“It’s Me – Cal”

“A cat whisperer is generally known as someone who is very familiar with cats’ behaviours and expressions and can relate with them. In a professional setting, they can be known as a cat behaviourist or therapist as can communicate and work well with cats for the purposes of training, or pet-sitting.”  Google.      I need to tweak this definition a little and explain why Callahan is a cat whisperer.  Callahan has not been around cats nor does he have the knowledge to understand their behaviors.  My grandson Cal is four and since they have moved in with us temporarily Cal and Ovi have a very special bond.  Ovi is drawn to Cal and lets him pet her and get near.  She is not that way with the other kids but she allows him to be tender and close.  It is as if she truly feels a connection with him.  He is gentle, talks to her and they spend quiet time with one another – he is a cat whisperer – a natural, inbred trait he is blessed with.

Not The Week To Flee

Checking the forecast for the week churned out a number of thoughts:  wow, this isn’t Alaskan weather at all, I might have to get the sprinklers out, and the slip n slide, and the two pools, I need to water my flowers religiously, think of all the work we can get done outside, we should eat on the deck, Mike’s going to be soooo hot, do you think he will break down and buy an air conditioner for the living room? can I cancel everything I have scheduled and just enjoy the weather and Ovi will love this week – lots of bugs to catch and outside time.  And my final thought – we hit paradise in Alaska and we are flying to Washington DC on Thursday.  Good grief.

My Friend

This is my friend Suzette Scialfa. She is quite a lady and even though I haven’t known her very long she amazes me.   Suzette is not of our faith but we hope one day she will be.  She is learning and seeking.  Suzette has mono and struggles with her health.  She lives alone and has no family.  Suzette fosters cats and loves her little friends – presently she has thirteen cats in her home.  She has very little money and lives life with little and asks for little.  Her upbringing was rough – she has had a hard life.  In the midst of getting to know Suzette and learning of her life – we found out she plays the organ.  She plays beautifully and played in many churches over the years for money.  She knows we don’t pay for our organists but Suzette was asked if she would be the organist for the Settler’s Bay Ward and she said yes.  This was the day Suzette was sustained and set apart as the organist.  I couldn’t have been more proud for my friend. She brings such a spirit into the chapel every Sunday – her playing is bold, rich and deep and Suzette is being to realize the feelings of the Spirit.   

Added To The Beauty

I dropped off some scrap metal at the Big Lake Landfill today.  The pile of scrap metal was crazy big with all sorts of stuff.  There were contorted car parts, old grills that looked they had more than grilled a burger or two and every sort of twisted piece of whatever you could imagine.  It reminded me of so called artists when they twist and turn pieces of metal together and call it “art.”  We aren’t sure what to call it so we just strangely gaze at it in disbelief.  This pile was real.  It was an artistic mess of all sorts of memories and failed projects.  Oh if these pieces could talk.  I saw some old rain gutters that probably fell to their demise during the January windstorm – I bet they had a story.  Well, I added a little to the pile.  I did my part.

My Pit

Handcrafted after one I saw up at Camp Ladasa a few years ago I made this fire pit.  It has been a bit in the making and now sits close by the old one at the bottom of our hill.  I’ll have some more rocks to find to fill the pit to the top of the wire and then she will be ready for the first burn.  There is a fire ban going on right now so that momentous “marshmallow roast” will be postponed for a while.  I love a fire.  I love to have family and friends sitting around a burning fire and get this – “findings confirm that hearth and campfires induce relaxation as part of a multisensory, absorptive, and social experience.”  Amen!

Flower Day

The daughter that loves to get her hands in dirt has passed down that love to her eldest.  Hinckley thrived on our afternoon of flower planting.  He wanted to dig, lay the flowers in the right spot, smoosh ’em down good and water.  Micah taught him the art of planting and to appreciate that feeling as the dirt slipped through his fingers and lined each fingernail with a line of earth.   After a few hours of hard planting a four wheeler ride topped off the afternoon.

A Giant Of A Man

It was a sad day in our home.  John Kay Jorgensen, a dear family friend passed away.   His nephew Ben who is like another son to me wrote a beautiful tribute:  “My Uncle Kay passed away this morning. He was a giant of a man. My mother was his sister and when she was widowed with eight children, he stepped in and was a solid rock for her and our family. He was a man of kindness, compassion, service and Christlike love. He lived great and he died great. He loved our great country and liberty. He was a man acquainted with challenges, setbacks and heartache, yet he stood tall and lived a noble and honorable life. His wit and class is unmatched. I sure love you Uncle Kay.”

Georgie Girl

Georgie tried on her Tennessee suit to see how it fit.  In the words of her mother “Georgie is body positive.  She flaunts her curves and is proud of her body.”  And so she did.  Her slimming striped suit waved and curved around her cute girly figure and Georgie had no problem punching out a hip with attitude and spunk.   Good luck in getting that suit off of Georgie – she’s got some two year old sass.

For Her Viewing Pleasure

Oh Georgie!  How smart and ingenious my little two year old granddaughter is.  She needed some quiet time with her iPad but with a TV close by, the toy room with distractions and siblings playing all over she set up her own little station in the corner of the family room.  Those little wooden stairs were bought from a fellow in Big Lake and they are just my favorite little ladder – Georgie sat on the bottom step, set her iPad up on the bookshelf and voila – she had a system.   She now views with great pleasure.

Rock A Rockit

 Hats off to Judi Van Leeuwen for introducing me to a Rockit apple.   Our crazy world has become so fast-paced that food companies learned how to adjust and adapt to provide food that will fit into our busy lives.  That is why they created Rockit apples.  Instead of grabbing a hand full of chips we are now prompted to grab a Rockit or throw one in our child’s lunch.  It was a New Zealand company that came up with the great idea and grafted Rockit Apple tree stems to other apple trees and from there the rest is history.   As I type I’m munching on a Rockit apple which is sweet and tasty and was grown in Washington State.   My perfect nutritional snack.  Rock on Judi.