Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Looking for Rainbows in Hawaii
We didn’t realize it then, but timing is everything. By some fortuitous planning, we managed a trip to Hawaii in February, completely oblivious to what we’d face upon our return – pandemic, lockdown, and stay-at-home orders.
So for Cee’s On the Hunt for Joy Challenge I thought I’d go looking for rainbows in Oahu. Here’s what I found.
Sandals! Aren’t they fun? We called them zories when I was a kid, without the bling of course. Later on we called them thongs till that took on a new meaning and now we call them flip flops. At least I think we do, who can keep up?
I found rainbow colored sailboats near Ala Moana Park, with Diamond Head and the Hilton Rainbow Tower in the background.
I passed the tower on a walk to Waikiki Beach –
and found a bird in the lagoon lit up by its reflection.
As I continued my walk there was a cooling shower followed by a rainbow in the clouds.
In fact there were many other rainbows on our trip – including this one over the harbor. No wonder Hawaii calls itself the Rainbow State.
But my favorite comes from our first trip to Hawaii years ago. Taken from a dinner cruise as we celebrated our anniversary and perhaps a promise that we would return.
I’m glad we did. But for now we stay at home enjoying the memories. Timing is everything.
~ Susanne
A Story of Tiger from the Early Days
This happened some years ago after I first came to live with Bob and Sue.
I’d just finished my bath and was relaxing on the desk under the fading light of winter sun….
when I felt a strange tingling in my neck and had the sense I was being watched. I turned around and saw two black eyes peering at me through the window.
I kept my cool but Sue came unglued and began yelling and waving her arms.
“Bob! There’s a raccoon on our roof!”
So there really were raccoons.
The next thing you know Bob’s pumping up the BB gun, running outside and firing away to scare off that old bandit.
But I was left wondering – what else was out there?
You see, up till then I’d been an “indoor cat.” I even hate the name, no offense to the rest of the kingdom. In all my previous lives, I was never allowed to go outside – not even for a short walk in a fenced yard. Never allowed to hunt in the wild like our ancestors did or jump high in the air to catch a winged creature. (Just for play of course.) Instead I had to content myself with the stray spider in the house, the slow moving housefly or worse yet, the taunting of crows and squirrels through the window.
Well, I thought, this raccoon may set back my efforts to ever get outside. Still, I determined to wear them down and day by day, I stood by the door with sad eyes and cried. I made promises to stay inside the fence (uh-huh) and to always come when called. And as the days grew longer and the sun grew brighter and the squirrels began running frantically to and fro, Bob and Sue FINALLY opened the door. And for that I will always be grateful.
~ Tiger
Flower of the Day – Clematis
Every May she wakes up in the garden, climbing, determined and exuberant, making everything beautiful in her path.
For Cee’s Flower of the Day: Clematis.
~ Susanne
Green River, Rain or Shine! And Steelhead Sighting!
Don’t get me wrong, I prefer shine. But regardless of the weather there’s nothing like a walk along the Green River to cure what ails you! And yesterday we were rewarded with a Steelhead sighting – Washington’s State Fish – making it a perfect hike!
It had been too long since we’d ventured out. Perhaps the rain had gotten to us. Or maybe it was the quarantine blues. Whatever it was, we shook it off yesterday and headed to Flaming Geyser State Park, stopping short of the entrance but finding easy access to a river trail nearby.
Now the thing about walking in the woods is that the rain doesn’t seem to bother you. It’s filtered by the treetops and moss before it falls gently to the ground keeping everything lush and green – at least if you live in the Evergreen State.
I could have sworn we were in the rainforest, with so many trees wearing moss and ferns
including this zombie, which I wouldn’t want to meet in the dark.
We made our way down to the river where we watched it flow in perfect solitude.
And then – after Bob mentioned what a good spot it was for fishing — we saw a giant Steelhead jump! A first for me!
Too bad I didn’t catch him in the video but trust me, it was three feet long if it was an inch!
So I wondered – is it a Salmon or a Trout? According to what I could find online, it’s technically a Rainbow Trout but spends much of it’s life in the ocean, returning to spawn like a Salmon. To learn more click here.
And in case you were wondering – Washington State Parks will be reopened again next week, complete with services and parking and fishing too – hooray!
