A few days ago I happened to be outside walking around our yard, enjoying the gorgeous weather. It won’t be long before the trees are leafless and covered with frost and the grass will suddenly crunch beneath my feet. That’s fine, of course, I absolutely love winter – there’s something positively cozy about it.

I walked toward our pear tree and noticed, from a distance, all the fallen pears on the ground. They weren’t exactly attractive lying there, half exposed, and rotting. But as I got closer I realized that there was, indeed, a great deal of beauty. There were, literally, hundreds of the most beautiful butterflies imaginable feasting on the fallen fruit. There were yellow, white, orange, red, purple, and pinkish butterflies. I plopped down on the ground just to watch their colorful show.

I kicked myself for not having my camera on me.

As I was watching the butterflies enjoying their find, I couldn’t help but think about the poetic scene. Here was a pile of nastiness on the ground – not one of the fallen pears looked even decent, let alone attractive. Yet, some of the most beautiful creatures on earth – delicate little butterflies – came to the scene and enjoyed the spoils.

That’s how it happens so often in life. Just when we think we’re hovering over a situation that couldn’t get much uglier, something beautiful springs forth.

To a certain degree, that’s what happened when I lost Bo and Svenn. I sat outside so many mornings, afternoons, and evenings – missing my boys. The yard (and my life) were missing something and I felt it in every inch of my body. Anyone who has lost a beloved pet knows the profound sadness that I’m talking about.

God certainly did. And God is generous!

Flash forward to today. When I go outside, there is absolutely no emptiness or sadness – whether it’s in the morning, afternoon, evening, or middle of the night! (People who have visited this blog before know that my beautiful, spoiled little Alexa lives inside – which is why all of the other babies must live outdoors, on the carport and in the garage loft)

When any of us go outside now, we’re once again greeted by precious cats:

• Ming Li – A feral cat who has become extremely friendly – she allows me to pet her now and rubs against me.  I’ll add pictures of her soon, I don’t think the camera will frighten her now.  She is very tiny and, of course, perfectly adorable!
• Hannah – Beautiful Hannah is a sweetheart.  She’s the girl in charge out there.  All of the other cats defer to her and she relishes the arrangement.
• Cynthia aka”Cindy Clawford” -  She’s a beauty.  She came along about a week or two ago.  She reminds me a great deal of Prissy, in her younger days.  Very pretty, very friendly, and never met a bite of food she didn’t want desperately.  When they’re eating, Cynthia will hiss at the other cats if they come near food that she’s interested in.  Ming Li and the boy cats will back off, but Hannah ignores her.  Hannah slapped toward Cynthia once and she hasn’t hissed in her direction since.
• Jelly Bean -  Jelly Bean is solid, solid, solid black, precious, and very playful.  I can only touch him if he’s in the middle of eating or distracted.  His shiny black fur feels just like silk. He is one of Ming Li’s kittens, so he has pure feral cat blood in him.  Hopefully, with patience, I can win him over like I did Ming Li.
• Peanut Butter – PB is Jelly Bean’s brother and is even more standoffish than him.  Even Ming Li was never as overly cautious as PB is.  He’s adorable but seems as interested in being touched as I would be in drowning.  I’m not giving up, though!  I’ll win him over.

Cats are so precious and so much fun. I’ve always had cats in my world and I’ve always cherished them.  However, lately I think I may cherish them even more so.   I have three human daughters.   I was always a stay-at-home mom and even homeschooled our girls all the way through school – Kindergarten through 12th grade.  They’re in college now, have boyfriends, work, and so on.  For any parent, it’s a huge adjustment – but for one who, for over 20 years had little ones near her, depending on her every single day – it’s an adjustment that I can’t even begin to describe.

Put simply, my cats keep me sane!

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