sisu

Being Little Kitteh

Purripatetics

Reading the catnip leaves

"You've got to pay attention to a cat's body language. That's how they communicate with you" says "Cat Listener" Jackson Galaxy of "My Cat from Hell" on Animal Planet. We discovered the man and the show on Fox & Friends this morning and became a fan watching a full episode earlier this evening. Before we'd come to know Little Kitteh (above), the cat who came to dinner last fall, we would have scoffed at the idea that Sissy, Mother of All Cats, could not tame any savage breast that came her way. We'd never had a "problem cat" in our life till LK. The Chelsea Grays, born in our attic, had been under our tutelage from Day One, but Little Kitteh arrived with unchecked baggage.

Little Kitteh chirped through the screened kitchen window this afta when the love of Tiny's life, Earl Gray, came for a "sip" of the catnip plant out on the terrace table. Will LK be the new light of his life to comfort him in his loss? He does seem to miss our angel baby's scent when he comes to call.

The catbird seat

A gray catbird outside the kitchen window catches Little Cat's eye in the early morning light. Click on above image for larger-than-life image of the cat who came to stay. We've tried Tillie (Little Miss Atilla the Hon) and Cleo (note Egyptian profile), but we think Little Cat's the one.

New worlds opened for the Little Kitteh that came to dinner when we screened the kitchen window for the season. She'd shown up on our doorstep just before Christmas Thanksgiving (Thanks, Tuck, for the correction). Now that our angel baby's gone, it's up to TLK to mend our breaking hearts. Fun and funny and totally fruity feline. Attacks your entire leg when you walk by, suddenly switches gears during a head rub and goes for the jugular. 

First retrieving cat we've ever known. You throw a superball down the hallway and Little Cat leaps and bounds and brings it back in the jaws, dropping it, with a challenging "meowl," at your feet. If you're not alert enough to engage in replay, she takes it to the top of the cellar stairs and pushes it down for further self-initiated retrieving.

Update from our imail correspondent:

The Kitteh Who Came In From The Cold, and warmed the hearts of the bereft.

"I can conjure her up via the magic of memory whenever I wish"

A spirited and touching tribute to our precious Tiny from long-time Chelsea Gray afficionado Elisson of Lost in the Cheese Aisle.

"Although I never met Tiny face-to-face, she has been a part of my life for many years, thanks to the medium of blogging and the power of the Internet," Elisson wrote in the comments of our own Thursday tribute to the incandescent light that was Sweet Tiny Pea, "We lost our angel baby this morning":

Our lives will be the poorer for her passing, but we will have so many happy moments to look back on thanks to your talent for finding beauty in unexpected places.

We treasure every word of comfort from our friends. Thank you with all our heart for sharing our joy through the years and now our sorrow.

Update: "The cats of the early days of the catblogosphere are leaving us one by one" writes the Father of All Catbloggers, Laurence Simon, in a poignant tribute to all things bright and beautiful, borrowing Chris Muir's memorable "Cats have 10 lives … the 10th is our memory of them" for a headline:

And I don’t begrudge Nardo when he announces his arrival on the bed, pokes my hand with his nose, barks a little more, parks himself on my chest, stares me down, and tells me I haven’t met my petting-quota quite just yet.

Because one day, there won’t be any more quotas to fill or time left to fill them in.

We lost our angel baby this morning

Caption from a January 2009 post: We caught Tiny in a Rembrandt Moment this afternoon as she stared atop Tuck's computer at things we don't see in the countdown to supper. Update from Tuck in the comments: "Here is a masterpiece. This portrait speaks to the wonder of our beloved companions; here is a thinking, compassionate, responsive, introspective being."

We lost our angel baby this morning. Fifteen years old, not that old for a cat, but Sweet Tiny Pea had raged against the dying of the light for many years with a number of afflictions that never kept her down for long. "She enjoys being a cat," Tuck always said in delight and awe. Tiny took no prisoners, but Tuck's cat whispering would reduce her to drooling rapture. She was a force of nature, a brilliant athlete and the apple of her suitor, Earl Grey's eye. Last night and this morning when she refused food and was breathing with increasing difficulty, she seemed to be telling us it was time to join her brother, Baby Cakes the Magnificent, after too short a stay on this mortal coil. In remembrance, a republication of our March 2009 post "The Ecstasy of Sweet Tiny":

March 12, 2009. Sisu proudly presents the seventh folio in "The Ecstasy of Sweet Tiny" series. Click here for larger image. The full collection to date:

"Much like a wild rose"

Katzenjammer

The purple prose that is Obama's presidency

Tiny performs Meowzart 

Through a glass lightly 

Now the curtain opens on a portrait of today

The Ecstasy of Sweet Tiny

"There was nothing whatever to be seen on the twig"

Amazing grace.

