Somewhere

Somewhere within me there is this place

Untouched by all of the madness
Some place where tears don't fall
This place inside I keep
So I have somewhere to run to
A place to hide sometimes

I took this photograph on our property here in Colfax, California. My neighbor Rick was burning shrubs and the smoke just looked amazing coming through the trees at sunset.

He Always Knows

He Always Knows

There are days when I wake up and nothing seems to be right.
No matter how hard I try, nothing seems to work.
I stumble through the day on the verge of tears wondering why,
asking myself if there is some point to it all because if there is, I am really not seeing it.

Sometime throughout this type of day, I will see out of the corner of my eye
this little white ball of fluff trying so desperately to get my attention...
"just look at me Mom and I will make it all Better"

When I notice his antics he is usually doing this, as you see in the photograph, he is peeking around something, looking from under something or he is upside down. Whatever he thinks it will take to make me smile. And it works like a charm, every single time.

What amazes me is how he knows....
He always knows when I need him the most.

Model is Mikey

Honor Thy Father

I knew since the day I took this photograph at Discovery Kingdom two years ago that I would post it in honor of a very special human being.
His name is George Adamson, otherwise known as
Baba ya Simba "The Father of Lions".

Some of you may know of him already from the book/movie "Born Free" Elsa's Legacy.
For those of you who do not know....
George Adamson began his journey of saving lions with Elsa, but it far from ended there. He spent his entire life not just fighting for these animals but living with them as well in Kenya where he made it his mission to reintroduce lions back into the wild that had been removed from the wild.

George spent most of his life living with Lions but in the end he would lose his life at the hands of humans.

I encourage you to visit
Father of Lions
to read more about this incredible man and his wife too. It will be a visit you will not soon forget.

George was also the man that reintroduced "Christian the Lion" back into the wild. If you don't know of Christian then you really, really need to see this video
I promise you it is absolutely worth seeing.
(You will need tissue for the happy cry though) It's very moving.

Sacred

“A man is ethical only when life, as such, is sacred to him, that of plants and animals as well as that of his fellowman, and when he devotes himself helpfully to all life that is in need of help.”

~ Dr. Albert Schweitzer

Model is Mikey

Cats Don't Like Water

Not much anyway.

The other day I woke up to a very loud noise, when I sat up in my bed, I saw my Mikey trying with all his might to get out of the fish tank, yep, yep, yep.

It all started out with good intentions, Goldie, our wonderful fishy use to be downstairs but she didn't get much interaction down there in the play room so I decided to move her upstairs where she could see more faces and have a more exciting life since she is an ‘only fishy’.
I did however put her in a different tank, this one being much taller than the other one and apparently not so easy to get out of if you were a cat that happened to fall in by accident. The problem obviously with this new tank was that it didn't have a cover, so I ordered one online and was making the best of it with a makeshift cover until the new one arrived. Well...
Mikey I guess jumped from my computer table to the top of the tank because I remember waking up and seeing him sitting on my keyboard, I dozed back off and woke up to seeing his little back feet against the glass at the bottom of the tank and his front paws latched at the top and he was struggling to get out big time but he made it. I immediately thought that he had eaten my sweet gold fish but looking in the tank along with all the stuff that had fallen in, there she was all safe and sound. (sigh)

I guess I have succeeded in giving Goldie some excitement, not really how I planned but she is no worse for the wear and as you can see here, she is still flirting with Mikey.

Needless to say, Mikey has a new found respect for Goldie AND her environment; he seems content just watching her now. LOL

Models are Goldie and Mikey

I HAVE LEARNED

My animals have taught me to not see breeding, pedigrees, colors, physical or personality oddities. They expect to be accepted for who they are and 'improvement' can only be accomplished through love and encouragement. They don't assume or anticipate. They have no sense of elapsed time and they live for the moment. They respond to kindness and they immediately recognize a loving spirit. They react to how they are treated and always respond appropriately. They don't judge and they forgive. Their communication is natural and direct, without subterfuge or cunning, and every movement has meaning. They notice everything and live by their senses. They don't rely on others opinions and they do nothing for the sake of appearances.They respect their elders and would die for their young. They maintain a hierarchy for survival, not for prestige or arrogance. They are good to themselves. They own nothing, accumulate nothing, and are rich in their simplicity their needs are pure sustenance, and their love and loyalty are without restraint.They do nothing to damage the Earth or threaten our environment.As an imperfect human who respects their perfection, and that of all animals, I can only wonder if 'dominion over the Earth' was granted to the wrong species. And I consider it the supreme human arrogance to suggest that animals do not have souls. How can we flawed humans claim to be the only species created 'in His image," when by their very nature, they are surely closer to the Creator than we are?"

Written By Jim Willis

Model is Mikey

Why Women Love Cats

I never understood why
women love cats.
Cats are independent.
They don`t listen.
They don`t come in
when you call.

They like to stay
out all night.
And when they`re home,
they like to be left alone
and sleep.

In other words,
every quality
that women hate
in a man,
they love
in a cat.

WHY IS THAT!

LOL

Model is Mikey

It's Mikey Time

For more photographs of Mikey you can visit him at Mikey's House
He has his own blog ya know.

It's Mikey Time

Peepin Tomcat

It is so On