Cats place a high value on doing what they wish to do, when they wish to do it, in the way they deem most satisfactory to them....

...It is the declaration of independence that makes the cat the possessor rather than the possessed, and I admire and sometimes envy him for it.
–Winifred Carriere, Cats, 24 Hours a Day

Happy Independence Day!

A couple of weeks ago I started working at the acupuncture clinic as a volunteer.  I work from 10am to 2pm on Fridays.  By donating my time, I get my treatments free.  Of course, I usually don’t get out of the office until after 4pm because we take our last appointments at 2pm.  I get my treatment when everyone leaves.  But, it saves about $30 each week and since I still want acupuncture, it’s worth it.

Because we were expecting a visit from my brother and his wife, I left the office at 2:00pm.  When I got home, Richard and Alice were here.  They drove down from Utah.   Their anniversary (42 yrs.) was on the 28th, so they stopped in Las Vegas for a couple of nights.  I asked them how they liked it and they said, “It was interesting.”  They are not gamblers, but they enjoyed watching while other people won or lost money.

Official NPS site for this park commemorating Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo's landing at San Diego Bay in 1542.

We didn’t go out and do touristy stuff, but it was nice just to visit for the weekend.  On Saturday we took them on a little tour of San Diego and then up to the Cabrillo National Monument Park and Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery at Point Loma.  There are beautiful views of the bay, ocean and downtown San Diego from there.  It also overlooks the North Island Naval Air Station in Coronado as well as the submarine base.  It was a very nice day, which was good because sometimes it can get very foggy up there.

A view from the northern area of the cemetery, overlooking San Diego Bay and the City of San Diego.

A view from the southern area of the cemetery, overlooking the vast Pacific.

My birthday was Saturday, the 30th and our wedding anniversary (23 yrs.) was on the 1st.  Way back when, we almost got married on my birthday.  In fact, if the 30th had fallen on a Saturday, like this year, we would have. 

Charlie was at the Naval Post Graduate School in Monterey then.  We only had a couple of weeks of summer break to get married.  We wanted to get married in Virginia so most of our family could be there.  The wedding was completely planned long distance over the phone.  Of course, our families there helped us get things together and we couldn’t have done it without them. 

July 1, 1989 was on a Saturday and it worked out well, a beautiful, sunny day.  We were married in the chapel at the Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, Virginia.  Our reception was at nearby Fort Story.

On this birthday, Charlie got my cake, or should I say “cakes”, from our favorite bakery.  He thought the cake was one layer, so he bought two.  We had a 2 layer lemon filled cake and a two layer strawberry filled cake.  He said he kind of went “overboard”, because in addition to the cakes, he got two carrot cake tarts and two Black Forest strudels.  It’s hard to go into that bakery and make up your mind to buy just one thing.

Oh, and then our friend, Kim, and daughter, Haven, came by with a carrot cake tart for my birthday, since carrot cake is a favorite of mine.  She also presented us with a chocolate cream silk pie for our anniversary.  All from the same favorite bakery!  Great minds do think alike......

Richard and Alice left for home on Monday morning, but they didn’t go without taking some cake and tarts with them.

Today is the 4th of July, Independence Day.  Kim and Haven left on Sunday for China.  They will be there two weeks.  While they are gone, I will be checking on their four cats. 

I remember the days, long ago, when we only had three cats and a dog.  That was in February 2000 and I don’t think we’ll ever see that again.  It’s even hard to imagine now.  But, we wouldn’t take anything for our  cats.

Today I found out that the correct term for referring to a group of cats is ‘clowder’, ‘clutter’, or ‘glaring’.  We have a clowder of cats!

More later....
TazzyD.... _^..^_