The Vision of the Twig.

Cats see things we don't.

Update: Thank you dear friends, old and new, for your kind and comforting comments. From Chris Muir:

Cats have 10 lives … the 10th is our memory of them.

Update II: More bittersweet thoughts and memories:

"I can conjure her up via the magic of memory whenever I wish."

Update III: "We never really forget them, writes ailurophile Meryl Yourish in a bittersweet tribute with fluffericious photographs of her "Maine Coon orange boy … Tig, the goofball, who makes me laugh on a daily basis."

Where Eagles Care

Can't get enough of the Decorah Bald Eagle family drama — "The most alive is the wildest" — available for your viewing pleasure here. Reading into the couple's every encounter. So intense, so devoted to each other and their brood but not without moments of "Come on, honey, give me a break." They're just like us.

Changing of the guard in the early morning light.

Hey, girl, I've been out predating for hours.

Light of my life, but give me some down time on the nest, sweetbeak.

When love comes so strong …

Firsthatched moved beyond the brooding breast this afternoon toward the outer parts of the nest to peck away at the carcass of the crow brought in yesterday without the intercession of the parental beak to beak. They grow up so fast. Two eaglets, one egg to go.

"Not yet tamed by man, it refreshes him"

The bald eagles of Decorah, Iowa, have landed and won the hearts and minds of a grateful nation. We've had the RaptorResource UStream live cam on the desktop since yesterday afternoon. There were three eggs in the nest last night, then two eggs, one shattered shell and a brand new eaglet (see below) early morning.

So glad Ben Franklin lost out on this one. You may recall the First among equals of the Founding Fathers had lobbied for our native Wild Turkey, lord of the Thanksgiving groaning board, to represent the Shining City Upon a Hill as the National Bird.

Mom and dad take turns roosting and hunting … Dramatic when one or the other flies in … Wonder which task is more strenuous, tending the nest with its high winds and egg-tooth deliveries or flying off in search of protein to restock the family larder? Either way, they're traveling the road, sharing their load. Stacy McCain and Little Miss Attila of DaTechGuy on DaRadio's feminist-rhetoric face-off fame, take note.

Light of their lives, the first little wobbly chick arrived overnight. At a time like this, our favorite Henry Thoreau quote always comes to mind:

The most alive is the wildest. Not yet subdued to man, its presence refreshes him.

Be prepared, oh animal lovers, for brutally butchered carcasses of cute and fuzzy creatures that will break your heart. What appears to be a wild rabbit above, lower left.

Parents peck away at the innards of the prey and then regurgitate from beak to beak in a timeless ritual bonding. Life goes on.

We didn't want to go there, but this bit of prey has all the earmarks of the family cat. Talk about red in tooth and claw.

Update: Paul B in the comments points us to live action via the Eagle Cam of the Norfolk Botanical Gardens, where a local nesting pair dined recently on duck:

While fish provides the bulk of a bald eagle’s diet, they are opportunistic and will take advantage of many different food sources.

Crossposted at Riehl World View and Liberty Pundits.

By the paws' early light

70 years ago today

"Baby inspects roses from Goomp that arrived this morning," we captioned this image six years ago today in our March 25, 2005 post "64 years ago today."

"70 years ago today we drove through snow and sleet to get married. Love, Dad," says the card accompanying a lovely "presentation bouquet" of pink roses — garnished with eucalyptus sprigs, asparagus fern and baby's breath — from Goomp. The occasion? The anniversary of his romantic elopement with our mother when they were just a couple of college kids in love. They drove from Medford, MA to Manchester, NH and returned to their Tufts dormitory rooms the same evening. Their first night together as Mr. and Mrs. had to wait until the following weekend. The rest is history. Thanks, Goomp, for blessing us with your sentimental and enduring love for Mummy.

"I wish she were here," he just i-mailed us a moment ago. As we wrote in our December 7, 2004 post "A most incandescent light":

In her family's heart Mary lives on, beckoning us all to be the best that we can be.