Category Archives: cats

Cat Nap

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Cat Nap

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I chanced upon this scene when I came back to the guest room, where I am sleeping tonight hoping it will be less asthma-provoking than my room has been lately. It looked so cozy, I hated to disturb it.  I have another confession to make.  I bought this cat made of papier mache newsprint in PV.  It was made by an artist who would not reduce the pretty pricey price because he was selling them in galleries so couldn’t undercut them.  I actually bought it for my friend but when I saw it in my new guest room I decided to keep it.  I felt guilty about this while she was here. I had installed it cozily on the bed in the room where she slept.  Imagine my delight when I pointed it out after a few days, surprised she hadn’t mentioned it, and she made a rather disparaging comment about it.  Relief!  I was thinking if she was crazy about it I’d have to give it up to her.  She is a cat lady, I should add, of the first order.  So, I sent her back to her real cats and she let me keep my hypoallergenic cat. I’m sleeping with it tonight.

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Relax: WP Weekly Photo Challenge

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(Click on first photo to enlarge all.)

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/relax/

Midnight Marketplace

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For some reason, WP wants to make the first photos huge and the ones I most want you to see are tiny.  If you click on the first photo  below, it will make the smaller ones larger as well. Also, please note that an explanatory poem follows the photos. Click on the X, upper left of the last photo, to see the poem.

Midnight Marketplace

The server’s hands pour liquid flame,
as though its heat he seeks to tame.
Poured in a river from great height,
a brilliant blue pulses with light
and falls steaming into a cup
for late night diners to drink it up.

Then when the restaurant lights go out,
the cats emerge to run about
through the darkened market aisles
to stalk their prey and sport their wiles—
grooming beneath swaying lights,
arching backs and staging fights.

This world of cats comes out at night—
that time when magic is at its height.
They swarm about and ebb and flow,
everywhere we come and go,
as though by moving through it, they
bring power to a feral day.

The hand that reaches to connect
is not rewarded. It’s suspect.
For as they walk their empty aisles,
over midnight-cooled tiles,
already in our nodding heads
are thoughts of home and welcoming beds.

 

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/photo-challenges/magic/

Some Little Nonsense on the Subject of Copycats

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“Coming and Going.” Although I am in the proximity of this dog and undergoing the same experience, you will note that I maintain my individuality by presenting my best angle to the camera in direct contrast to the dog rather than imitating him. And, as a side note, I was here first.


Some Little Nonsense on the Subject of Copycats

Some folks’ originality comes from what they view,
proving that old adage, “Monkey see and monkey do.”
And there’s another label coined from denizens of zoos.
A “copy cat” is one who mirrors everything he views.

But I find this last one puzzling, and so I’m asking you,
have you ever known a cat to do what you want him to?
Whatever he might see you do as he edges nearer,
is likely what he will ignore, not what he’ll choose to mirror.

It’s true that cattle move in herds and wild geese mimic flight,
and no one knows what sister acts mice practice in the night.
Yet all animals aren’t so easy, in spite of what you think.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.

You cannot tell a cat to do what you want him to.
What you desire from that cat is what he will eschew.
Sit or fetch? Roll over? Those things hold no attraction.
Cats simply are not at their best when you prompt interaction.

So let’s dispel this rumor that cats are good at mimicry.
For though they like to bat at strings and other hanging gimmickry,
they don’t want to imitate any other creature.
For in the world of animals, each cat is the main feature.

The prompt today is copycat.

S’cat!!!! NJW’s Halloween Challenge.

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Everyday Kitty

Casts a fine shadow. Likes to curl up.
Has to put up with that scrawny new pup.
At her most regal when perched up on leather,
she suns on the wall in the sunniest weather.

Not very scary like Halloween cats.
Doesn’t quite go with pumpkins and bats.
But everyday kitty has her own way,
and she’s a great kitty for just every day.

https://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/10/04/jnws-halloween-challenge-cat/

Fierce

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Fierce

When first he turned up on their lawn,
he might have been the Devil’s spawn.
He hissed and sputtered––showed tooth and claw––
fierce growls emitting from his widespread maw.
They feared they might be scratched or bitten,
yet took a chance ––and tamed the kitten!

(I think you’ll want to click on the below photos to enlarge them. You’ve seen some of them before, but worth reviewing imho.)

prompt word today was “Fierce.”

 

Palm Sunday: Sunday Trees Challenge, Aug 28, 2016

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Nothing like a little rest in the shade of a few palm trees!

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This is Annie––once in the majority but now grossly outnumbered by dogs in the house.

For more trees, go HERE.

My Life with Cats

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I was walking by my friend Isidro’s studio/gallery one day when I saw these little paws sticking out from under his door.  Very shortly thereafter, this little boy came by and the rest of the story took place.  So touching.  He knew right where to stick his finger in the kitty’s underside of his paw to bring obvious pleasure to his friend.  Had to add a shot of my kitty Annie as well..waiting on the wall to be fed.  I think more photos will follow, but I have to catch a plane now..See you later.

https://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/06/28/one-word-photo-challenge-cat/

Bearcat—NaPoWriMo 2016, April 20

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When my new husband and I moved from L.A. to the redwoods of northern California, a feral cat appeared from the forest and after a week or so of hide-and-go-seek games, deigned to move in with us.  A month or so later, she had three kittens—like their mother, all grey Burmese with chartreuse eyes, but each with a differently-shaped tail.  The mother’s was curved at the end with a dip to the right. One of the female kittens had a similar dip, but to the left.  The other female had a zigzag tale. The sole male, Bearcat, was the only one with a perfect tale—unbent, long and expressive.  He was also the biggest,  the most talkative and the only one to survive for fifteen years—long enough to move with me to Mexico.

Bearcat
1987-2002
R.I.P.

back-lofter
tail-wafter
gray-bearer
drape-tearer
ball-loser
lap-chooser
bunny-slayer
shoelace-player
sofa-climber
sleep-mimer
shadow-springer
dragonfly-bringer
lizard de-tailer
spider-nailer
basement-searcher
window-ledge percher
tree-dweller
mouse-smeller
dog-chaser
bug-caser
door crack-peeper
sunbeam-sleeper
woods-walker
squirrel-stalker
rail-balancer
prey-glancer
shadow-catcher
love-hatcher
body-spinner
heart-winner

NaPoWriMo prompt: Kennings were riddle-like metaphors use in Norse Sagas. Basically, they are ways of calling something not by its actual name, but by a sort of clever, off-kilter description — for example, the sea would be called the “whale road.” Today, I challenge you to think of a single thing or person (a house, your grandmother, etc), and then write a poem that consists of kenning-like descriptions of that thing or person.

Here is an earlier poem written to this same prompt:
 https://judydykstrabrown.com/2014/04/13/napowrimo-day-13-wish-wagon/

http://www.napowrimo.net/day-twenty-3/——

Color Your World Pink Sherbet

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http://jennifernicholewells.com/2016/03/15/color-your-world-pink-sherbet/