Little Missy ... I just know she's saying "Don't even think about petting me now. My stomach is full!"

Saturday… it’s one of those days to sleep a little late (if the cats will allow it) and move about the day in tune to you own rhythms.  No rushing out the door at breakneck speed to hit the rush hour traffic and skate into work just a few guilty minutes late.  No today is a day for following your inner voice and doing as you please.  I’m at that stage in my life where it is possible to do such a thing with my sons grown and on their own and though I’d rather have them here with me life moves on and their independence and happiness is what I wanted.  And so it is…

I was determined to sleep late this morning… just a little late but Luvy Duvy would have none of it.  He knows that between 6:00 and 6:30 a.m. it is time for his special canned food and he lets one know when it’s after six.  As I lay in bed this morning at a luxurious 6:55 a.m. Luvy could be heard running around the bed with his broken squeaky voice saying “Get the heck up or I’m on the counter and I’ll help myself.”

Here's Luvy. It took quite a few shots to get one that's not blurred. He is always in motion and quite a character!

I’ve noticed that if I do not heed his pleas he’ll resort to tearing from floor to bed, across the bed and back onto the floor.  Over and over again the process continues with his lame “meow” which is really a hoarse squeak and then tail chasing and then bed jumping.  He is persistent and even though I’d hoped to sleep until 8:00 a.m. I’m up making coffee and dishing up chicken chunks with gravy (no not homemade).  Little Missy is persistent in her own way as she all of a sudden becomes the most affectionate cat in town.  Standing on my pillow with a loud and insistent “MEOW….MEOW….”  I can pacify her with a head scratch and a pet – things that will be off limits later in the day.

I find this crazy little morning routine comforting and enjoyable.  The creatures we let into our lives add so much.  It’s funny because when my sons were young I had no time or patience for pets.  We had a few cats and dogs over the years but I can see that I was so overwhelmed with parenting, working and household chores I had little time to notice the personality each animal possessed and I treated them unkindly in the process.  But now that I’m living alone I welcome the interaction and their very presence – even at six a.m. – and am determined to make amends with the past through my present.

I have looked back with great regret over my past behavior and am determined not to make the same mistakes.  I’m determined to enjoy what was once considered irritating.  I’m determined to spend my day as productively as possible without ignoring the animals in my charge.  Sometimes productively means taking a nap or watching a movie while the cats lay around purring in unison.   Our spirit and sanity sometimes insist on us doing those things that seem frivolous and a waste of time to restore us to tackle another day and the animals we welcome into our lives are there to show us how to sleep the afternoon away without a lick of guilt.

I know I’ve changed because the cats will be on the table soon to check out the birds on the feeder and I won’t be chasing them away with a yell and a gesture.   That is so unlike me.  I suppose we are here to live and learn and grow and change and become more Christ-like expressing love and spreading peace.  I just can’t see Jesus chasing a cat and yell profanity.  Nope I just can’t see it.  I’ll try to remember all these things tomorrow morning when my cat alarms sound at six and later in the day the cats jump on the table to check out the birds.

My new hat.

I got this new hat for Christmas from Jonathan and Calico.  It’s really cute, colorful, very warm and when I’m wearing it I forget sometimes it attracts attention.

I used to wear hats all the time with my long, wool winter coat.  A felted Fedora, cloche or beanie I had them all and depending on my mood I’d toss one on my head and off to work I’d go.  I felt hip and fun in my stylish hats.   Wherever I went I’d always be on the lookout for another cool hat to add to my wardrobe.

One day I stumbled across the coolest hat.  It was a deep red, velvet and had a wide brim folded up with a very large, yellow, faux Gerbera Daisy planted right in front.  I knew immediately I had to have it!  It was me after all  – fun and cool – so there was no way I was going to leave without purchasing it!

Now most of the hats I’d worn to this point were classic and understated, stylish but unobtrusive.  If someone glanced in my direction, the hat would be duly noted as fashionable, conservative and perfectly acceptable in Downtown Albany where I work.  Week after week I’d worn my hats and after a while I began to feel comfortable and natural with them on my head, but this new hat was another thing altogether.  Red and loud with a bright colored flower right in front it said “Look at ME!”  I loved the hat but the message was not one I was comfortable conveying.

Nonetheless, I loved the hat, it was fun and I’d purchased it to wear it.  It was amazing really because this new hat made people smile and inspired conversations with perfect strangers.  The message it seemed to convey was “I am approachable and nice, talk to me.” After a while I began to feel comfortable and natural in my red hat with the big flower in front.  I smiled more and felt lighter.

For weeks I wore my red hat with the yellow flower and with the Downtown debut so successful I thought nothing of it as I tossed it on my head and headed to our local Agway one Saturday afternoon.  It had become a part of me by then and I felt fun and cool with my red hat on my head.

After the short drive to Agway we pulled into a parking spot right in front of the store and as I stepped out of the car some mean-spirited teenager yelled out from his speeding car window, “Nice HAT…. ASSHOLE!”

I was shattered and no longer felt fun and cool.  Where was the nice conversation and sweet smiles?  In a moment things changed… I was no longer cool and fun, I was an asshole.   I was devastated and my hat no longer made me smile and feel light.  Out of pure pride I kept the thing on my head but once home my red hat was tossed into the closet and forgotten.

And then this Christmas I got another hat that just might be a little risky to wear.  But the thing is I’ve gotten older and realize that some people will think I’m an “asshole” and it doesn’t matter because the people that really matter will smile and strike up a conversation because they can clearly see that I am fun and cool.

I wear the new that that Jonathan and Calico gave me with pride these days and already I’ve had a trucker wave and a passerby smile.  I just know they both wanted to pull over for a chat!  I think it’s time to dig through my closest, find my red hat with the big flower and remind the world that I am fun and cool and just might be an asshole.  ☺

"Why is he yawning when they're keeping US awake?

Here they are, my three grandchildren, Grace, Matthew and Michael.  Don’t ask me which is which.  Let me stand corrected I do know that Grace is the one in the middle.  I remember when my twins, Jonathan and Michael, were babies I could always tell who was who, but since I haven’t spent much time with Michael and Matthew yet I can’t be sure.

I’ve got a Long Island trip planned soon.  Mumzie and Pa will be coming along.  It’s been a while since I’ve visited.   Life sometimes gets hectic and during the last month or so I’ve been battling a cold, which I did not want to bring Downstate.   I have been kept updated by telephone, with online photos and, of course, the new IPhone that Jonathan gave me for Christmas has a Facetime feature that really rocks and helps bridge the distance just a little.

I think they need nametag tatoos!

My three grandkids!