Our Mischievous Angel

Georgie was born in the spring of 2017.  Her mother was one of our indoor/outdoor cats and was a mischievous little monster herself.  Actually, her mother was a Tortoise that we named Varmit as a kitten as she was in to everything and Varmit seemed to fit.  But once she discovered being outdoors, she preferred it but on occasion would sneak inside and gained a new nick name--Dammit.

Varmit met a charming tomcat when she was outside who was a beautiful long haired combo of Siamese and Rag Doll.  When Varmit had kittens, she had three who looked like the tom whose name was  Curious George but called Georgie,

 When Georgie Girl was just a kitten she hurt a leg and required careful watching so we brought her inside.  

 My grandchildren treated her special and spoiled her to death.  She was a cute kitten and to this day is a cute cat but unlike her father, this rag doll has a ornery streak.  She demands attention all the time, due to the fact that the grandkids were constantly holding her or giving her attention and now they are gone but she still demands that attention.

She thinks by falling down in front of you that you will stop and pick her up and if you scoot her away, she repeats the action.

She joined the indoor family of her grandmother, Sassy and two others unrelated to her, Miss Kitty who thought she was the #1 cat and Shadow, a ragdoll with darker markings than Georgie and much more quieter and refined.

Sassy liked be the #1 cat from her previous household so between her and Miss Kitty, there was a lot of hissing and fussing going on.  Finally Miss Kitty found refuge by hiding under the covers on my bed so as not have to face her adversary.

Shadow continued his daily routine, not bothered by the constantly growling and hissing Sassy or the antics of Georgie.

If we are in the kitchen Georgie is too, right at our feet meowing, hoping she will get a bite of chicken.  Heaven forbid we use the can opener for anything else as she has a fit and has to know what it is and isn't satisfied until she knows.

Georgie loves to play and can't understand why the other cats won't play.  Now she knows she can intimidate them just by walking into the room or by them.  She loves to chase Sassy but it never turns into anything as Sassy will jump up on something to get away and Georgie loses interest.  So it is on to the next victim.  She loves to sneak into the room where Miss Kitty is and hides until Miss Kitty comes out from under the covers and then the chase is on.  However, Miss Kitty will strike back so it never goes far and George walks away like nothing has happened.

It makes no difference if Georgie has been fed, she nonchalantly walks in to where Shadow's bowl is and just noses her way in.  Shadow being the gentleman he is, backs off and watches while she nibbles away until she is caught and chased off.

Then she sits around the corner just waiting for another chance.

She can be a loving cat if she wants to be, but she prefers to see what kind of trouble she can get in to.  She likes to get on the dining room chairs and play with the table cloth and has poked holes in it.

But the fun part comes at night when she has to go to my daughter's room for the night, this is for the protection of the other cats that she has to sleep behind a closed door which she hates.  So we have to come up with ideas on catching the "white rat" as we call her.  She hides under the table or the sofa or behind a chair hoping we can't get her.

Sometimes we flip the can opener on hoping she will think it is chicken and come up to the kitchen and sometimes it works but when it doesn't, then the hunt is on.  My daughter and I team up to try to catch the little rat.  She is clever and fast so sometimes it takes a while and a lot of coaxing.  We try chicken, pieces of cheese or whatever gets her attention to get her to come out into the open enough that we can grab her.

Now sometimes she doesn't realize it is bed time and will rub up against us if we are in the kitchen so we just scoop her up.  She gives us a look and then playfully tries to bite.

She has a sweet little face and a little voice that goes with it.  She never meows loud, but is a soft mew sound, almost as if it is a loud purr.

She is aptly named as is a lot like her daddy when it comes to curiosity.  We think maybe her daddy was taken in by someone or crossed the rainbow bridge as he doesn't come around anymore but we have his offspring to remind us of his gentle soul and hopefully one day she will become a gentle loving rag doll and live up to her breed.

Her mother disappeared also and we are pretty sure she crossed the rainbow bridge, unknown how but she liked to roam and we have predators and cars that speed by so we don't know, only that she isn't here anymore.

I'm sure she would be proud of her little "varmit" who loves to get into things and has fun chasing the other cats. 

 FALL

Fall is not my favorite time of the year.  But it brings so many changes from day to day.

The days grow shorter while the evenings bring a cool crispness to the air.

The leaves of some trees display their brilliant color while others only offer a dull brown.

It is a short lived scene as the harsh north winds begin to blow.