~ Susanne
Ready or Not
It turns out the first Earthquake I experienced in Seattle, happened on April 29th, 55 years ago! Sorry to say I am old enough to remember, please don’t hold it against me! 🙂
Rise Up! : Sign Language Version
Check out this inspirational post from my friend Pete. A beautiful song of encouragement in sign language!
My step-daughter Emma works here in Norfolk in a school for children with special educational needs. Because of Coronavirus, she is currently working from home on teaching projects. She decided to use her sign language skills to help and inspire the kids at the school, many of whom have great problems with communication. She worked hard to create a sign language version of the popular and inspiring song, ‘Rise Up!’
I don’t normally make such requests, but on this occasion I am asking all of you, wherever you live, to share this blog post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and on any other social media platform you are a member of.
Sign language is international. and so many people trapped at home during the current lockdown may be thrilled and inspired by Emma’s video. Let them know it will all be over soon, and that one day they will ‘Rise Up’…
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Dreaming of the Most Beautiful Lakes in the World!
Oh the places we’ll go when we’re freed from our homes! As for me, I’m dreaming of the most beautiful lakes in the world – and they’re found in the Canadian Rockies! Don’t believe me? Let me show you!
We’ll start in Banff with Vermillion Lakes where you’ll see the mountains reflected in its quiet waters.
We’ll head north where you’ll fall in love with Lake Louise, perhaps the most famous of them all!
Right next door is Moraine Lake which might become your new favorite.
But don’t make the decision hastily as the next two beauties will take your breath away!
Bow Lake
Peyto Lake
Leaving the crowds behind we’ll head to Jasper National Park and soak up the solitude at Medicine Lake
and Maligne Lake.
See what I mean? I can hardly wait to return to the most beautiful lakes in the world!
Oh the places we’ll go when we’re freed from our homes!
~ Susanne
Benji’s Steps For Spring Gardening
Well it’s that time of year again so Sue has asked me to lead you through the basic steps of spring gardening! If you’re lucky like me your humans – Bob in this case – will have already installed garden beds in a sunny place.
Your first job is to prepare the soil. Tools help for this purpose.
Next you plant your seeds – or itty bitty plants called ‘starts.’ Or you may even move existing plants around and around like Sue does every year.
The next step is critical and definitely requires a cat like me. You must rid your garden beds of pests lest they sneak in underneath and eat your crop before you do!
After your beds have been planted and all unwanted pests have been removed, you watch and wait,
through sunshine and rain
until you finally get to enjoy the fruit of your labor
and it is catmint!
A work cat, after all, is worthy of his wages. 🙂
~ Susanne and Benji
Ambling in the Rainy Day Garden
After being missing in action for most of April, the rain returned to the Pacific Northwest and was welcomed by all.
I took a walk in the garden admiring the raindrops on the Lady’s Mantle
the Chives
and the budding Clematis. It won’t be long before they burst into bloom.
Tiger was happy to join me on my walk –
while Benji took a rainy day nap inside.
~ Susanne
How Many Browsers Does One Blogger Need?
Three so far!
Microsoft Edge
My computer came loaded with Microsoft Edge and I’ve used it for everything including blogging. Until it became increasingly buggy. First, I started losing my credentials when reading other blogs which caused my comments to show up as ‘Anonymous.’ Next, and even more annoying I can no longer upload pictures when creating a post. And more recently I’m finding glitches with comment notifications.
Chrome
Okay, fine. I’d already switched to Chrome to solve the anonymous problem and I’ve been using it to load pictures. So it had become my browser of choice for blogging. Until today that is, when I opened my blog in Chrome and found that the font had shrunk making it hard to read. Sigh.
Firefox
Enter Firefox! Rather than log a case with WordPress I thought – what the heck – let’s try another browser! So yes indeed I downloaded Firefox and I now have three – count ’em three! – browsers on my PC to use when one or the other of them causes me heartache.
I’m using Firefox to create this post – so far so good. The font is what I like, I’m able to upload my pictures and my credentials are working on other blogs.
I hope there is not a fourth browser in my future!
Now before I leave you I want you to know that I accomplished this amazing feat this morning while being continually harassed (excuse me, entertained) by my office helper, you know the one.
That will be all for now.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 