Sunday, January 31, 2021

Say "hello" to my little friend!


 I've had cats. I've had dogs. I've never had a creature like this one before. He is the Devil incarnate. Never before have I had a cat that did not want to just curl up and let me pet him and hold him. This cat wants attention and plenty of it. It's just that he wants to tear my hands and arms up with his claws as he grabs hold and bites me - hard. So hard I have to place my finger through his teeth to get him to break the bite. And as he does this his eyes are black as coal and his ears are flat back onto his head. He hates it when I pet him. He grumbles and thrusts his head away and runs away from me.

I beat him at his own game and he hates it. I slather lotion on my arms and hands and he turns away in disgust. Poor baby.

I am struggling reading a book. No, it's vocabulary is not above my intelligence. I've had books where I had to keep a dictionary handy (I am embarrassed to say, but it is what it is). This one is very plainly written. After watching "News of the World" with Tom Hanks and getting the book and reading it (the book is better) I am reading a book the author, Paulette Jiles, recommends at the end. 

It is a non-fiction book by Scott Zesch titled, "The Captured." It tells the collected stories, newspaper clippings and tales from folks whose ancestors had been captured by various tribes (Comanche, Lipan Apache, Kiowa)  in 1870's Texas and returned to their family after months living with the tribe that captured them.

Never again (okay, I am probably exaggerating) will I complain if my car tire is low on air, or even a flat tire, or I am stuck in traffic or if my gas bill is sky high. I have asked the constellation "Why is life so hard?!" at various times in my life and I am not proud of that remark. Especially after reading this book. Well, I'm not finished yet. In fact, I am only 33% through it. Sometimes I have to stop reading, especially when I find my fingers are clutched to something so hard they are turning white. And last night for the first time (in maybe - ever) I had trouble sleeping because of reading a book. Movies -   yes, but a book - no. This one is getting to me. Harsh.

The thing is, it isn't what happened to the individual who was returned. It was the information they shared about the white hostages who did NOT make it back. And how the abductors dealt with the family members they did not take with them or murdered during their journey back to their clan's settlement.   What they witnessed during their ordeal of being taken. 

Yeah. Sometimes I have had to stop and take a breather with this one.



Monday, January 18, 2021

Lost Closet


 I have Monday (MLK day) off from work.  Guess what I get to do?  I call it a lost closet.  My daughter will be 30 this year.  My niece moved out over 10 years ago. My nephew married about 7 years ago and sometime after that I stopped celebrating Christmas.  

The dumpster outside is empty. This closet is full.  Can I overcome nostalgia? Will my back hold out?

Saturday, January 09, 2021

Don't even try it.


 If this image doesn't convey the message "Don't mess with me" I don't know what does. And not a weapon in sight. Reminds me of the song (family favorite) titled "The Ballad of the Green Berets" by Sgt. Barry Sadler.  The line:  "Trained in combat hand to hand."

Narcissism is our ego on a scale. If you imagine a scale of 1 to 100 and all the people you know fall somewhere on that scale. Some are more "self-centered" than others. That was the word we used in the 70's "Self-centered."  It meant rude and selfish.  If you look back through history you can probably guess where some people fall on the Narcissistic scale. I can think of one individual that might just be pushing the needle as far as it can go.

Thursday, January 07, 2021