Life, Cats, Gardening, Travel

My Writing Assistant, the Orange County Fair, a Whole Lot of Planting in the Garden in the Sky, a Quick Trip to Napa, Deer on the Trail, and the Demi-God of Margaritas

A few weeks in photos

The last few weeks seem almost as if they happened in a time warp. We’re all still trying to find a new “normal” after the loss of our beloved kitty, Emerson. But I am consciously trying to replace sadness with those little droplets of joy that thread through our lives. They are always there — those moments of wonder and delight and love — but, sometimes, we need to remember to look for them.

There is a “yoga sutra” — a bit of wisdom from around 300 A.D. in a classical Indian text called Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras — which speaks of altering the way you look at things by replacing the negative with the positive, or just seeing things from another point of view in order to get a better or more complete understanding:

Vitarka badhane pratipaksha bhavanam — Respond to negative thoughts and patterns by thinking and doing the opposite.

Although it has been impossible not to dwell on the sadness — it’s part of the grief process, after all — I have thrown myself into creating something positive by working on the new “Garden in the Sky,” a kitty paradise on a balcony off of my yoga room. And I’ve been spending a lot of time with Freyja, Bisou and Uma. They are all healing from their grief and are enjoying their new beds, tower, toys, and catnip pots.

We got out and went to the Orange County Fair. I was honored to have my “Eugenia Plays with Water Droplets” photo up in the halls of the photo gallery. It’s something that I had dreamed about for years, but never even ventured to try. She won a “Judges Award” and an “Honorable Mention.” It was really fun to go see it. And we had a nice evening eating corn-on-the cob and riding the two Ferris Wheels.

There’s been a whole lot of planting going on. Since it is all in pots, it has been a bit of a grand experiment to see what will work and what gets fried in the afternoon sun.

After the addition of some shade cloth and a giant umbrella, I think that I have created some nice little micro-climates and hidden spaces for kitties to hang out in. And I am really enjoying spending time out here too (I’m writing these words from the balcony right now).

I wanted to create some new “terra” for the babies so that they could scratch and dig and pee on real earth, so I bought this raised bed and have planted it with mosses and catnip.

And I bought this really cool fan that spits mist out at you as it oscillates. It drops the temperature out here by several degrees in the late afternoons — which is great because this has become the new “cocktail hour” hang out spot.

We had a quick (two night) trip to Napa with some friends (more on that coming soon — it was quite fun). I had pretty major anxiety about leaving the kitties after what happened to Emerson while we were in Alaska. But there had to be a first time to leave them and they were in very good hands. I’ve got a couple of great, professional, cat-sitters lined up now.

And Bisou got a new bed that sits right at the entrance to the Garden in the Sky. Think he likes it?

That’s my yoga/photography room back there. It’s getting a bit of a make-over too. I ordered a really comfy “Duck-Egg Blue” double-sized chair and a peacock table so that I can spend more time writing up here.

I’ve always had a vision of this being my “Hemmingway Room” — a creative hub for all of my projects. Now that I’m not teaching yoga anymore, I don’t need to keep it quite as cleared out, space-wise, for mentee meetings and private sessions. I feel like I am re-claiming a really great space.

This is the new kitty tower. I think that Uma approves.

And Freyja got the cutest little tent. She just LOVES it.

She also really likes the new pots of oat grass (gotta get those greens!) and catnip. I had really hoped that these round pots would become nice places to sleep, and I think we have had some success with it.

It has been hot here lately. And there seems to be no end in sight to the drought. I really feel for the animals. I saw these deer crossing the trail while I was out on my mountain bike the other day.

They were headed to “The Willows,” where there is a creek that never completely dries up, even in the summer. It is unusual to see them this close to houses. But I enjoyed catching a glimpse of them.

Because our pool pump was broken (yet another gift from my former friend who housesat for us while we were in Alaska — she did not keep the water level up and fried the pump) we hadn’t been spending much time in the garden.

But we, finally — it is impossible to get anything these days — got a new pump and decided to have a fish taco and margarita night.

I have dubbed my husband “The Demi-God of Margaritas” because he makes such yummy ones.

We also had all of our outdoor furniture re-upholstered. I think it turned out nicely.

I’ve been watching these palm berries turn from green to greeny-yellow to orange over the last few weeks. I think that they are about to turn into a tasty treat for the orioles.

Bisou has been enjoying the air conditioning. When he gets hot, he tends to sleep “belly-up.” Isn’t that just the cutest little tummy? And those little white fluffy feet! He just melts me.

I came across one of my favorite poems, by Mary Oliver, the other day. If you’ve never read this one (or even if you have) I think you will really enjoy it. She has truly been a “guru” to me through the gift of her words and this poem has helped me through the healing process.

I hope that you have all had wonderful weeks.

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

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As always, I thank you Dennett for creating this “week in photos” challenge.

It’s so fun to share about the week and to read about so many other photographers’ weeks around the world.

You might want to check out a few of the others who participate:

Dennett /Anne Bonfert /Eileen Vorbach /Lisa Bolin /Tracy Aston /David Wade Chambers/Kim Zuch /Barbara Radisavljevic /LensAfield /Barbara Dalton /Sasha Meyer /Susan Alison /Diana Lotti /Barbara Dalton /K. Barrett /June Nguyen /Juan O. Aguilera /Ellie Jacobson /Shruthi Sundaram/ Pene Hodge /Tracy Aston/ Sandra Barrett/Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages (if I’ve missed any of the “week in photos” tribe, please let me know!)

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Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.