LEON'S SERVANT

 POST # 572

Most of my mornings begin with the sound of the cat door opening, and moments later, Leon is meowing his head off.  The translation in human terms is, " get the hell out of bed, you lazy human, and feed me right now."

I would like to remain in bed for a few more minutes, but the meowing never stops.  Leon wins, and moments later I am in the kitchen, preparing his breakfast.  I am just his servant.

Now that my master has been served, I can relax for a while, as he gobbles down his food.  The next item on Leon's agenda, is his morning brushing routine.  He races into the spare room, jumps up on his cat tree, in anticipation of me grabbing the brush, and going to work.  I have to admit that I enjoy the brushing probably as much as he enjoys being brushed.  It's a task that helps to keep me in the moment, and not be distracted with anything else going on in the world.  I'm grateful to Leon, for allowing me this simple pleasure.  And as mentioned in last week's blog, he certainly purrs up a storm, to show his appreciation.

With both of those tasks completed, I am free to do whatever I want, and Leon usually heads outside once again, to do whatever he does outside.  It's somewhat of a mystery what he does when he's outside, but he probably spends almost as much of his day and night outdoors, as he does inside the house.  Like many furballs, the night time is the best time to be out there.  He's working up an appetite prior to coming through that cat door each morning.

A large percentage of Leon's daytime activity, revolves around relaxing and sleeping.  After all, he needs to rest up, and digest his food.

 

Even though he was now relaxing on the bed, I asked Leon for a favour.  Seeing as this post started off with the cat door, I asked him if he wouldn't mind giving me a demonstration.  Because I take such good care of him, he was happy to oblige.

Thanks Leon.  Now you can get back on the bed and have another rest.  You've earned it, my furry friend.

So that describes at least part of a day as Leon's servant.  I'm sure things could be worse, so we are happy to spend this time together, while it's available.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PURE PURR

 POST # 571

Earlier this week, I began another round of pet sitting with Mr. Leon.  He is pure purr.  I've known plenty of furballs, and I can only think of just one, who topped Leon, when it comes to purring.  That was a furball named Boris, owned by my friend Brian, in Melbourne.  I imagine that Boris is long gone by now, but when he was still alive, and when he purred, it was even louder than Leon.  Boris also had the bad habit of drooling while he was purring.  Thankfully, Leon doesn't do that.

My week began, by saying so long to Ollie, then moving on to spend a couple of days caring for Eunice, and now here I am with Leon.  He's very easy to care for, and there isn't even any litter box to clean, as he just heads out through his cat door to do his business outside.  All I need to do is feed him twice a day, and then spend the rest of the day making him purr.

The last time I was here, there was another furball across the street, named Marshall, and he would come by each day, just to hang out.  That neighbour has now moved away, so no more Marshall.  I doubt if Leon misses him, because Marshall's strong point wasn't purring.  He would rather lash out at you unexpectedly, and on more than one occasion, he drew blood.  Still, in a funny way, I kind of miss his company.  He was over here everyday, and as long as you gave him space, all was well.  Try to pet him, and the blood was soon flowing from your hand.  

I've got a little bit more than two weeks to hang out with Mr. Leon, so I will make the best of things while I'm here.  And after a big round of purring, Leon needs to have a nap.  But before long, he'll be back to pure purring once again.  What a life he has.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS: Today, marks the 12th anniversary of this blog.

IT'S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD

 POST # 570

While gazing across the night sky at the big "W" the other night, I was reminded of the title of a movie that premiered sixty years ago, in 1963.  I thought that the title was an appropriate one for today's blog post.  The reason that the big W brought this movie to mind, is because there is a big W that is part of the plot in the movie, hence my remembrance of it.  

It certainly seems like a good way to describe the world we currently live in, at least that's the way I see it right now.  Ollie, on the other hand doesn't seem to care one way or the other, as you can see.  As long as there is food in his dish, and he has a place to sleep, he appears to be quite content with his world.

Even the arrival of the window cleaners this past week, seemed to have no effect upon him.  While the guy was hanging outside, I decided to pop out on the deck to say hello.  As soon as he opened his mouth, I could tell that he was Australian, and when I asked where he was from, he mentioned Brisbane.  I told him that I had lived there for a couple of years back in the late '80's.  What are the odds that the only window washer that I have ever met, is from a city I lived in long ago?   He continued on with his work, and Ollie continued on with his sleep.

The days are winding down on my current house sit with Ollie, and I'll be back on the road this coming Monday.  Ollie seems to have a sense that something is up, as he has taken to sleeping on my luggage, perhaps in an effort to convince me to stick around a bit longer, and in spite of him being such wonderful company, there is another furball on Vancouver island that has requested my service, so I will have to say goodbye to Ollie in the near future.

In the meantime, we still have a couple more days to experience this mad, mad, mad, mad world, together.

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

MY TED TALK

 POST # 569

Most of my readers, with the exception of just one, wouldn't know that I recently participated in a Ted Talk. It isn't my first one, as there have been many throughout the years, and I would like to think that it won't be my last one either.  Each Ted Talk has been very worthwhile, and I always come away from them with a good feeling.  The most recent one had the same effect. So let's go through the details.

Exactly one week ago today, on September 30th, I had the opportunity to participate in a Ted Talk that lasted more than four hours.  As far as Ted Talks go, that is a rather lengthy one for sure, but this particular talk went by way too fast.  I was so glad that I had the chance to participate in it.

OK, let me get a little bit more specific.  Rather than a Ted Talk, it was a talk with Ted.  This is Ted.

So, who is Ted?  Ted is a dear friend of mine, that I have known since November, 1978.  We happened to meet in Auckland New Zealand, and even though we've both lived in different countries over the ensuing forty-five years, we have somehow managed to stay in touch all of this time.

Some months after our first meeting, we unexpectedly bumped into each other in Tasmania.  Ted was biking down the coast to Hobart, and I was hitchhiking.  We ended up doing a cat and mouse thing down the coast, with him and a couple of friends on their bikes, and me with my thumb out.  At one point in the journey, Ted asked me what I was reading at the time?  He just assumed that with all those hours sitting by the side of the road waiting for a ride, that I must have something to read, in order to pass the time.  When I told him that I didn't read, he was rather shocked, and soon after he provided me with a book.  That simple exchange, all those years ago, is what started me reading, and I've never stopped.  For that, I will be forever grateful to Ted.

In the early part of the 2000's, we both lived in Vancouver, and so we had the opportunity to get together on numerous occasions.  Since that time, I have been wandering around doing my house/pet sitting gig, and Ted and his wife Doreen now live in Mexico.  They were returning there, after visiting their daughter in Australia, and that was the reason why we had the chance to have a visit last Saturday.

Of course, the time went by way too fast, but in my humble opinion, I think that we filled it up with meaningful conversation, and some beer and sushi as well.

Two Old Farts

But before we both knew it, it was time for Ted to say goodbye, so I escorted him over to the Skytrain station nearby, and took one more photo, before he walked through the turnstile, and I returned to the apartment.

Two old farts outside

Ted is now back home in Mexico, and I'm still here with Ollie as my only company.  Perhaps we will have the opportunity to catch up again somewhere in the future, but if we don't, then at least we had this time to spend together.  

grateful for every breath,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer