Music and Cats

The cat saw me before I saw him. I had paused during an afternoon walk — on an unusually balmy, sunny second day of Spring — to photograph his garden, and it seems he was curious. (Obviously, no one in his house points a camera at him regularly!) By the time I spotted him, he was halfway down the front path to the sidewalk. When we made eye contact, he arched his back, and turned gracefully in a tight circle. I spoke to him, and he stretched languidly, then approached, his fluffy flag of a tail curving flirtatiously. As I rubbed his ears, I told him that he was a very handsome cat. He purred his concurrence. I asked what had happened to his right eye, but he wasn’t telling. Perhaps he was a fighter in his younger years.

Paul was waiting for me, so I kept the conversation short. (Paul knows from long experience that walks with me happen in fits and starts, as I stop to chat up the neighborhood cats or take photos, but his patience does have its limits.)

As we walked along his side yard, the cat shadowed us. At the edge of his garden, he stopped and sat. When I said goodbye, he blinked and yawned. I took his photo again, and we continued our stroll.

You can visit other cats in their homes and gardens via the Friday Ark.

Like most cats, Lyra loves sunshine. However, she rarely lounges entirely in the pools of light on furniture or floor. Instead, she’ll lie part in sun and part in shade. On this particular day, only her little gray nose and silvery paws were in the light.

My heart goes out to Elisson and his family, following the loss of another lovely, loving and well-loved gray (tortie) girl, Matata.

For more cats of all colors, visit the Friday Ark.

If you were awarded the architectural commission for W’s presidential library, what would you design?

That’s the question that the Chronicle of Higher Education asked its readers, inviting them to send in design ideas on the backs of envelopes. This week, it published several of the approximately 120 entries submitted. As discussed in a short accompanying video, the submittals were “good, bad, serious, humorous, abstract, or really angry.”

My favorite? This mix of humor and anger, which extends beyond the proscribed confines of a single envelope back. As justification for this, its designer describes a discussion with the president, in which he “told me that he didn’t get to the White House by ‘following the rules’, so neither should I. Consider it a ’signing statement’.”

Do you have a favorite? Or an even better idea?

On the way to the Ballard farmers’ market yesterday, I ran into a bit of a delay.

(I love Seattle’s drawbridges. They make me slow down.)

All this hoopla for a little tugboat?

(It was the only ship in sight. Isn’t it cute?)

While we waited for the bridge, we watched each other.

(Is that a dog or a toy? Our little girl cat is twice that size.)

At the market, the sun shone on produce and people.

(Radishes are so pretty! I wish I liked eating them as much as I like photographing them.)

Old-time musicians filled the air with rhythm and song.

(The only instruments that make me happier than banjos are bagpipes.)

Those farmers sure know how to tip the musicians!

(What would you do if someone tipped you with a beautiful savoy cabbage? If your first thought is cooking, and you have a recipe in mind, go tell Shauna about it. Really, she’s asking. Of course, you could tell me, too.)

Earlier this week, my parents called to check up on us. They were concerned, they said, because there had been no cat photo posted here at Music and Cats last Friday, or even Saturday (aka Not-Quite-Friday). Were we OK? I reassured them that we were fine, that I just hadn’t felt like posting.

It’s a funny thing when one’s parents use one’s blog posts to verify that one is still alive and healthy. And it’s not only my parents; I’ve picked up the phone more than once to hear my father-in-law say, “Is Paul OK? He hasn’t written anything in a couple of days…”

So, I’m here to say: Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad! Everyone here is feeling fine. And here’s Miss Lyra, looking particularly lovely in a little patch of sunshine.

Check up on animals (and their people) aboard the Friday Ark, and on Weekend Cat Blogging at Mind of Mog.