Recreational catnip use.

The "feline opium den" is back in business - the catnip has some fresh new growth that is irresistible to cats (and apparently quite tasty).

But What Does It Mean?

I am supposed to read a bible passage (Rev 7: 9-17) at Big Daddy's service on Saturday. Apparently, he chose what he wanted to have read at his funeral service, so I am happy to oblige. But I have read the passage that I am to recite at the service over and over, and I am still not sure what it means. And this bothers me. Why can't I understand it better?

I stopped going to church regularly when I was 20, in 1986. Before that, I went to Sunday school, church services Sunday morning and night, and Wednesday classes. Since then, I have attended church mostly for weddings and funerals, and occasionally just because. The last time I went to a church service that was not a wedding or a funeral, it was with Big Daddy. It was probably 3-4 years ago, and I knew he would enjoy taking me, so I invited myself along. I was raised in a sort of generic protestant denomination. My husband (PDM) was raised Catholic. Big Daddy was Episcopalian during the last years of his life (he used to go to the same church I grew up in, which was not episcopalian, but that was many years ago). PDM tried to help me interpret the verses, but I still don't claim to understand them.

Am I the only one feeling lost about this kind of thing? I am sure that the readings are supposed to make one feel better. I should feel comforted, but I don't. I can't wrap my mind around "forever" or "infinity", when I really try to. Is it easy for other people? It isn't for me - it is an existential struggle that I fight every day. What does it really mean? I have no idea. I wish I did.

Actias Luna

So, what's new with you? I continue to feel unsettled. Not sure why, exactly. There are all kinds of excuses, like the pollen, or the changes at work, or the changing seasons, or the changes at home (work on the porch continues). Twice during the last week I have come home from work exhausted, and gone to bed absurdly early. I hope this is just a transient thing, and not me coming down with something or slowly losing my mind.

Maybe I will feel better after we have had Big Daddy's celebration on Saturday, and his interment on Monday. In addition to the obituary on Sunday, there was an article in the Atlanta newspaper about him in Monday's Metro section. I'm still putting together the photo slide show for the reception.

The porch construction is coming along. The contractors were the ones who first saw the luna moth in the photo. I would have completely missed it. It was clinging to the brick near the downspout on the corner of our home. At first, its wings were folded, and it looked like a leaf. They pointed it out and I went in to get my camera. I think giant Saturnid moths are beautiful, and took several photos of it. My regular readers know how I love the Latin names for things. Thus the post title. If you've never seen a giant Saturnid moth in person, they are impressive. They have a 4-5" wingspan, and all have vivid, distinctly marked coloring - most with "eyes" like this one. They tend to hide in unobtrusive locations and are easy to miss. I once shot a whole roll of film of a polyphemus moth that I found on my windowsill one Saturday morning in Massachusetts. Beautiful!

In other news, I was well positioned to win the office NCAA tourney pool, but Memphis blew it for me, so I came in tied for 5th. Hmpf. Oh well. I did way better than last year, when Georgia Tech was in there warping my otherwise good judgment. Memphis was doomed from the moment I inked them in the top spot on my bracket. I have notoriously bad luck with sports wagers. Once I was spotted 50 points on a game, and my team lost 51-0. 'Nuff said.

Death and Taxes

Death and taxes consumed most of my Saturday. It was a rainy day - steady rain for a change - and perfect for the jobs at hand. It wasn't as bad as the post title cliche makes it seem. I spent the day scanning old photos and locating some digital shots for Big Daddy's funeral reception. I also did our taxes (finally!).

Going through the photos was fun. I did find some good Big Daddy photos, but also enjoyed seeing old friends, family, pets, and places I used to live or visit. There were a few issues getting my scanner to work on PDM's computer. The software didn't work with Leopard (his new operating system), but the problem was easily solved by booting up with the older operating system. I've still got to scan photos from some other family members and expect to get some digital photos from them as well. The obituary was published in today's paper, and his service is next Saturday. So the photo collecting is a bit "last minute" but I think it will all work out in the end.

The tax stuff went smoothly (other than the usual shock at seeing the total amount we have paid in over the year). We don't have anything super complicated going on with our income and/or deductions, so the returns look pretty much the same every year. I originally just bought a software package to do federal, but I caved and downloaded the state version because I just didn't feel like dealing with it and I knew it would take far less effort that way. The state program found something I didn't know about and more than paid for itself with that bit of info, so it worked out for the best. This kind of stuff is NOT how I like to spend my Saturdays, even rainy ones. I'm glad it's over for another year.

I haven't done anything worthwhile today. And isn't that the best way to spend a lazy Sunday? PDM has spent hours making more tessellated tile patterns for the new porch floor. Me, I've been damn near useless today. Reading, surfing, eating, and napping, with about 20 minutes of random house and yard work thrown in to make me feel less guilty about the rest of the day.

How was YOUR weekend?

Silvio's Eyes

Silvio has pretty eyes. Typical feline cat eye color would be green, gold, or copper. His eyes are none of these, and all of these. If there is a feline version of "hazel" then he has it. His eyes are stunning in the right light, next to his drab gray coat. Not so stunning in this overexposed photo taken under fluorescent lights, however. You'll have to take my word for it.

Owls and Owlets

I didn't sleep well last night, but it wasn't all bad. I was awake to hear the local barred owls calling to each other. But that wasn't all I heard. Mixed in with the adult calls, there was the unmistakable sound of multiple offspring imitating their parents' calls. They made a strange, wobbly, off-pitch approximation of the adult classic hoot (which sounds like "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?"). They called as a group several times through the night, and I assume from the nearly adult sound of the owlets that they are close to fledging, if they haven't already. I still don't know where the nest is, but one of the owls is in a tree near my house right now, scouting out the hunting for tonight. They are likely to get an early start -- it is dark and overcast here today.

Fool!

So it's April Fools Day. Did anybody get in any good pranks?

We got somebody pretty good at work. One of us (not me) sent a text message toward the end of the day to a co-worker who had already left, and told her that she needed to come back by 7pm to do a procedure. She frantically called back, and got no answer (we were listening to the phones ring while laughing). She was driving her kids to all their after school stuff and was probably freaking out because she couldn't reach any of us. She proceeded to call us one after another, getting no answer (all phones have caller ID and we were all in on it). We were watching all this go down and having a lot of fun at her expense. We let her stew for a good 10-15 minutes. Then we all prepared a text message "APRIL FOOLS!" and send them to her simultaneously. She was a good sport about it. We all had a good laugh.