My Pets

Do you have a pet? I do. He is a cat named Arab (ay'-rab). Arab has been with us a long time, through three moves and half a dozen other cats. He would have been the progenitor of a long line of other cats, had we not had the foresight to have him fixed in his infancy. I know this because even though he had no need to defend his territory agains other toms, he still became the "LeRoy Brown" of cats in our neighborhoods. ("Badder than old King Kong, Meaner than a junkyard dog" -- Apologies to Jim Croce)

At least one child I know now has a phobia of cats because of Arab. He would sit on her (outside) bedroom windowsill at night, and when cars drove by, the headlights would cast the shadow of a huge cat on the opposite wall of her bedroom. She still has problems whenever she sees a cat.

He is loving, caring and doting on all of his personal care items. The humans in his life he treats with a certain amount of disdain, depending upon how much they can do for him. He will run to the kitchen if he hears a can being opened, and want at least a taste of what is there, regardless of what it is in the can. Tuna is his favorite, though.

He loves to have his fur combed, and he likes his head and ears scratched. He does not like to have our daughter sit on him. She tries that a lot. He is grumpy when she does that, and usually bites, though only to warn, never to hurt. Arab has learned a great deal about what can hurt a child. He used to hamstring my second son, and bring him down like a lion on a wildebeest. This when my son was five and Arab only about seven months.

Now, Arab likes to sit in the sunbeams as they come through the windows on sunny days. He sleeps most of the day and night. He can hardly jump up on a regular bed, when he used to sleep on the top bunkbed. He probably does not have much longer in this world, and I'll miss him when he is gone.

I think everyone should have a pet like Arab.

Your Comments are welcome

I realized, after someone close to me said something, that I had created this forum with the provision for others to make comments. However, the comment feature was open only to those who had blogs of their own. As I did not think that making members of my family or my friends create their own blogs simply to respond to mine was a great idea, I have changed it to allow others outside of the blog to comment.

So, feel free to do so. If you want to.

I feel the need to explain

The poem I wrote for my beloved wife is taken from an experience we both had while in Hawaii. The incongruity of some of the lines is exactly how we both felt having observed the phenomenon described. Have you ever wanted to gouge out your mind's eye? OUCH!

My Valentine's Day Poem for My Wife

Beauty stands on the rocks,
Waves crash on the shore.
The tides rush the channels
Filling the bowl, flooding out
The crabs and washing clean the stone
In and out, up and down,
With her hair flowing in the wind,
In her gauzy gown she appears to soar
On currents of air like water.
Copper, golden tresses, caressing
Her face, heaven jealous of her splendor.
The setting sun highlights her summer-
Sun-bleached locks. She is Beauty.
She is Love.
She is Alive.
Oh!—My!—Gosh!
Don’t!
Look now! But there is a naked
Fat man under the highway.
What in the world is he doing?
Tending his fire? Who knows?
Beauty turns away;
She doesn’t care—she is with her lover.
And that is all that matters.