A New Cat Buddy is entering our family. His name is Extra Orange.
"He's an extra cat, and he's orange."
Red Carpet Ready: Extra Orange Poses for the camera.
*About three months ago, we saw the above photo of a cat named Extra Orange. He is a marmalade ginger cat with bulls eye markings on his sides. We want him! Emilie was keeping Orange outdoors in her yard.
He came to her about a year ago when he was only a six month old kitten. Emilie had no room for Orange. Orange was patient and obedient. He wanted to come in! Oliver, another of Emilie's cats, did not want Orange in "his" house! Emilie fed Orange outdoors and made a bed for him. But Orange began to wander and vanish for longer and longer time periods. When he finally returned, Orange was scratched, limping, and very thin. What a surprise, when Emilie took Orange to the vet, he easily got into the carrier himself! The staff were all amazed at Orange's gentleness and cooperation.
Orange needs a new home.
What to do?
"We'll take him!"
Phoenix Arizona is a long way from Michigan! My husband went to visit Emilie, our daughter. He helped her with house repairs and prepared to take Orange home with him. Orange is very tame and likes to be picked up and carried. Strong bonds formed easily.
Travel day dawned!
Orange met his airline carrier. He got in it himself! He smiled! He knew traveling manners from his former home? He loves to be photographed and poses readily for the camera.
"I'm a Happy Cat!"
At the airport, security asked Paul to remove Orange from his carrier and hand carry him through while luggage and carrier were scanned. "Oh, Boy, this is it! Will he struggle, scratch, or leap away and run?"
Orange remained totally placid while being carried and replaced himself in his "in cabin" carrier. The security crew smiled. They knew cats!
Taking Off
On the long plane ride into Chicago and follow up shuttle bus, Orange was silent and docile as can be. "Imagine!"
"At Home"
Meanwhile I had taken some time to rethink "new young cat" in each room and clear anything out of Orange's way, paintings, glassware, jars on counters and more for a safe cat zone. Thinking "cat" I looked "up" and remembered to clear books, pairs of glasses, ledges on mantel and more in case Orange was a "leaper."
I remembered our Tom leaped high and wide when he came into our home in 2003. So much so, that I had to take down the "wall of Collie" paintings in our living room. Young and wild Tom came down from the high ledge one day and touched a glass framed pastel painting with his front paws. *I took down the Collies and packed them away.
Then, also in advance, I took Orange's portrait photo from the fridge and, individually, showed it to each of our four cats. I told them his name, and that he was headed for arrival! "He is very tame. Help to make him feel welcome."
In came Orange and skittered out of his carrier! "He's small!" Tom and Sancat are much bigger. Sasha, dark tabby, hissed only once. Sancat slunk a bit and crept very slowly. Mrs. Harris pranced in to greet Orange. Tom was vocal.
Orange ran around, ate voraciously, then settled down and sat with me resting his head on my knee!
A Cat of a Different Color
Now, recovered and rested, Orange is gaining strength and energy. "He's neon color!" Orange is a bright dark orange and cannery yellow blend, like a marble cake! He looks like he has been colored with crayons! Orange has patterns of "art wok" drawn down his back that look like Native American designs. He has white hairs in his tail rings which are near the tail tip. Not all the rings are the same width. He is very well mannered and responds to soft commands like a well trained dog. Orange is lightening quick, like a young lithe Cheetah.
Orange's pleasant quiet manner is a great example for our "fab four" cats as they all become a more blended harmonic cat family.
Also, our home setting has become more organized and and easier to manage with fewer items on display.
What is Orange's story? We can only guess his history from well mannered early training to living on the streets?
Extra Orange has become Extraordinary Orange!
XO XOO!
"I'm Home!"
Related Posts:
* Being is Believing (Dec 2013)
Reigning Cats and Dogs and The Little Chessie that Could (Sept 2012)
Fully Present and Mrs. Harris is a Sand Cat (May 2012)
Intuitive Teachers (Jan 2012)
** Out of Box Experience (Aug 2011) Collie Paintings come Out of their Box.
Welcoming Mrs. Harris and "I am Your Angel" (July 2011) How did our orange kitten, Mrs. Harris, find us? No one knows!
