Saturday, February 12, 2011

Full Hearts♥♥ :: Post IV


I love Ferris. And Ferris loved naps. I think he was one of the most comfortable cats I have ever known... what I mean is, he was completely at ease about sleeping anywhere. It was actually a hazard. He would nap in the middle of floors, and even on the stairs, where his fur was so much like the carpet we were sure he was going to get squooshed.

I remember that day I found him socked out in the laundry closet. I love that I captured that silly napper on my camera.


I remember when my brother, Bill and his family, were here, and the kids were wildly happy playing and making merry... and there was Ferris. Passed out in the middle of all the action. He could not have been happier, unless he were chasing Zoltar up a telephone line!


I love this happy napper.
I miss him. It has been ten days since we saw him last.


I love how when we fed the kitties in the morning he was so eager to eat, that he would spring head first into the opened container.


I love that Ferris chose Max. And I love that Max chose Ferris.
I love that they loved each other.
I love Max.

Full Hearts♥♥ Post I
Full Hearts♥♥ Post II
Full Hearts♥♥ Post III

Friday, February 11, 2011

Full Hearts ♥♥ :: Post III


Alex loves robotics. Eli loves robotics. Our family loves robotics.

I love Alex. I love that he designed a mini-bot, and I love that when the rules changed, he adapted his design and started over. I love Eli, and James, William, Nathan, and Geoff. They have been building, mentoring, assisting, testing, and re-building a robot that weighs less than four pounds, and is capable of raising itself up a ten foot pole fast! Rumor has it that it clocks in somewhere around... never mind... you gotta see it to believe it! ahem.

I love that back in the school metal shop, FIRST 2102 Team Paradox is test driving a completed robot. Spectacular work. Incredible timing. And this was accomplished while sharing with and manufacturing for our Team San Diego friends, FIRST 3128, the Aluminum Narwhals. Go Build! I love that this year's Parrot-Ox plushies are actually an adorable shoulder bag, and that new shirts and bandannas are looking good... team art, designed and built in house! Go Marketing! Outreach and Corporate too! They keep everything moving forward, and strengthening the future for their team. Go Robotics!

I love that we live in a community with so many talented, industrious, bright, enthused children, and adults. I love that we all get to work, and laugh, and dance, and stay up late together.

Full Hearts ♥♥ :: Post I
Full Hearts ♥♥ :: Post II

Tuesday, February 08, 2011

Full Hearts ♥♥ :: Post II


I love it when Alison and Bill send me pictures. They keep me posted on what they are up to, like their visit to the Christmas tree lot. I love Marissa. I love Dominic. I love Alison. I love Bill. I love the fragrance of pine trees, and peppermint, and also baking bread.


They love Georgie. Georgie is a cat, if you can't tell. He could be mistaken for a large winter coat, a sofa cushion, or a very territorial sloth. Georgie loves story time, and snuggles.

Every time Bill and Alison send me a picture, I am reminded that I would love to be in Central California, with them. I love them, and Central California, and Georgie.

Full Hearts ♥♥ :: Post I

Full Hearts ♥♥

Is your heart full too? I decided to get an early start thinking on love. My heart is too full to leave the love talk to just one day! For fun and reflection, won't you join me? Let's post about the little and BIG loves we see around us. I plan to keep this up all week, because it makes me happy, and if it makes you happy too, let me know and I will post your links, and we will create a world-wide-web of Full Hearts ♥♥


Maria loves Homer.
And Homer loves chicken.


Benjamin Franklin Thunder Cat loves a safe perch, in the sun.


I love Maria, and Homer, chickens, BFTC, and my own safe perch in the sun.

Monday, February 07, 2011

Play Ball

So, I watched that game that was played yesterday.
Go Packers!
Half of my friends love football, and follow it, and get it, and know a tight end from an end zone. Half of my friends could not care less, and proudly proclaim that yesterday they were busy with anything other than American football.

I am caught in the middle, and I was wondering why this is... why do I like seeing one or two games a year? Why do I understand it well enough to get a thrill over an interception, to feel excited over a great pass, a great catch, a good brat?

