Caesar is King...

Because with a laugh like this, why wouldn't Caesar be king?

Pompey Gets Crafty

Pompey wonders if the yellow yarn would provide a nice accent to his golden eyes.

The Antics of Octavian

Octavian considers the tactical advantages of mailing himself to his enemy's doorstep.

Day One's Random Photos!

Long, long ago, taking pictures was a luxury. Film- remember film?- was expensive, and a roll of film only had 24 shots in it. Therefore, each picture taken was carefully planned and executed so that precious strip of film would not go to waste. Still, after each picture was taken, questions would form in your mind: "Did the picture come out right?", "Did Aunt Sally just blink?", and "Was my thumb in the viewfinder again?" Since it was also expensive to develop film, these question would linger for quite a while. I remember one time when my mother and I waited so long to develop a few rolls of film that when we finally did it, the photos were from three years previous. Now that was one long wait!

These days, however, taking pictures is much simpler. With a digital camera, you can take as many pictures as your heart desires. If you don't like the way your picture turns out, take another one; If Aunt Sally blinks, you can take another picture; If your thumb is in the way, delete the shot and take a new one! With one little memory card, you can take hundreds of pictures until the card is full to bursting, then download them all onto your computer and then take even more pictures on your newly empty card! If you want to actually print out your pictures, you can simply pick and choose the ones you want printed. It's a far cry from those long ago days.

With this new found photo freedom, I tend to go a little overboard. There's no film to waste, no money to spend, just one little button click and instant photo gratification! Therefore, I take lots and lots of photos. Some of them are great photos, some of them are silly, and some are just plain ridiculous. One of my most frequent photo subjects are my cats. They do such sweet and cute things that I simply must take pictures of them!

Pompey, Sleeping

Pretty Octavian

Peaceful Caesar

Aren't they cute? See why I can't resist snapping pictures of them? The only problem is, of each of these shots, I probably have six more examples of each shot, because I just can't stop taking pictures!

Sometimes, the pictures I take turn out quite amusing:

What did you say?!

So I like to fish, got a problem with that?

Get that camera out of my face!

But, sometimes I can catch the sweetest moments, like these:

Thanks for sharing with me!

The Cats got Elfed!

Happy Holidays from the C.O.P.*

Enjoy the video!

*C.O.P= Caesar, Octavian, and Pompey!

Sweet Octavian

Recently, Andrew and I welcomed into our home a new set of pitter-pattering little paws. Our newest little fur-baby is a lovely, sweet natured cat with big blue eyes, chocolate and caramel colored fur, and the most charming ability to flop in adorable positions. He’s also a special type of cat, a breed called a Ragdoll*. Ragdolls are known for their mild manner, blue eyes, and soft long fur. Their name derives from their incredible ability to melt in your arms when you hold them. Our Sweet Octavian** is a delightful new member of our family, and his arrival at our house was quite a story!

It all started two days before my birthday. My mother was spending an idle afternoon browsing the ads on craigslist.com, having fun looking at all the items people try to sell or giveaway. There was the usual assortment of goods: free sofas, boxes, haircuts, etc. Nothing too exciting until her eye was caught by a posting at the top of the page. It was an odd posting, with an unusual headline: “Free Ragdoll Cat to a Good Home.”

“A Ragdoll? Witty’s favorite cat?***” My mother clicked on the ad “It’s too good to be true” she thought. Yet the ad seemed innocent enough. A family had moved and their beloved Ragdoll wasn’t adjusting well to the new house. It seemed a plausible enough scenario, so mom figured that it was at least worth forwarding to Andrew and me.

My mother’s email floated off into cyberspace and landed in mine and Andrew’s inboxes. Usually, during the course of a day at work, Andrew never has a chance to read his email as he’s swamped by experiments, but on this day, he had a rare moment’s break, and decided to see if he had any good email awaiting him. As he scanned through his inbox, my mother’s email jumped out at him: “Free Ragdoll Cat to a Good Home.”

“A Ragdoll?” Andrew knew it was my favorite type of cat. He remembered how delighted I was at a local cat show when I had the opportunity to hold one and felt it melt into my arms. It had been a little joke of ours, that on every birthday or gift-giving holiday, that I would grin and say “I want a Ragdoll,” whenever he asked what I wanted as a present. He also knew that although I loved Ragdoll cats dearly, I thought I would never own one because they were too expensive and there were so many other homeless cats that needed help. Yet, here was an offer for a free Ragdoll cat, one who needed a safe home to come home to, and two days before my birthday no less.

