The cat went here and there. And the moon spun round like a top, And the nearest kin of the moon The creeping cat, looked up.

WB Yeats - The Cat and the Moon

The rest of this lovely poem -

Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet,
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.

It's like I'm right there in the moonlight flooded backyard. Beautiful poem!

I'm on a Yeats kick, of late. I keep thinking about the line from “The Coat” “Covered with embroideries. Out of old mythologies.” I don't know that I comprehend it completely. I do know I think it's the greatest thing ever.

We have no cats. I visit with Barncat out at the stables where we keep one of our horses. Barncat is the official rodent extermination machine. She is Death personified. (Catified? I guess.) She cruisrs the barn like a Murder Machine, all shades of gray. Except for her green eyes. Like a black and white photograph come to life.

“

My granddaughter has a cat. He arrived during the Pandemic and like many cats adopted during the Pandemic, he was named Axol. He is gorgeous and photographs well.

My son moved out on his 18th birthday. Him and some friends got an apartment. He moved back home a couple of months later . He brought his two new cats with him. A month later he moved out and left the cats. He intended to come pick them up later. After a dozen years we figured he was never coming back for the cats. One was named Noche. He was black with gorgeous golden highlights. He had a deep purr and and light brown eyes. He was a great cat except for one thing. He would stand in the litter box and over the side. I got him an extra large litterbox. He pooped over the side of that. I'm a patient man but enough was enough. He transitioned perfectly well to an outside cat. We had one of those plastic igloo dog houses a neighbor gave us. At the time, we had a couple of llamas. We would shave them down every spring and donate the good fiber to a local 4H group. The fiber that was too coarse we stuffed in the igloo for insulation.we put it on the back porch. Noche loved his insulated house. He lived in it for years. Occasionally he would come in the house and poop over the side of the litter box for old time sake.

The other cat, WarPig was a beautiful gray and white tabby. We were great friends for 20 years. We called him Pig. One year he ran off. After a few months, when he didn't come back, I figured he'd move on.

Almost a year later I was out mowing the back pasture. I got off the mower to clear some brush out of the way and then I heard a cat meow. I'm meowed back. He responded. This went on for 10 minutes. I went to the house and got a can of cat food came back and popped the top. He came running-we had a grand reunion! I kept him in the house, hoping he would forget his bout of freedom. One day a few weeks later, He slipped out the door. I ran out behind him. He randirectly over to the abandoned house two doors down. There was awindow broken out in the front door. Pig ran right into the house. I had to go get another can of cat food to entice him out.

Pig and Noche we're with us for 20 years. We never replaced them.

Here's Pig in a box. You couldn't help himself and he kind of hated us for that. I don't think cats ever accept responsibility for anything. The Yorkie walking nonchalantly along is Max. He was with us for 22 years. I think right after this photograph Pig jumped out at Max and beat him around for a while.

I’m converting part of the barn into a workshop. I’ve decided every workshop needs a cat. I'm looking forward to it. I'm not picky. Just as long as he can poop in the box.

Here's a flower picture cause I can't help myself. This Lily is 6 ft tall.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day!

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