BALLS!!!

Goldie is a boy!

I just spotted him out lying on the patio and went out and coaxed him over for a good petting session, during which I sneaked a peek in the crucial area.

He also really enjoyed the petting session today and stretched and rolled on the patio.

No more confusion.

He's a he!!!

Goldie

This cat . . . Golden Boy or Golden Girl, I still don't know which . . . has taken to one of our chairs virtually every morning for his/her cat nap. This morning when I arose I looked out and there he/she was. So I carefully went out and walked down the ramp, right past the cat's chair and sat down in an adjoining one, just a couple of feet away. Goldie . . . as I have taken to calling him/her . . . watched me but showed no fear and didn't move from his/her spot. After a bit I reached out one hand slowly and let him/her take a sniff, then touched him/her briefly on the forehead. Goldie then lay his/her head down and closed his/her eyes. After a little more sitting quietly, I got up. Goldie watched me as I approached, again put my hand down for a sniff, then lightly scratched the top of his/her head and finally petted him/her on the back several times and touched his/her cheeks (where their sense organs are located). Goldie again showed no fear or alarm, closing his/her eyes and stretching his/her neck. I guess now we are pals.

The next step is a careful examination to determine the gender. This he/she, him/her, his/hers bit is becoming tiresome!

Pals

Smoke, our sidewalk supervisor, yard foreman and the only one of our cats that we let go outdoors, has taken to napping on one of the deck chairs recently. I looked out and spotted him there this morning.

But, to my surprise, I discovered another cat on an adjacent chair.

This little darlin' has been hanging around lately and Smoke seemingly has accepted him. He's quite shy, yet bold, and neither of us has been able to approach him. I think he's a girl but SWMBO says yellow/orange cats are always boys and she named him Golden Boy. But he's not at all aggressive which, I guess, is why Smoke has accepted him so readily.

The Round-Up

O.K. So you don't like my blathering about the rain. All right, then I'll get political again and see if that rouses you.

#1 - Watching the News Hour with Jim Lehrer, I was stunned to view Dina Temple-Raston, who I've heard many times on NPR. She's a stunning woman with great dimples and I predict she'll be on t.v. somewhere, soon. She's also very smart, having degrees from Northwestern, Columbia and some Chinese university. She speaks French (her first language - she was born in Belgium), English (obviously) and Arabic. She's also the author of a couple of very well reviewed books. Watch for her on a t.v. news program soon.

#2 - Dick Cheney was a modern day Attila the Hun. His latest sin was that he tried to convince President Bush to use military troops to arrest the so-called Lackawanna Six - an alleged terrorist group in suburban Buffalo, New York. For some strange reason, W rejected the advice and had civilians take the guys into custody. Word is that Bush loyalists are throwing Cheney to the wolves but who would you rather have the wolves devour?

#3 - O.K. This one isn't political. Heard Terry Gross interview Zooey Deschanel on "Fresh Air" today. Seems Ms. Deschanel was named after the "Franny and Zooey" character J.D. Salinger created. She held off on reading the book until after her high school graduation at age 18 but then found, to her relief, that she loved the character. My friend, RS, loves her and, I think, so do I.

That's enough mental insulin for tonight. Play nice, amongst yourselves.

Oh...one other thing. How come I can no longer adjust the size of my type on Google?

Here comes the rain!

A monsoon storm is moving through.

Post-rain skys

A few photos of a post-rain sky. (Yes, we finally got some rain.)

Meanwhile, back on earth . . .

If you click on the photos, you can almost smell the roses.

Summer Skies