Kitty Yoga

This is Munchkin.  She and her littermates were born under our next door neighbor's porch, and we adopted her.  She was friendly to us from day one.  She has a playful, happy personality and loves to have her belly rubbed.  Yesterday I found out she likes to do yoga too.

I was doing yoga and Munchkin decided to join me.  When I do a bridge pose or a downward dog pose, she walks back and forth under the arch I make, meowing the whole time.  Then she joins me during the stretching part. These are the photos I took while she was stretching:

Namaste.

Clever Cat Behavior

I witnessed an amusing interaction between two of my cats this morning. 

This is Munchkin:

This is Tiger:

Every time I get a bowl of cereal and pour milk on it, they both show up to hover around me, waiting to claim some milk from the bottom of the bowl.  This morning, as usual, they both had their eyes on the milk.  To prevent a fight, I got two small bowls, divided the milk, and set one in front of each of them.  

Tiger tasted his milk and Munchkin tasted her milk.  Then Munchkin walked over to Tiger's bowl and took a taste of his milk.  Then she walked back to her bowl and finished her milk.  It seemed obvious to me that she wanted to make sure his wasn't better than hers before she went back and finished her own. 

Does anyone else think Munchkin was exhibiting extremely clever cat behavior?  

A Springtime Walk

In our neighborhood, we have to walk about a block to get our mail.  Yesterday, in the early evening, my husband and I walked there.  I've been noticing how nice everything looks now that spring has arrived.  So, I took some photos along the way.  

There is our house, the little red brick one with the white doors.  It looks like it's settled in among trees; I like that.  I would never want to live in a house without trees nearby.  

These are some back yards across the street.  The trees are showing their new leaves.  I love this first touch of spring.  It's not too hot yet and everything is bursting with life.  

A tree in a yard on the corner, in bloom.  This happens only once a year... in the spring!

More trees in bloom,  up by the mailboxes.  Everything is dressed up for the season.  

The sun was getting lower and lower in the sky.  When we got back home, I took a photo of the door, just because it looked pretty in the light.  I was in a good mood; it must have been an "up" day. 

I like the way the sun makes shadows on the walls, too.

So, that was my walk to get the mail.  It was a pleasant part of an ordinary day. 

Up Days and Down Days

I have up days and down days.  On up days I wake up feeling energetic and ready to take on the world. I feel motivated and decisive.  I can tackle the most daunting task.  I with every day could be like this.

On down days I feel like my brain is fuzzy and I have a lead weight pulling me down.  I can't decide what to do.  I don't feel like I can accomplish anything, and nothing seems worth doing anyway.

Fortunately, there are more up days than down days, but I wish I could eliminate the down days all together.

On up days I feel like this:

On down days, more like this:

Can anyone relate to this?

A Must Watch For My Generation

Tonight on PBS, Frontline is presenting a show called "The Retirement Gamble".  I will be watching for sure.  It's a scary time to be contemplating retirement.  It is estimated that a couple retiring today will need about $250,000 alone for medical costs in the next 20 years.  Congress is threatening Social Security and Medicare.  Many people don't know where to turn to ensure their future when the income stops coming in.  For years, they told us to invest in stocks; then came the collapse and many thought sticking their savings in the mattress was a better idea.  Now that the stock market has recovered, there are articles in which "experts" are saying it's surely headed for another collapse.

Many people approaching retirement age are confused and worried.  I guess that's why this program is being presented now.  I will be watching.

Please Watch. It's Fun! Count the Stars Who Show Up!

Dancing lawyers...  

A Right Gone Too Far?

I guess you could call me a "news junkie".  Every day I read the New York Times.  I always listen to NPR when I'm in my car.  I pay attention to television news, for what it's worth.  I have come to the conclusion that American voters are having their power taken away by professional lobbyists.  Powerful lobbies spend millions to influence the way our lawmakers work.  Supposedly, those in Congress represent us, their consituents.  But when was the last time you were able to walk into your representative's or Senator's office and tell him how you feel about something?  Well, there are highly paid lobbyists who do it every day.

I recently asked what gave lobbies the right to operate the way they do?  It comes from the Constitution, which gives us the right to "petition" our government.  I believe lobbies have gone from "petitioning" the government to "buying" the government.  Can't limits be set on the amount of money lobbies can spend to influence our government?

I found this image on a site called "Emergent Culture".  I think represents the current situation well.