Quote of the Week

It is only when the mind and character slumber that the dress can be seen. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Sleeping ducks in Lititz, PA

It should be our inner selves that make the impression, not how fashionably (or unfashionably) we are dressed.  

Quote of the Week

Stressed spelled backwards is desserts. Coincidence? I think not! -Unknown

Image Source:  Niner Bakes

Time for some long-awaited R&R.  

Have a nice week everyone!

Quote of the Week

Colors are the smiles of nature. - Leigh Hunt

Tulip Poplar

Flowers and trees
Butterflies and bees
Sunrises and sunsets
Are all nature's smiles

Dood Climbs a Tree

You're probably thinking what's the big deal?  So the cat's on the cat tree, what a surprise. Well, it was. You see after years of living with cats, we finally got a tree for them. This was shortly after Sophie came to live with us (2007), and we thought they would all enjoy it since there are multiple perches and hidey places. There's even a crows nest on the top which Sophie claimed right away.

Look at me!

In fact she was the only one interested in the tree at all.  Rosie would lay along the base in the sun, but never ventured up (well once and then he was in pursuit of Sophie).  Dood just ignored it.  Maybe because he had climbed the real thing outside...who knows.  He doesn't like catnip either.

So imagine our surprise one day when we found Sophie in one of the tubes and Dood sitting above her looking down.  We figured it was like with Rosie, he followed Sophie. Now we occasionally find Dood perched on the tube nearest the window surveying the world outside from a different perspective.

Hide and seek?

I can see clearly now!

One theory is that Dood frequently took his cues from Rosie so maybe since Rosie didn't use it, he wouldn't either.  At any rate, our kitties continue to surprise and delight us.

Quote of the Week

Liberty has never come from the government. Liberty has always come from the subjects of it. The history of liberty is a history of resistance. 

- Woodrow Wilson

Having just celebrated our 238th birthday as a free nation, it seems appropriate to look back at just how important those documents signed long ago still are to us today. Our founding fathers put pen to parchment to declare us free, and much has been sacrificed to achieve and maintain our freedom.

The signing of the Declaration of Independence.

Image Source: Wikipedia

They further ensured our rights with the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Among other things, we can speak freely (First Amendment) and protect and defend not only ourselves and our families, but defend our freedoms as well (Second Amendment.) The 15th, 19th and 26th amendments ensure our right to vote.

Image Source: Wikipedia

The 13th amendment abolished slavery. Inspired words from Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg address in 1863:

"Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal .... that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." 

Image Source: Wikipedia

Let Freedom Ring!