My brothers and I used to play touch football, in the street, in empty lots, at the park, and we could play with three, or five or eight kids... and there was always room for one more. All we needed was the ball and a clear space. We also played soccer, which is the real fúbol, of course. We often played Bill Ball, our own baseball game, where the rules were loosely based on Bill's diplomatic and fair sense of play... Rule Number One: no one can be bad at Bill Ball.

I loved these games, maybe especially football. Later in middle school and high school my science-math-gym teacher had us on the field playing all kinds of games, and she really helped my sporting skills. I like that when we played football each play was a new opportunity to turn the game around, and that each play gave every player a chance to be part of the action. Defend. Run. Block. Run. And catch? Wow, catching a football, running ahead of your opponents... it's a great feeling. Soccer is great too. Baseball? Eh... too slow, too little going on most of the time, for most of the players. Bill Ball? Bill Ball rocks!

I will never follow teams, or schedule my days around any sporting season. I do not have to watch the SuperBowl, the hype is a turn-off, and so is the single-minded focus, money, and attention football receives, pro and high school... My heart and big cheers still belong to the sports of the mind! But still... it was a good game, and it was fun to watch. In fact it was a better game than the commercials, which is not usual. Maybe it was a better game because Holly grilled brats, and we were cheering for the team from the greatest place in the world! Maybe it was just fun to see other people having fun with something they love, and remembering my own love of running to the end zone with an intercepted ball!

It's only a game.

Sunday, February 06, 2011

Dirt Heals


A few years ago Geoff sent me an article about the actual healing properties found in the garden... in the dirt. I love it when science and my beliefs harmonize.

Maria and I went to the garden center. We invited Max. He was very interested in planting seeds in his garden bed, but that was last week. This week he is not feeling the same way about things, which is understandable. He is hurting, and sad. He loves Ferris, his furry friend. I am not saying retail therapy is the answer to grief and longing, but I know that time in the light, time away from the usual, daily patterns, and creating an opportunity for getting dirty... those are a very good answer to sadness.


We came home with new flowers, like pansies and poppies. We bought more soil, and a special dark pencil for our garden markers. We chose seeds for our cold season... peas, cucumber, lettuce and spinach. We walked around admiring the trees and blooms, the prettyness of a winter day in Southern California.

I even managed to deliberately abandon all of the burdensome supposed to's that plague me when I am aware that I am not excelling on all fronts feeling like shiaving cream. While there may be "important" things being neglected, I gotta believe working in the garden is a huge improvement over FB gazing.

We got home and made the able-bodied men unload our wagon. After that I sort of reverted back to feeling the deep funk. I expect to see him. I look for him and call him... Ferris! Ferris, kitty-kitty! I even open doors, enter quiet rooms and think he could have been locked in here. This may be a place we forgot to look... Fortunately, something compelled me to rise from my descent, and get back outdoors.

Maria and I brought Sanka out of her house and set her in a raised bed. She was almost as melancholy and homebodied as me... she would not hop out of her box. But when I stuck some celery in the dirt, she could not resist. The rest of her afternoon was spent in happy digging, and contented nibbling.


So often I feel really inadequate, very ineffective. I do. But reflecting on yesterday, I realize that a lot got done. We planted nasturtiums around the fruit trees. We put in rosemary and geraniums along the driveway. We planted a barrel with peas and violas, then weeded all around the barrels. We brought the ratty-rats out and gave their home a thorough scrubbing, then played with them in the sunlight. We scrubbed the watering and grain feeders for the chicas. We planted a second barrel with the poppies and pansies. And more... including a haircut for Maria.


She has been asking for a haircut, at home, for some time. I finally got a new pair of shears, and we sat outside, dropping about three-four inches from the bottom. She is very happy with the results.

We were so dirty. Even with her new gloves, Maria managed to get good and grubby. And it felt great. We still have seeds to plant, and the chicas coop could stand to be raked out and freshened. The sky is blue. It is, no doubt, warmer out there than it is in the house... I think we should enjoy another round of therapy. And I plan on dragging Max out there with us, because if he doesn't believe me, I know he will trust the science: dirt heals.