Cody: my post helper

The week went by very quickly – too quickly to have time for a new post with many pictures. But I have a helper usually near me, our cat Cody, and even though he is not much help, he will help me with my post this time – he will be the post.

Cody was left in our County Animal Shelter a few years ago. He looked up at us with his limpid green eyes and it was very easy to decide to take him home. He usually follows me around, unless he needs a rest. (Click on any picture to enlarge it.)


Come on Cody, let’s get to work, there are no birds out there –


Let’s go –


Cody is so quiet – he moves like a shadow. You can call him and unless he feels like it, you won’t hear him or see him. You may find that he has decided to check unusual places –



But then if you open a window, anywhere, he will quickly come as he loves to smell the air. He will sit very contentedly on the window sill for a long time, half asleep –


But if I come to the computer room he usually thinks I need to have him close by as a helper


….real close to the computer to give some extra advice.


I found this verse and wonder if Cody would like it:

…and close to me the cat sits purring,
Warming his paws at the cheery gleam...- Heinrich Heine (German Romantic poet 1797-1856)

But the second part does not apply to Cody because he was warming his paws on the keyboard. So, Cody, what about this poem in French?

Le Chat
Viens, mon beau chat, sur mon coeur amoureux;
Retiens les griffes de ta patte,
Et laisse-moi plonger dans tes beaux yeux,
Mêlés de métal et d'agate. – Charles Baudelaire

Which translates as:

Come, my fine cat, against my loving heart;
Sheathe your sharp claws, and settle.
And let my eyes into your pupils dart
Where agate sparks with metal. - Charles Baudelaire

I guess he is not too impressed by French literature. I know because if I ask him a question he will answer – not really a meow but a soft guttural sound. He did not make a sound. So that will be the end of our post for today. Let's turn off the computer and go.

Woman with Cat by Lilla Cabot Perry (1848-1933) American Impressionist painter.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

Live purely.

Be quiet.
Do your work with mastery.
Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds!
Shine.

- the Buddha

ADDENDUM: One of my blogging friends “Reader Wil” had a link to her friend Cherie who writes a blog in the Philippines called “This Side of Town.” In this blog she gives addresses and links to humanitarian agencies helping with the latest disasters in Southeast Asia. Please visit her blog here. Anything you can do to help the suffering in these countries is appreciated.

This picture was taken this morning. Cody says thank you for your nice comments about him – he appreciates it.

Of Flood and Birthdays

Our trip to Canada ended last Wednesday 23rd September and we came back home around 10:30 pm not too sure as to what to expect as we had heard that there had been some hard rain and flooding. As we drove home we saw the above sign shining in the dark on the road just outside our house. Our house is on a hill but as soon as we opened the door we knew something had happened because of the bad wet carpet smell and the musty odor. The den/family room which is on the lower level and has a large sliding door to the garden had the carpet all wet. There was no standing water then as the storm was most severe on Monday 21st but the carpet was soaked and mold was starting to grow. Unfortunately before we left we started to clean our garage and placed many boxes and books on the floor in the den. Many books are a loss. I spent a long time sprinkling corn starch between the pages of some of my new cookbooks hoping that it will help. We have been working on this flooded den since then – our suitcases are still unpacked and it is raining hard right now.

These are the pictures, below, showing why our road is closed ahead – the Allatoona Creeek overflowed, less than ½ mile away. This is a dormant little creek which turned into a torrent.

Click on pictures to enlarge them

I called our home insurance company, but unfortunately this water damage is not covered. We cannot complain because apart from removing the carpet and installing new tiles on the floor as well as discarding wet books and other wet items it could have been much worse. Many family homes very close to us sustained major damage. Vice-President Joseph Biden came to our town yesterday then toured metro Atlanta by helicopter to look at some portions of the area still under water. At least 11 deaths were blamed on the storms. I have some pictures obtained from the City of Atlanta I can show you below. I shall indicate the roads for family and friends who know the neighborhood.

The following pictures were taken in our county, Cobb County.



Unfortunately many pets were left in flooded houses and barns. Below is the Fox Hollow Barn, but some horses were stranded inside.

Fox Hollow Barn

In my post of July 1, 2009, called Trails along the Chattahoochee River you can see how pretty this river is and how large and muddy it is now in the pictures below.

Houses close to small creeks or ponds were flooded - some to the roof tops, as you can see below.


Some parts of major highways in Atlanta were under water and closed for several days, as pictured below.


On Thursday morning when it was light we saw that instead of finding our outdoor plant dead it had grown beyond its little pot. The seeds in the bird feeders had sprouted and some unknown mushrooms had grown amongst the weeds. An empty bucket outside is now full of water, about 21 inches high. It is dark outside even though it is only 3:30 pm now, rain is pounding the roof and we are expecting another 6 inches before tomorrow.


Upon our return, we had planned to go out and eat at Canoe – a restaurant close to the Chattahoochee River. One of my blogging friends had recommended this restaurant to me not long ago and my husband and I were going to celebrate our daughters’ birthdays there. Our daughters are in California fortunately (floodwise) but we were going to celebrate anyway. Our celebration has been watered down (excuse the pun) to a TV dinner at home. Below is a picture of the restaurant.


Hopefully the river will soon be back resting in its bed and may look like the serene painting of Norwegian painter Fritz Thaulow (1847-1906.)


