MIXED MESSAGES

"I'm gonna see the doctor today," I explained and, and took out my camera. "What a pretty kitty. Can I take a picture of you?" The camera had a memory card this time, unlike two months ago!

There was a cat sitting atop a boulder right across the street from the clinic. I took off my glasses and hurriedly shut my eyes a long time, saying to the kitty, "Pleeze look at the camera for me?"

(I've heard closing your eyes, for cats, is like smiling for humans; and they're more likely to do what you want for them after they've seen you "smile" for them.

Then the cat gave me a funny expression that seemed to say, "Oh, I get it! You want to see the Doctor, not ME!" I realized then I'd given him mixed messages: I wanted to see the doctor; could I take photographs of him? No wonder the cat was confused.

Aren't you glad God never gets fed up with our gobblygook and knows exactly what we mean...er, rather, sometimes answers prayer wiser than our foolhardy requests? Parents often do that with children. 

BUMMING AROUND IN MINNEAPOLIS

The next stop was probably my favorite. People might look at me cross-eyed. "You LIKE to sleep on the floor?" Well...

"Hey, don't gang up on her. If she likes to sleep on the floor, let her!"

Thank you, sweetie. That was Lynn's kitty. We got to be friends. Lynn, a photographer-artist, lives across the hall from my sister Janice, whom I stayed with for 6 days--and my favorite cubbyhole was a corner of her carpeted living room. (She told me I could sleep in the guest room that had a nice bed, but I asked for the living room floor.) I loved to sleep there, because I could lift my leg and prop it up against the sofa if I wanted; or get up and read by the light of the lamp whenever I pleased; or if I wanted walk over to the dining room table and write in my journal. I could do laptop stuff or take a walk or snack...no pressure...

"You mean, at Janice's, you can be a bum, right?"

"I wouldn't put it like that..."

"Anyone should be allowed to bum around. No one should gang up on anyone if you like it."

Janice took these of me on our "walks"...mostly while I photographed.

Hm; maybe Lynn's cat was right. Maybe I liked bumming around there...!

PET POSTS, STARTING AT RALEIGH

There are 4 posts from pets who wanted to add their perspective of the US trip. The first will be Stacey Asato's pet Kitty from Raleigh, North Carolina. A lion is the king of the jungle! Is there anything wrong with a cat heading up the pet posts No? Didn't think there would be any argument there.

This is where the Japanese young ladies began their Stateside adventure. And an adventure it was, as one of them had been told her flight out of Okinawa was canceled due to the weather, but she was boarded onto another flight direct to Atlanta so ended up coming to her destination here in Raleigh 5 minutes before her friends who had been routed through the Detroit Metro airport. They had a 7-hour layover there too. Now isn't that the cat's meow?

Now can I get to my food?

Yes, sweetie. Thank you. See? Some of God's seeming setbacks can be actual shorcuts, the most direct routes to what He has for us!

*   *   *

A Haguro Tombo at the park marveled after hearing this report:

"Her flight out was stopped, but she got there first?!"

THAT "TIDBIT"...

When my daughter gave me my first grandchild, Kinya and I were asked to go over to help out about three times a week.

The background? I wanted to draw a flower garden but didn't know how so just cut out the sketch of the baby and plopped it on my Bible cover. Well, of course I felt prayers he would find life in the Word.

I found that picture of "Pearly" and took just the pink gladiolas she pointed to with her tail. And I gave it to the young parents, congratulating them for their new arrival. They told me the picture was perfect, since they wouldn't have to worry about pollen and insects as if I'd given living plants.

Not only that. Naoki, my son-in-law, liked the flowers so much, he right away double-stick-taped them to the baby's crib musical mobile motor, and it fit just right.

I could almost hear Pearly saying with approval, "Looks purrrfect!"

I'd started serious drawing in May, and that was June, just one month later. I'm sure Naoki had no idea what a big encouragment he'd been.

MEET TOPPLE

I thought we were done today, but the dentist says we're not, wants me to come back next week.

But after today's office visit, I was given the same treat I had last week: Kinya came to the park with me! Altho' it was brighter this evening so we could see some of the carp in Duck Pond, it was still a little too dark to see everything clearly.

The time I really wished we had more sunlight (especially because my camera has no flash) was when we were visiting the Irrigation Ditch. At the top of the place where the water siphons off into the gulley, it really looked like I could see a claw!

"What's that?" I pointed. Kinya looked.

"A crab!" Just then, it toppled over the edge. The moonlight caught its outline then. I hadn't been fast enough to get it with my camera--well, there wasn't enough light anyway--but I'd seen it with my eye.

I wanted to draw a picture of what I'd seen but didn't have a photograph for a reference picture, so I had only that split-second mental image to go by. I looked for online images of crabs then drew until past 10:40 before I had what I knew I wanted. It may not be what the crab actually looks like, you realize--we'd seen it only for a moment, and we couldn't even tell you what color it was--this is just a guess--you'll just have to imagine with us.

But it was the first time for Kinya--and me--to see a crab at the park!

The last photo? Kinya had already said he'd come with me to the park, and God sent along a smile for him--a favorite neighborhood cat came and said hello. Kinya has a way with cats--they all seem to come to him.

What animals come to ME? Crabs, it looks like. You're not impressed?