Today's no walk report: 110420

 Peace of Mind.

I've been thinking about this for awhile and now that I really need it, well, here we go.

Yesterday was election day in the United States and from the weekend leading up to election day until the day after election day, aka, today, I have been trying to move myself away from my reaction to it which I can put into simple terms... It makes me nauseous. I blame the educational system in this country. For the most part, public education is abysmal. We are also the nation of hate and fear. It’s not all of us, it’s not even most of us but those who live like that are loud and in our faces. We embrace reality TV as if it were culture. As Frank Zappa once noted, "People, we is not wrapped tight".

Anyway, this post is really about my cats because my cats, along with some music in the background, are an important detour for me in finding peace of mind. If there is any animal on this beautiful planet of ours that exemplifies the state known as Zen, it's the cat. Zen as translated by D.T. Suzuki as "being free from mind-attachment".

My sister gave me a book one Christmas, Be More Cat: Life Lessons From our Feline Friends by, Alison Davies. I just opened it randomly. How perfect...

 I take you to images of my two feline companions. They free my mind everyday, several times a day. This is Lucy, my most excellent friend for more than 14 years and Stan, an outdoor feral tom who first won the heart of dear Docken and has since become a very special part of the start of everyday here at home. No more commentary from me, just the pictures and perhaps a caption or two. These are in no particular order other than Lucy being first and Stan second. I didn't attempt any new edits including resizing. I'm searching over several hard drives and, again, over 14 years of photos.

This was probably her first week with me. 2006.

Lucy attacks Batman.

I was fixing the stereo, Lucy was inspecting.

A Genesis concert with dad.

Lucy contemplates Lucy.

I recorded a few of these.

Really? They're not real?

Watching a video of the hummingbird feeder.

She loved the helicopters. They're both in the shop now.

Her newly assembled cat tree. 2007?

She's a little more sedate in it, 2020.

Through the backyard window.

Note the Lucy pillow. A gift from my sister.

She gave a long, serious look at the stone Siamese when they first met.

Stan...

Stan, being feral, is often a bit of a challenge to get pictures of. However, Stan has touched my index finger with his nose several times. We're getting closer. Stan frequently comes when I call him. That took almost a year to happen.

 

Where does he go?

This is Stan saying, I love you, Eric.

Stan has a house, compliments of Docken Actually, it's a double wide condo with an electric bed.

Here's an earlier post with some pictures about Lucy and Stan's relationship. Lucy has a crush on Stan.

Let's not forget the music. Peace of Mind by Shakti. This song comes up with some frequency on the stereo depicted above.

Peace out.