Catching Up (Apr 2011), achieve your goals!
Escape Artists (Feb 2011), Tom and Sasha tell all.
What Kind of Animal Are You? (Jan 2011)
Resources:
Albert Payson Terhune, author of Lad a Dog, Grey Dawn and more, journalist and mystic
James Herriot's Cat Stories and many more books
Dahlis Roy, Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Photos by Emilie
Extra Orange
Happy Cat, heading home
Taking Off
What is Heart, Imagination, Creativity?
What Isn't?
Where is the Soul?
"Where is it not," Gary Zukav
* Floating Leaf: Imagine!
As we approach Valentines Day 2014....I think of ribbon and lace! I also think of candy, dark chocolate covered vanilla creams! I remember Valentine Boxes at elementary school where we'd drop in our creations for classmates. Some years we made our own. My Mom helped me cut out the heart shapes and glue the trimmed paper lace doilies in place. Later we all went for simpler boxed Valentines.
I remember saying, "How come the Valentine's Heart doesn't look like the human heart pictured in books?"
I got no answer, until years (eons) later. I met my friend, Louise, in a bookstore cafe for our sharing of minds and hearts. Together we opened a book called Light Emerging, The Journey of Personal Healing by Barbara Ann Brennan. We leafed through the pages and (imagine) there was a couple in love pictured standing holding hands. The artist had "painted" pink (the colors of love) and soft gold radiating from each person! As their hands and hearts joined, their blended energy fields merged above their heads, dipping down to enclose both of them in a pink gold rimmed "heart shape" of energy-love!
"That's it! That explains the Valentine Shaped Heart," Louise exclaimed.
What is HE(ART)?
Heart Play can take any forms you choose as you open your awareness to receive beauty and possibilities around you.
I am thinking about crayons! Once in a while I love to get out my old crayons and have a fun adventure! Let it Happen!
Bright Idea!
Home is where the He(art) is!
Related Posts
Awaken Gratitude (Jan 2014)
Hear Today (Apr 2013)
Puzzle (Feb 2013)
Creative Love (Feb 2012)
Healing Hearts (May 2011)
Color (Y)our World (Feb 2011)
Resources
Hands of Light, Light Emerging from Barbara Ann Brennan
Gary Zukav, spiritual teacher, author Heart of the Soul and more
* Debra Basham, author, CHTP, NLP, HTt, RMT, The Yellow Brick Road Your Path to Heart and Health, Blog
Total Memory Makeover with Marilu Henner, actress, author. What triggers your memories?
Dr. Paul Lam, Tai Chi for Health Worldwide, Tai Chi exercises help you achieve pride of accomplishment and well being.
Deepak Chopra, author, meditation online. Increase inner calm, brighten your life and stimulate creativity
Dahlis Roy, Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Images
* Floating Leaf, overhead tree branches are reflected in the puddle, contributed photo Debra Basham
Bright Idea, crayon and ink sketch by Dahlis Roy
Traveling to Chicago for an evening seminar in near zero weather years ago seemed outrageous,
but we went anyway....Sun set over frozen fields,
Claude Monet is near. As I watched color patterns change and glow, I imagined a picture of Monet' winter painting in the Haystack Series.
His painted haystacks frosted with snow and winter sun matched the landscape textures and energy I saw in person out the car window: ice blues, turquoise, violets, pinks, and oranges subtle and vivid simultaneously.
I coined and painted a poem in my head, writing it down later in choppy words and phrases:
ZERO
Air: crackling cold
Snow crunches underfoot
Tingles to breathe.
Monet's blue/violet winds through snow choked fields,
Over bluffs, up banks,
Barn roofs shadowed, brushed in blue.
Cotton candy drifts mound 'round snow fences
Like ice/sand sculptures/dunes.
Round bushes crowned with icing: giant cupcakes.
