a prayer

"Draw near to God and he will draw near to you." James 4:8

My prayers are with the staff, students,

and families of Virginia Tech.

Learning About My Surroundings Through the Eyes of My Dogs and Cats

As I was studying my collection of digital pictures in computer files tonight my first thought was how thankful I am that we now own a digital camera and haven't spent so much money on film and developing ( especially when we felt the need to record sixteen poses of a cat on a fence). I love that little delete button. The picture above is of Isabelle on a post observing another cat.




My second thought was how similar themes began to emerge in the collection of pictures. Many were taken from the same angle, or with the same type of lighting. I couldn't help but notice the numerous pictures of our cats and dogs as they observe the world through their eyes. The two pictures above are perfect examples. Shelby loves to observe through windows. In one picture she is watching our cat Iris basking in the sun. In the second one she is wondering why I have a silver thing over my face that flashes and why Isabelle is in and she is out.

The cats above are Sweet William, Lily, McDuff and Finnegan. They are the cats that observe a dog in "their domain" and seem a bit put out. They also observe any strange cat that comes close to the property. They never miss mice and bugs. They are a busy bunch.Here is Annie when she discovered a birdhouse yesterday that was making noise. She then observed that a swallow was building a nest in that birdhouse (The birdhouse is very high and safe). She was fascinated with the nest building project and watched intently in this position for quite awhile. Until I saw her in that position, I hadn't even notice the swallow.

I learn even more about my surroundings by observing my cats and dogs. They often notice things that would have gone right by me. Pets are a joy in our lives, especially when they are observant to the world in which they live.

National Poetry Month, Poem #16

Lines

Draw a line. Write a line. There.
Stay in line, hold the line, a glance
between the lines is fine but don’t
turn corners, cross, cut in, go over
or out, between two points of no
return’s a line of flight, between
two points of view’s a line of vision.
But a line of thought is rarely
straight, an open line’s no party
line, however fine your point.
A line of fire communicates, but drop
your weapons and drop your line,
consider the shortest distance from x
to y, let x be me, let y be you.
Martha Collins

Line has fifty-four definitions in a college dictionary. Martha Collins plays with some of them. She also uses catchy alliteration like: corners, cross, cut in.