Andrew wanted to consult me about the Ragdoll, but there was a slight problem: I was at an all day conference, with no access to a phone or internet. I had no idea about the ad my mother forwarded to me. Andrew thought for a moment: getting a third cat is a big decision, one he normally would never make without me. Yet, a Ragdoll was my dream, it was two days before my birthday, and this was an opportunity that couldn’t be missed. He picked up the phone and called the number in the ad.

It was an interesting call. A very nice woman answered the phone and talked to Joel about her sweet cat. She was heartbroken to think of giving him up, but he was not adjusting well to a recent move. Her family had moved from a big house to a much smaller one. They had another cat and a dog, and the Ragdoll had suddenly become terrified of the dog, and spent all his days hiding from the dog. He was normally very affectionate and very social, and now he was never seen.

After almost three months of the cat hiding from the dog, the woman decided to take him to stay at a friend’s house for a while, to see how he managed. The change was immediate. The sweet and cuddly cat returned, and the woman, though sad, realized that her Ragdoll needed a new home. So she placed the ad on craigslist.com to see if anyone might want her lovely cat and provide him a good home.

Andrew told her all about us and our fur-babies. He told her of Caesar and Pompey, how well they got along, how they joined our family. He told her of our years of fostering cats: how we had tamed feral cats; treated diabetic cats; nursed back to help sick cats; gave love and affectionate to lonely cats. He explained about my love of Ragdolls, how I always said I wanted one, and how, believe it or not, my birthday was just around the corner.

The woman couldn’t believe it. She had been reluctant about placing the ad, but Andrew and I sounded like the perfect candidates for her cat. She agreed to meet with us to see if we were indeed as good of a match as we sounded. A time and place was arranged, and Andrew hung up the phone, delighted that my dream was coming together.

Then, Andrew’s phone rang. He picked it up. It was my mother. “Andrew,” she said, “I’m sorry to call you at work, but I sent you an email about a free Ragdoll cat a little while ago. I know Witty’s always wanted one, so I thought I should pass it on, but I just checked out craigslist again and the ad’s gone! Animals aren’t supposed to be posted on the free section. And I just realized that Witty’s not going to get my email until late tonight since she’s gone! Do you think you should call?”

The ad was gone! Andrew couldn’t believe his luck. He reassured my mom that he had already called about the cat. He told her he just couldn’t pass up the chance at that cat. They both breathed a sigh of relief- my mom because Andrew had called, and Andrew because my mom thought he should call. Now all that was left to do was to tell me about the cat.

That evening, when I got home, Andrew was grinning like a Cheshire cat. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. He asked about my day, and I told him all about my meeting and my day. I then asked him about his. “Well,” he said, “It was interesting. Do you think you might want to get a Ragdoll this weekend?”

My jaw dropped. I asked him to repeat himself. He then explained the whole story of the craigslist ad, the long phone conversation, and his and my mom’s wish to make my wish come true. I couldn’t believe it. I threw my arms around Andrew in a big hug, and didn’t let go for a long time. It was incredible!

Our meeting with the woman was the very next day, and in preparation, Andrew and I put together a little photo album of Caesar and Pompey, and of all our foster cats. We wanted her to see them all, so she could know that we were serious about our love of cats and our ability to care for them. Eagerly, we drove off to the meeting, hoping against home that a Ragdoll would soon be ours.

We met the woman at her friend’s home. She was very nice and sweet. We spent time talking about her cat, why she was giving him up and how hard it was. We told her some more stories of our cats, and all of our adventures fostering. We should her out albums, and she couldn’t believe the number of cats we had taken care of. She asked us how we would handle adding a third cat into our family, and we explained how we would go about incorporating another cat: a safe room to himself for a while, then slowly allowing him to mingle with our cats, until they all adjusted to each other.

As we talked, she grew more at ease with us and told us, that although she had been unsure about giving up her cat, having met us and heard our stories, she knew that we were the right home for her cat. So she got up, went into another room, and brought out the cat.

Oh, he was beautiful! His fur was so soft and silky, his eyes so big and blue. He immediately flopped down on the floor in front of me, begging to be pet. I happily obliged. Immediately, a loud, rumbling purr started- the loudest purr I had ever heard. Oh, it was love at first purr! This beautiful, sweet fur-baby was mine.

Seeing the cat’s reaction to me, the woman made up her mind, and told us that we could have the sweet cat, and if we wanted, we could take him home right away. We were thrilled! We thanked her profusely, and I gave her a big hug in thanks. We exchanged phone numbers and email addresses so we could keep in touch, and we promised to send pictures of the cat when he got settled. We then went home with the newest member of our family.