Sculpted snow, pink tint, surreal landscape from a distant planet,
Ever present blue of winter's paintbrush
glides over ice patterned canvas.
* "Miles are Covered One at a Time...."
Related Posts:
Sculptures in Snow (Jan 2014)
Tai Chi: Spiritual Vitamins (Mar 2012)
A Strong Clear Vision (Apr 2012)
Intuitive Teachers (Jan 2012)
Ghost of Myself (April 2011)
Light Show (Jan 2011)
Resources:
* Debra Basham, CHTP, NLP, HTt, RMT Blog: Yellow Brick Road, Your Path to Heart and Health, post Snail Mail, Feb 5, 2014
http:dbasham.blogspot.com
Dahlis Roy, Visionary Artist Author and Tai Chi Instructor
Paintings by Dahlis:
Impression, Painting with Light, detail of sunset, oil painting
Ice Patterns, oil painting, detail
Last year I wrote Message in a Bottle post about saving one positive daily message: thought, song title/lyrics, quotes, bookmarks etc. I saved them in my grandfather's large blue mason jar.
My Jar Runneth Over!
Then more blue jars, smaller ones, appeared. They were issued celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Perfect Ball Mason Blue Jars! Yes~I love colored glass, especially blue. I love using the blue jars for many items at home. Picking up a blue jar in my hands helps me feel history.
This year, I am choosing a "gratitude jar" to note goals, intentions, dreams, and more. I will add these as prompted throughout the year.
What will I write today?
I reached into the full blue jar and chose the following message from 2103.
"Be Happy"
What is Happiness?
* Recently Deepak Chopra mentioned, "Happiness in internal, rather than external. 'If I get a new car or a big house, then I will be happy,' is an example of external happiness. This is fleeting. Soon you will want 'more and more' and still feel empty and searching. True happiness comes from within. The joy of waking up to see a golden morning or touching a flower can set you on a path for a happier day."
** Beginning Each Day with some quick centering five minute exercises helps you to say 'yes.' Tai Chi and Yoga are internal integrated exercises, balancing mind-body-spirit while experiencing strength building routines. Seated meditation in quiet settings brings a refreshing break for a few minutes at a time, several times a day.
Take a Happiness Walk outdoors, in your home, or around your office. Express gratitude for positive events, thoughts, emotions, tasting food, hearing music and laughter in your imagination. Jot down these positive feelings in a happiness/gratitude journal or write online.
*** Walking Meditation 101 go outdoors if possible and concentrate on your feet touching the Earth, one step at a time. If your mind wanders, simply bring your attention back to your feet.
**** Negative thoughts creep in? Take a timer and set it for 3-5 minutes. Take a pen to paper (yes paper), and write as fast as you can about any irritations in your life. Then, daily, tear in little shreds and discard. You are expressing yourself to yourself and no one but You will see them....Gradually, negative energy will becomes neutralized, and more positive light will start to flow. Empty your cup then fill it with fresh energy!
"Happy YOU Year!"
Begin Again
Awaken Happiness!
Feedback via LinkedIn
Christine Paul, MS., CRC, Yoga Instructor, Twin Cities, MN USA, "I love this! "....with my clients I talk about gratitude journals, vision boards, even powerpoints with their favorite quotes and relaxing/inspiring photos/images but this adds and additional component." Christine brings hope and healing to those dealing with trauma, loss, and disability.
Elaine Collier, co-owner of the Como Center for Enlightenment, Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK, "What really resonated with me was writing everything down that irritated you on a piece of paper and then tearing it up-so simple but so powerful." Elaine and others bring Reiki therapy for people and pets, meditation and much more.
Related Posts:
Message in a Bottle (Jan 2013)
Since Yesterday (July 2013)
Resources:
Ball Perfect Mason Jars: The original blue jars were made from 1913-1915. Ball commemorated the blue jars with a 100 Years of American Heritage Vintage Jars available in 2013.
*Deepak Chopra, M.D., author, spiritual teacher, online meditation, yoga, and more.