Just as you blow out a candle, the winds blow the leaves from their branches.

The barren branches stretch towards the sky with nothing to hide.

The winds swirl the leaves towards the ground, moving them from left to right.

The pretty flowers of Summer now lie wilted in their pots, Roses from the garden drooping.

The beauty of Spring and Summer have disappeared leaving a dull and barren landscape.

Oh, how I long for the warm days of Summer, the beauty of the Roses and flowers.

Fall has arrived preparing us for the Winter with its freezing temperatures, ice and snow.

Time to huddle inside with hot cocoa and a fire's warming glow.

(c) 2020

2020

When we think about 2020, the first thing that comes to mind is perfect vision.  But when it is the year 2020, it was anything but perfect vision.

In January, word came that China had loosened a virus around the world killing thousands, shutting down towns, villages saying any business that was non-essential would be closed to the public.  It also meant that everyone had to wear a face mask, supposedly to keep the virus from spreading and later deemed it wasn't that important.  They really don't know how it spreads and keeps changing their ideas.  It is a harsh version of the flu but governments have decided to use it and gave compensation to hospitals for Covid 19 patients so amazingly, all other illnesses disappeared and everyone had "Covid 19" on their death certificates.

Along with masks, people were ordered to "social distance".  We had to maintain 6 feet away from the nearest person and stores marked their floors with 6 feet markers.  Lines were long as with everyone six feet apart, there was a lot of empty spaces in the lines.

Months went by with empty grocery shelves and no one really knows why but for some reason, people thought they had to hoard toilet paper and it became scarce.  Little by little it began coming back on the shelves but people were still buying it to stash away.  Grocery shelves were emptied of can goods, boxed dinners and any food people could store.  Even meat became scarce.

By summer, things were returning to somewhat normal with grocery shelves being stocked and people not in a panic were buying within reason. 

As fall arrived, debates whether to open schools or to continue with the distance learning they began in the spring.  Some schools opened and some opened part time and used distance learning.  Those that did open made sure of the social distancing and required the students to wear masks all day at school.

The masks created another hazard, for those who have breathing problems, they couldn't wear the masks and it was also discovered that those who did wear them for long periods of time began suffering from infections of the lungs from breathing in the stale air and germs they created in the masks.  It was a damned if you do or damned if you don't thing.  

People grew tired of the social distancing, the masks and the fact that the virus didn't seem as potent and began to wonder if it was all a hoax or maybe made worse than what it actually was.  There was a lot of debate. Those who thought the masks were the answer were adamant but then those who didn't wear them argued they didn't need them.

People were told not to go to church or not to have more than 10 people at the service.  Easter services were cancelled, 4th of July celebrations were cancelled or postponed to a later date.  Who wants to celebrate the 4th of July on Labor Day?  But that was the rule.  There were restrictions for Halloween and they are saying families shouldn't get together for Thanksgiving or Christmas.

This year was also an election year for President and our congress.  It has ended up in chaos as the Democrat party wants in power so badly that they cheated anyway they could so the election is still up in the air and will be until the deadline as states face legal charges, recounts and investigations.

The Democrats who have turned to Socialism want to lock down the country, force the people to wear masks and basically quarantine us as we will be limited to where we can go.  Just as our economy was picking up and people were going back to work and the businesses that survived, even though they are suffering, have opened up again so the country is trying to get back to what it was before.  But the Democrats don't want that to happen and want to undo all the good our President has done for the past 4 years.

Our country has taken pride in our freedoms and we are known around the world for our freedom and success, yet the Democrats don't want to honor that and want us to be like a 3rd world country with them being the dictators.  I have a feeling that the patriots and people who love this country will fight and we will see a civil war between the good and evil.

We started decorating for Christmas early this year to being some joy and happiness into our lives.  It inspires us and gives us hope that soon this year will end and with God's blessing, we will be able to live in a free and happy country again.

I know I don't have that many years left but I worry about my daughters, grandchildren and now my great grandson who was born in September, one of the best things that happened all year.  But I wonder what kind of world they will have to live in and it scares me to death.

As we get close to year's end, my hope and prayers is that Good will win over Evil and we can get our lives back on track and be happy again.  And I'm sure I'm not the only one who would just like to erase 2020 from the calendar and from history but it will still be there and maybe it will be a lesson for all of us to not take for granted what we have and to be on the alert so that Evil cannot overtake us.