Since then, it has been a delight getting to know Octavian. He has adapted well to his new home. He likes to follow us around the house, always right at our heels. At night, he sprawls across the foot of the bed, his contented purr a nice compliment to Pompey’s sighing snores. Of his two new brothers, he’s very intrigued by them. In Pompey, he sees a great play fellow, and in Caesar, he sees someone to admire. He does the most amazing flops around the house, begging for us to take a moment to scratch his fluffy tummy. We adore our little Octavian, the dream come true that he is, and the best birthday present I've ever had, thanks to my mother and Andrew!





* Want to learn more about Ragdolls? Check out this site for more information: http://rfwclub.org/


**As always, names have been changed to protect the furry. Octavian’s name derives from the second season of Rome, of which Octavian Caesar was the star. I thought it fit nicely with Caesar and Pompey’s names!

***By the way, I’m Witty, nice to meet you!

Of Rome, Cats, and Silly Nicknames

I have long been fascinated by ancient history. I love to immerse myself in stories of Ancient Egypt and Rome. I’ve spent many a pleasant evening absorbed in fascinating stories that take place in these long ago time periods. Cleopatra by Margaret George swept me away with its lush language and engrossing historical detail about that beautiful and intelligent Egyptian Queen. Troy and Ithaka, both by Adele Geras, were written with a rare lyrical beauty, bringing new life to the story of the fall of Troy, with the many stories weaving together to form a beautiful tapestry of words.


My fascination with this ancient past runs so deep that I spent two years studying Latin, just so that one day I might walk among the ruins of Ancient Rome and speak a familiar language. With this deep rooted fascination, is it any wonder I was captivated and intrigued with the HBO miniseries Rome? I stumbled upon this series quite by accident, actually. Having no television, I am generally out of the loop with current shows. It was only by sheer luck that I ran across a review for the DVD box set of the first season of this epic miniseries, and curiosity demanded that I immediately check it out from my local library.


What followed was an amazing thirteen hours of intense drama, superb acting, superior plots, and the most luscious of historical details. Andrew and I both found ourselves drawn into the world of Rome, which chronicled the rise and fall of Julius Caesar, both from the point of view of well known historical figures and the common man of the streets. Although we well knew how the tale ended- Caesar dead on the Senate floor- the twists and turns that led to that fatal ending had us gripping our seats in intense anticipation and emotional turmoil.


One of the plot aspects that kept us thoroughly engaged was the interactions of sometimes friends and sometimes enemies, Caesar and Pompey. We were fascinated by the push and pull these two characters had on each other. Even as they drew apart to fight on opposite sides of a power struggle, there was still that lingering tensions of a not-forgotten friendship.They fought side by side together in many a battle and, yet, time and power drew them apart.


Now, it might be apparent that these two characters,Caesar and Pompey, left quite an impression on Andrew and I. After all, our two furry little children are indeed nicknamed Caesar and Pompey. I wish I could say that the noble struggle of those two fascinating historical figures inspired our furry little children's aliases but, alas, that is not the case. Oh no, rather it was a series of exceptionally well timed cat antics that inspired their names.


It just so happened that one night, as Andrew and I were watching the final two episodes of Rome, biting our nails in anxiety as the end was near- both for Caesar and the mini-series-that our two cats decided to get playful right in front of our television. This in and of itself was nothing new, they play-fight all the time, chasing each other all around our house. This time, however, there play-fighting was a well choreographed duel that precisely matched that of the onscreen duel between Caesar and Pompey.


On screen, Caesar, lean and lithe, gave a mighty slash with his sword. Our Caesar, lean and lithe, gave a mighty slash with his paw. On screen, Pompey, a little bit slow and pudgy from the good life, made a desperate counter slash with his sword. Our Pompey, a little bit slow and pudgy from the good life, made a desperate counter slash with his paw. Onscreen, Caesar attacked again with a graceful counter slash. Off screen, our Caesar attacked with a graceful counter slash. Onscreen, Pompey evaded with a several steps back and an ill swung swipe of his sword. Off screen, our Pompey evaded with a several steps back and an ill swung swipe of his paw.


For every blow that the onscreen Caesar gave, our Caesar followed. For every evasion the onscreen Pompey attempted, so, too, did our Pompey. When at last the battle ended, the onscreen Caesar was victorious but showed mercy to Pompey by letting him escape with his life. Our Caesar, no less generous, let our Pompey go with a sympathetic lick on the head.


It was that climatic battle that sealed our two furry children's fate. They had so accurately fought out the onscreen battle of Caesar and Pompey that they had become Caesar and Pompey. It only made sense that they should be named Caesar and Pompey in real life, if only as an occasional nickname for when they run rampant throughout the house.


And so it was, and so it is, that whenever the mood to chase each other wildly throughout the house arises in our cats, Andrew and I look at each and say, "The endless campaign of Caesar and Pompey begins anew." And the glory of Rome lives on.