** Wake Up with Tai Chi and/or Yoga. Build strength and open your heart-mind to greet the day in just minutes. Tai Chi and Qigong shown on Dr. Oz, Crane and Bear from Five Animal Frolics, tapping for health and more. "Happy YOU Year!" I have added some of these in the early AM with great results! Later in the day, I can practice Tai Chi longer routines.
** Dr. Paul Lam, Medical Doctor and Tai Chi expert, Tai Chi for Health, free lesson You Tube, awaken your self and invite healing adventures. Dr. Lam helps people worldwide with Tai Chi for specific conditions such as Tai Chi for Arthritis and many more programs. Begin
today! Change your Life.
*** Walking Meditation, The "M" word is recommended for ADD/ADHD people. This basic walking is calming and centering. ADD and Managing It documentary and more to help adult ADD/ADHD. Brian Green and Patrick McKenna help blend humor, coping skills and medical research.
http://www.totallyadd.com
**** Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way and other books to awaken your creative heart. "Morning Pages" help you express and release your true feelings for you by you. Release then unlock your creative life
Music to inspire: Taylor Swift, Begin Again, Since Yesterday and more, Red Album.
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Photos:
Large and Small and Memory Jar by Dahlis Roy
The Dream of the Black and White Horses
"The Horses are Strength. The Green Symbolizes Your Hope Waiting There," Louise Watson, R.N.
**Celebrate!
I love horses!
I have always loved horses!
I will always love horses!
When I was about seven years old, at night, I imagined a large white horse with long mane and tail flying, galloping along a golden sand strip near a large body of water. The image brought me inner peace and harmony. I was already seeking ways to tame and relax my overdrive brain, body, and imagination. I used the horse to guide me into the restful world of sleep and restful space.
Yes, I was a night owl! What a trial to get up in the morning and (gasp) go to school!
Through the journey of years, I learned to draw and paint the horse.
And now it is the Chinese Year of the Horse!
*This Year the *Wood Horse is Brave, Adventurous, Intelligent, and Sociable
Looking at the Moon: Intuition
*The Wood Horse appears this year. Wood is one of the Chinese Five Elements: Wood, Water, Earth, Fire, and Metal are the elements. Each element has unique characteristics. Many people world wide practice Five Element Qigong exercise to balance and strengthen the body-mind-spirit. Qigong means "energy work or energy exercise." A doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine may prescribe specific Tai Chi/Qigong regimens to help the patient recover and maintain healing, strength, and balance. Tai Chi and Qigong are integrative exercises, combining Medication and Meditation in Motion. Joy through movement becomes part of your life! You meet friends and share through group practice and enjoy quiet solitude of daily practice. Your life changes!
"Run in the sand along the ocean," Deepak Chopra
Related Posts:
The Dream of the Black and White Horses (June 2013)
Reigning Cats and Dogs (and Horses) (Sept 2012)
The Painted Word (July 2012)
Running with Horses (March 2012)
Resources
* The Year of the Horse, Barnes and Noble Books, originally published in London by Pavilion Books Limited. Written by Nigel Suckling and beautifully illustrated by Wayne Anderson.
Paul Lam, M.D. Tai Chi for Health World Wide, free lesson You Tube, author, medical research
Dr. Yang-Jwing Ming, Yang Style Expert, Taiji and Qigong exercise, author
Deepak Chopra, M.D., author, guidelines for meditation online, workshops
** Bridge to China: Celebrate the Year of the Horse on Sunday Jan 26, 2-4 PM, St. Joseph High School, St. Joseph, Michigan USA. All Are Welcome. Classes: Learn Chinese for all ages!
http://www.bridgetochina.org
Dahlis Roy: Visionary Artist, Author, and Tai Chi Instructor
Images
** Celebrate Year of the Horse, photo with permission from Bridge to China
The Dream of the Black and White Horses
Looking at the Moon
Free As the Wind
Crazy Horse, a "cave painting" fun with paint
