May 2007 Update or - What a long, strange trip it's been

Undoubtedly, this is something like the reason that Pearl has refused to make any predictions for the last couple of years. Neither personal, national, nor worldwide events have crossed that invisible wire between our minds.

But would we mere humans have wished to know how many would die in a war for oil, how much wrong would be done in our name in the form of torture and threat? No matter if we knew that the worlds respect for Americans would fall to an all time low, what could we have done about it? And thus, what good would it have done us to know?

I bow to the white kitty's wisdom.

On the national level, Pearl seemed to slide into something of a funk after that second election. She enjoys the computer and Internet so much it was disheartening to her that wicked humans would be so low as to use it to rob a nation of free people of choice. That every keystroke is now probably guarded by the thought police must disturb her, too. How long before those men in black break down our door and insist on being shown the human who claimed she was a psychic cat! This could only lead to the worst. And, so, wisely, she has kept her own counsel.

And on a personal level, oh my, the changes we have been through.

In brief, my husband spent some time in the hospital, was laid off from his job, and the lease ran out on our lovely apartment by the river, all in less than a year. Feeling that we had tied up our loose ends and closed out our personal and professional business obligations, in traditional Okie fashion, we loaded the family into the car with a tent, and headed west.

Pearl surprised me by easily adjusting to life on the road. She and the husband even figured out how to hook up the computer (of course, it was with us) in campgrounds! Heaven forbid she be without electronic communication!

She became more expressive of her devotion (dare I say, clingy?) and more emotionally supportive than she has ever been. It seems she has finally decided that we aren't so bad maybe we can be her "real family" through thick and thin after all. She has even shocked me by becoming more accepting of strangers which is to say she hasn't drawn blood in a few months.

To my surprise, the kitty who became frightened and withdrawn was Zoey. Being both younger, and born feral and given her always intense interest in going outside, I thought she would quite enjoy the adventure. For a time she was so fearful that we considered surrendering her at a no-kill shelter as the most merciful solution for her.

All in all, we actually had a wonderful time exploring the Southwestern United States, camping in the beautiful parks and campgrounds, seeing the sights, meeting interesting people, and really having a very long, very well deserved vacation after six years of non- stop grind.

It began to get cold, and we decided that, of the places we had been, we loved New Mexico best. We decided to look for a place there to hole up for the winter, get jobs of whatever sort, and decide what to do next. Through a series of serendipitous circumstances (I'm sure Pearlie must have had a paw in), we came to live on a large, beautiful, remote ranch in Southern New Mexico.

We are very happy here. All of us thoroughly enjoy watching the amazing variety of wildlife that parades past our windows. James and I are building a new life. We were given a barn cat Hani, a beautiful blue gray lady who proceeded to give us six more cats in short order.

Her black tom kitten, dubbed Balthazar, is well on his way to being a big, tough barn cat. Smoke and Sterling, the two grays, female and male, are also loving being outside and learning all about chasing little mice from their mom. Clarice, the lone tortoishell, is as paranoid, neurotic, and schizoid as any calico or tortie I've ever had. However, from the withdrawn runt who hides she has grown into a muscular girl who slapped her littermates AND Mama cat, Hani, right out of the food bowl until she was done yesterday! Yeah, I think she's gonna be okay.

Two of the kittens, Puff and Mist, were Siamese in color. We found out there was a big Siamese tom hanging around their Mom before she came to live with us. Big surprise, eh? Chuckle. I brought both of them into the house and they had a wonderful time playing together and horrifying the older girls for a few days when someone I couldn't refuse asked for Puff. Reluctantly, I let him go.

Since then, Mist has become the thorough Siamese kitten. She insists on constant attention from one of the humans and can play for hours at a time. If she wants something, she exercises a scratchy little voice and Siamese volume to get it. Pearl is slowly but surely coming around to accept her and I've even seen her playing with the little scamp (although she will never admit it). Perhaps she feels that a fellow Oriental can't be too bad. They'll probably gang up on us later.

Zoey is not pleased. She isn't the baby anymore. But at 3 years old, she really isn't a baby and not after what she has gone through with us. She is still grumpy, but I think she's going to come around eventually!

Right this moment, all is well. We have a wonderful place to live. The husband has a job he enjoys that does not stress him half to death. The cats are cozy and happy with the best cat TV channels ever outside their windows.

I worked an outside job for a while, and then quit to get back to work on the Internet business. Tiny trickle of cash it may be, it saved our behinds a few times this last year. I want to return the interest and thank all of you who kept right on visiting even when updates were so few and far between.

Pearl watches the shifting highlights and shadows of the rain clouds over our mountains today, as if they hold the answer to our future. Perhaps, to her, they do. She tells me she is very happy now, but she has also discovered she likes to travel. (Her kennel cab had to be by the car window so she could see!) Like many Orientals, she has even learned to walk on a leash.

Our future has gone from a series of spiral stairs, to a fluid a steady stream of exciting events and long, warm, contented days laying in Mr. Sunbeam. Will we stay? Will we go? Will everything change again in a year? I don't know and Pearl isn't telling.

She just squints up her eyes and curls the corners of her lips into an inscrutable little smile, before she stretches out in the sunbeam streaming through the window as the morning overcast relents to the sun's determined rays.

Some boring business type notes:
I have removed the Google ads from Pearl's website. They insisted on advertising love spells or psychic hotlines and such and Pearl barely earned enough for a small bag of cat food a year, despite being one of the most popular websites I run. I hope you'll click on the links at the bottom of the page and visit some of my other websites for cat clipart, ecards, information, and entertainment. Maybe there you'll see an interesting ad and click on it. If you are interested in sponsoring Pearlie's website in exchange for advertising, and have a relevant website or product that Pearls visitors might like, feel free to contact me. I'll check with Pearl and if she likes your site, too, we'll negotiate ;).

Pearl hasn't given up on getting me to finish her tarot deck. When that is done, we may offer tarot decks for sale and/or online tarot readings.

***Now before you yell at me about outdoor cats: these kittens have a nice cozy barn, and a Mama cat who is well versed in not only surviving but also thriving out doors. We tried to bring Hani in the house, but she refused she wants to live outside. The nearest road to their barn is just about a mile away, and we go weeks at a time with no one on the place but us. Not even a strange cat, unless you count that Bobcat. We are going to have a big happy group spay/neuter in a few months here (Hani will go sooner, of course) and call it good. Surely you know I am a strict advocate of indoor cats if you are in town/city/suburbs but I am equally accepting of barn cats in their proper environment and when properly cared for.