A CAT STORY

OR

How It Is That I Am In Danger Of Becoming

THE CRAZY CAT LADY

 OR

A TALE OF FOUR CATS

This is Dash.  Once upon a time, about 8 years ago, we found ourselves suddenly completely without any animals or children underfoot.  The remedy was a trip to a cat rescue shelter in Sinsheim. Germany.  A woman there had a house that she had mostly turned over to the rescue and care of cats.  When we arrived she had 97 (!!) cats.  When we left, she had 96 and we acquired Dash.  He has been a delightful pet (most of the time) and was a terrific "battle buddy" while Layden was in Iraq.  But, while we were living in Louisiana, he became accustomed to an occasional hunting excursion in the great outdoors.  Fun while it lasted, but living on the 16th floor in an urban neighborhood doesn't allow for that.  He got a bit depressed.  What to do?  Get another cat?  Not a realistic plan here.  But, then we learned about....

...Selva.  She had been living at the vet clinic in a little kennel for about 9 months, was unadoptable, and her future looked grim.  So, we volunteered to become foster parents.  It took about 3 months to get her used to household noises, handling by humans, and spaces bigger than 2x3 feet.   Dash was happy to have a playmate.  The venture was a success, and Selva Belle found a home.  Which left Dash without a pal.  But...

...No worries!  There was a little black 9-month old kitten who was very wild and in need of a soft place to land.  So we brought her home.  She hid in the smallest, darkest places she could find, so we named her Heidi.  A new friend for Dash and a good deed for the universe.

So far this is a simple story, but then things got a little complicated.  Selva Belle's family acquired a lovely new sofa, to which Selva Belle took an immediate and persistent dislike which she expressed in rather an unpleasant fashion.  Her people we not amused.  They wanted to take her back to the vet, but it was the weekend, so....you can see this one coming...they called me and I took her back.  Yup - 3 cats.  Everywhere you look you will likely find a cat.

On top of furniture

Under furniture

IN furniture

And even, once in a while, on their own designated cat tree

Feeding time is rather a frenzy.  They curl and weave around Layden's feet.  I have taken to calling them 

The Wraiths. 

 Note giant bag of cat litter.  An unending task, much like diapers, which must be done several times a day.

Note colors of cats - what we have here is a confectionary of cats - toffee, licorice, and marshmallow.

Someday (very VERY soon, Layden hopes) we will perhaps be back to just one furry creature underfoot.  In the meantime, he is most patient with all these animals, and can occasionally be found doling out cat treats, which makes him quite the favorite human.

And the 4th cat?  That would be me, born under the sign of Leo.

Anybody want a cat?

*****SPRING*****

Spring was slow in coming this year.  We went from a week in the 40's to one in the 70's and had just a few days of blossoming trees.  But it has finally arrived!  The rice paddy behind our apartment has been flooded and planted.  In the evenings we get a lovely frog chorus that manages to sing loud enough to be heard over the city sounds.  Nice! 

CERAMICS!

                                                     

We went to the Gwangju Ceramics festival.  Ceramics have long been important for trade and economics here in Korea.  There are two main types of ceramics - a unique green called celdaon, and a white porcelain, called baek-ju or Joseon.  This region specializes in the white porcelain.

Ceramics museum - an interesting building

Here we are with two really large vases.

Working the clay.  The big wheel of clay will be worked with bare feet.  Then it will be pounded with a big mallet.  Once it is ready, it will be worked by hand on a potter's wheel.

Performances by drummers and singers.

I loved these miniature donkeys!

A new favorite!  This is an egg sandwich sort of thing - put batter, like pancake batter, in the mold. Break in an egg.   Put in more batter.  Close the lid.  Cook.  Sell to us.  We eat it.  YUM!

You never know...

...quite what to expect in this country!

The other night - LATE - well after 10:00 p.m. - we heard quite a racket out our window.  Our street isn't exactly quiet, but this was definitely attention-getting - lots of beeping, horms, shouting, and the sound of heavy machinery.  So we went to take a look, and learned that they were paving the road!  Mostly in the dark.  You can sort of see the large yellow steamroller in the middle of the picture.  By midnight, this side of the street was paved. In two nights both sides of about a 6-block section were paved and painted. Noisy, but efficient. We figure that late at night is the best time to pave the streets here - they are all busy all the time.