats. Invariably cats.

Image Credits: Banner–cats looking down © emzee-stock.adobe.com; black cat © shchus-stock.adobe.com; group of cats sitting in rows © alexkich–stock.adobe.com

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Happy Birthday, Walter and Mimi!!

It’s a special Caturday! It’s Mimi and Walter’s 13th birthday. They’re getting older, and I know I may not have many more years with them. Hopefully they surprise us all and live a good while longer! But for now, I have their sweet dispositions and generous love to keep me company.

They share a birthday with our feline blogging buddy, Parker, who is 12 today. His mom has a great site called “on pets and prisoners” that’s all about her photography and the stories she tells about the pictures she’s taken. Check it out!

Walter
Mimi
All this for me?

Image Credits: Birthday Banner © Safroni–stock.adobe.com; Cat and presents © Edi–stock.adobe.com

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Mimi Off-Guard

Well, I was trying to get a picture to show how pretty my Mimi is. She looked simply lovely. I think she’s still awfully pretty in this shot, and I rarely catch her off guard. By the way, I looked up “off guard” to see if it’s hyphenated or not and got a bit confused. Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t. So I guess you could say we’re both off guard.

What the heck?

Image Credits: Cesar Cat © Belinda O; Paws in Heart © Bigstock Photos; Cat and Fireworks © knockout–stock.adobe.com