A hummingbird flits at the feeder. Unaware that the rains of fall have come. The coolness of day changes green to orange red. Falling to earth like a shredded patchwork quilt. The flowers are few and nectar is rare, but those flying dynamos carry on. Such persistence. Such dedication to a singular effort.

The cats nuzzled together. Keeping warm through their union. The hummingbird persists. The cats unaware and uncaring of their industrious friend’s progress. They’ve had their fill. First eating. Then cleaning. Then sleep.

And here I sit. Friday mid-afternoon. The couch. My nest. Sleepless. How I wish I could be as industrious and relentless as that hummingbird. Or as unaware as said cats. But here I sit braced from pain. The pain of a wounded knee. It’s no allusion. No intimation. Just fact dressed in a black supportive shroud.

I was walking through the park one day. Well okay. Not so much a park, as my living room. And it was

Manx cats by nature are a playful lot. Rocky and Rose are no exception. This brother and sister tag team spend some part of every day, chasing each other all over the house. Then when it’s time to “play who’s dominant now” … it’s a trade. Sometimes Rocky … the big orange boy cat. Or Most times his little sister Rose. I never saw a cat that small be the alpha cat in a household. And poor Angel, the oldest cat out of them all … is certainly at the bottom of the pecking order. It’s really sad when both Rocky and Rose gang up on the old girl.

But don’t fret yet. Angel can get her licks in too, and also be the instigator of calamity and much mayhem. She and the Rock boy are best buds. They are forever playing with each other. Especially in the mornings. But Angel tends to steer clear of alpha Rose. Except when it comes time to nap. Then you might find both girls cuddled up in a ball

I couldn’t sleep this morning. Woke up at 4:30 AM. Tried to sleep more … just couldn’t. So I got up. What did I do? I finished the Photo Gallery on my blog. Of course! Well … finished for now. There is still one section still under construction … Photo Art. This one is going to need a bit of scanning & Photoshop cleanup. But it’s doable.   Having years & years of negatives and slides, I have my work cut out for me. But I like the new Gallery look, and I’m sure I’ll tweak it more. But It’s back to where it was before. Now I must get more “stuff” uploaded. Time to make some breakfast & get to work.

The sunny days of the previous week had dissolved into gray that day, and the skies wept because of it. The creek was running high from accumulated downpours. The air was cool and damp as I opened the sliding door. I needed that little brisk slap to fully awaken. But then again … did I really need to be fully awake?

I sat at my computer like most other mornings watching the cats rustle, stretch and yawn, starting their lazy day. Started my morning reads. MacWorld.com. OS X Hints.com. MacNN. Seattle Times … ad infinitum. A morning like many others. One by one the cats filed past as they time shared my lap or my arms. (I once read somewhere that in multiple cat households, cats tend to ‘time share’ their owner(s). I was intrigued by the concept alone!) It’s kind of tough to read or type when you have an arm full of the Rock man. But it’s a trade off I’d make. Any day. Then again … every day. It’s part of my pre- breakfast morning ritual. There are times I even have to put my feet up on the desk to create a larger landing pad for said time-sharers. It’s easier to multi-task that way. You know. Petting, rubbing and reading. What could be better! Okay … coffee, petting, rubbing and reading.

One day we say “good-bye” and the next we say “hello!” And so it goes. Today is another anniversary. It’s the one year anniversary we brought home two new additions to our household.

During the time we were preparing ourselves for Mr Mason to head off to ‘the big bunny hop in the sky,’ Chris & I also talked about the possibility of getting another cat. Not that we could ever replace the ‘furry potato’ … but we knew we wanted the joy of raising a new ‘kid.’ We had also talked about how we’d know when it was ‘the right time.’ Or how much time was ‘appropriate’ before getting another cat. I said when the opportunity presented itself … we’d know.

On the very night we put Mr Mason down, Chris was ‘researching’ on PetFinder.com and found a brother and sister duo named ‘Will & Grace.’ They fit all of our prerequisites, they had to be Manx, because of how loving a breed they are, and there had to be a male in the group. Originally we thought we’d only get one cat. But I also thought that my cat Angel was also getting older & if she ‘went’ it would be nice for the second cat to still have a companion. It’s funny … we both decided it would be nice to get two cats. But had thought the thought separately. When we saw the Will & Grace … we both looked at each other and said … “you know … I was thinking about getting two.” Right then we knew we had to go look at them.

This is an Anniversary day. But not one I might be inclined to celebrate. No party hats, no music, no icing on a cake. It’s just one year later.

I only knew him a short time. No more than a few years. But this furry little beast burrowed his way into my heart. I was sad to say good-bye. Mason, as my partner Chris named him some seventeen years ago, was a big orange boy cat. A Manx to be precise. Chris brought him home one day from a local Seattle animal shelter.

The breed in and of itself is a miracle of, or actually a mutation of, genetics. The very things that give the cats their unique and cherished characteristics are an aberration in other breeds.