Today, September 26 is our daughter Jessica’s birthday. On September 29 it will be our daughter Céline’s birthday.

Below is a painting by Sir Thomas A. Kennington, English (1856-1916) called Mother’s Love.



I shall not post current pictures of Céline and Jessica as I did not clear this with them, but I have some pictures of when they were little girls. Below is a picture showing Céline with her long dark hair and Jessica with her blond hair.



Below are pictures in front of our former house in Decatur, Ga, in the Fall and during a rare snow day.


Three pictures below are showing them with their pet Bantam chickens, at the beach in Florida and in front of a wagon loaded with a cotton bale.



They could spend hours playing with their dolls. I do not have a picture of them then but here is a painting by Russian painter Alexei Alexeivich Harlamoff ( 1848-1925) entitled “Sisters” 1888.


We wish them a happy birthday time together with much happiness the whole year long.

Here is a vintage birthday card for Jessica’s birthday, today 26 September –


Here is a vintage birthday card for Céline’s birthday, for Tuesday 29 September -


I hope they will be taking many photographs but in the meantime below is a representative "sister" picture painted by English painter Sophie Gengembre Anderson (1823-1903.)



So far we have cleared only about 1/3 of the family room. There is a lot more to do before the carpet can be removed. I had planned to write a nice post, but the unforeseen rain event took precedence. Tomorrow the sun is scheduled to be back and the rain will go away.

Painting by John LaFarge, American (1835-1910) Wild Roses and Iris, 1887, watercolor and gouache.

Bears on the Cherokee Reservation

We are continuing with our stay at the Cherokee Indian Reservation in North Carolina. Please see my earlier posts listed on the right side of my blog under “Native Americans.” In my last two posts on this subject entitled “In and Around the Cherokee Indian Reservation” of 11 Sept-09 which followed “The Oconaluftee Mountain Farm Museum” of 13-Aug-2009 I related our visits to the farmstead and the Mingus Mill. The next morning we were ready for more adventures. It was a lovely morning, clear crisp and sunny. We could hear the soft sound of moving water near our motel and walked down closer to the riverfront. (click on pictures to enlarge them.)




After leaving the river we were ready to go on our bear hunt. Below are two pages from the Cherokee guide book showing the bears and explaining the Cherokee Bear Project. Since the introduction text is quite small and may be too difficult to read here it is: “The idea for the Bears Project began in 2005, as (the town of) Cherokee wanted to showcase the variety of talented artists within the Qualla Boundary. Twenty-five artists were commissioned to individualize the bears and promote the visual expansion of downtown Cherokee .” A map was provided to find all the bears on the Reservation. Currently 15 bears are on view in and around downtown Cherokee.





First came Legendary Sunrise by Helen Martin Brings Plenty to welcome us and get us started on our tracking of the Cherokee bears.



Below is Patriot Bear honoring the veterans of the Armed Forces. The artist is William Harris, Jr.




The bears are very large, life-like in fiberglass and painted by artists from the Eastern Band of Cherokee. This bear had just been put on display and did not have a title yet.




Now if I could read and understand the Cherokee language I might have been able to read the name of the bear above. Around 1809 Sequoyah, a Cherokee silversmith, started to work on the creation of a Cherokee alphabet. By the 1820s his alphabet was adopted by the Cherokee Nation. Sequoyah’s syllabary has a system of 86 characters and it introduced the Cherokee Nation to literacy. Sequoyah’s invention was used for printing a newspaper, in education, communication and religious publication. It was an enormous contribution to the systems of writing of the world. There is a very large sculpture of Sequoyah in the center of Cherokee –




And a bear decorated by Charles Saunooke in his honor



Here is another bear without a title and not in the guide book. I wonder what the symbols mean? I do like the frog on his “derrière” though –



Below is “Harmony of Life” by Nikki Nations




Our map shows that one bear was on the other side of the Oconalutfee River which runs through town. So we took a small wooden bridge to cross the river and we saw it by the bank.



On the grass, close to a family of ducks, was the Fish Bear crafted by Faren Sanders Crew.

Don't forget to click on the pictures to enlarge them.

We stopped bear hunting for a while to rest along the river and observe the mama duck with her dozen ducklings.



They were swimming towards the bank



But should they cross the road, we knew they would be safe



The Cherokee culture recognizes Seven Clan Spirits: Bird, Blue, Deer, Hair, Paint, Wild Potato and Wolf. It is believed that, many moons ago, an eighth clan was recognized, and that was the Bear Clan. Below is “Our Forefathers” bear decorated by Tim Chilttoskie.




My husband especially liked Winter Bear, by Jenean Hornbuckle. From a distance it looks as if it were made of marble. But when you stand close to it you can distinguish a very fine winter landscape on its back, as if it were painted with a Chinese brush. Click on the pictures below to observe the winter scene.

These bears do tell a story – a Tribal story. Here is Cherokee Sunset by Joel Queen.




Although all the bears are the same size, each one is quite unique highlighting the individual artist’s vision. Below is Pottery Bear by Melissa Maney




We kept seeing bears along the way



Bears, bears everywhere. We needed to slow down and let the bears hibernate. But instead here is one below called Out of Hiber-Nation by Nikki Nations.




Well since Nikki plays with words, we’ll have to admit that we can’t “bear-ly” walk anymore and need a rest along the river.



And say “goodbye” to the gentle bears…

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-

This post was scheduled to be published while I am away, but I’ll be back soon.