Sophie and Daisy

Sophie.

She was my cat and she lived for 19 years. Her littermate is still alive--Daisy, and is now 23 years old. Daisy is my sweetie now, but it was all Sophie when she was alive.

She would meow and purr and rub her head on your ankle, claiming you as hers...she would sleep in the bed and curl up with me or one of my kids or with Daisy, just cuddling and being cozy and warm and calm.

Her eyes would shrink to relaxed slits as she purred and looked peacefully out at the world. I miss her.

Daisy has grown more affectionate now, and she's lovely.

It was heartbreaking to see her walk into a room and look around for Sophie during the first few weeks after Sophie died. She missed her and didn't understand.

Our animals are just raw, authentic, guileless emotion walking around, aren't they? How would it be if we were more like them? Other than the gross stuff, of course...

Here is Daisy as she lives her life here with us:

She remains patient and calm as my son gets very close to photograph her.



And then she's had enough, because how much can a 23 year old cat take?


She's stealthy through the jungle.

She likes going places.

She goes hither,

and yon.

Daisy thinks about it

and decides it's time for a nap.

We love our cat. Do you have animals in your life? Do you feel with them and towards them? Do you feel their love for you?

Isn't it amazing that we can feel affection from an animal--I mean, you know when they love you, adore you, are so excited to see you!! And isn't it equally amazing that many of us feel that they are a part of our family and feel love for them? We care for them and want them to be OK.

Who is your Sophie or Daisy?

Free Obama Button

Moveon.org is giving away free Obama buttons. If you'd like one, click this link to get a free Obama button:

https://political.moveon.org/obamabuttons/?id=-6435972-3mJULIx

I recently received my free Obama bumper sticker from them--they're very good about sending the free Obama stuff!

And now, just for kicks, here's Harry Nilsson, Jump Into the Fire, just because we can make each other happy! And look: Harry's wearing political buttons too! They probably say, "End the War", or "Bread Not Bombs". If he were here now, he would probably get a free Obama button from Moveon.org and wear it proudly to show his support for Obama...I'm guessing.

Any way, let's enjoy his rockin' music and get our political buttons and wish for peace, and less carbon, and less stuff, and for more kind behavior.

We can make each other happy!

McCain's Never Ending War

Here are a bunch of McCain moments strung together. The uniting overarching theme is his McSameness with Bush and his adamant support of a permanent presence in Iraq.

Is this what you want? Will your kids be fighting in Iraq, and is that OK with you?

Happy Learn Nothing Day!

Happy Learn Nothing Day everyone! I hope you all enjoy the various ways you find today to give your poor, beleaguered brains a rest. Give 'em a break! They work so hard for you all of the rest of the year, just for one day let them have the day off too!

We, unfortunately, will have to bow out of the festivities today or, with a lot of perseverance, redouble our efforts and get back on the learning nothing track. You see, my daughter already learned something new today, despite it being Learn Nothing Day. Darn it! Really, she almost started learning the moment she got out of bed!

She cooked my son and I French toast and scrambled eggs. The kids have both made scrambled eggs before, but my daughter wanted to learn how to make French Toast today and, as a principle, I let my kids learn whatever they'd like to. In fact, I encourage it. I support them in their learning. I guess I blew it, didn't I?!

My kids are Unschoolers. We don't use a curriculum. Today is supposed to be their day, their time, to give their natural inquisitiveness a rest. Just take a break already! Quit learning--you don't have to today! We get the day off like everyone else! You don't have to learn all year round--for this one day at least, you get a holiday...

Oh well. Maybe next year. Maybe I need to prep my kids better for this day.

For next year, do you have any advice as to how to get my kids not to learn on this day? It's only 9:30 in the morning and I can almost bet you there will be even more learning throughout the day...

Darn it!

UPDATE: My son is at a playdate. My daughter has a friend over here and they're playing that they're from the 1930's and have time-warped to the present. They know that bread cost 9 cents back then and is much more now. What else will they learn about the Depression? Blast these kids--stop your brains!! Stop connecting the dots!! Stop making sense of the universe and absorbing it all--you're wrecking Learn Nothing Day!!

We'll see what my son learned after he gets home. Darn him as well!

UPDATE II: My son is reading himself to sleep every night with The Dangerous Book for Boys. He's learning all sorts of stuff about all sorts of stuff. Today, when he got home from his playdate, he told my husband about what he had read about the Navajo code used in WWII by the Americans. My husband explained that it was better than a "code" in that it was in fact a language, unrelated to any other, and therefore unbreakable as a code. My son pronounced it Nava-joe. Then, we corrected him and my husband explained more things about it that he knew. So, my son learned about all of that.

Darn learning kids. They won't take a break even when they have the chance.