Deaf Innocence

I find myself feeling the need to have a picture to motivate writing a blog post, but after I found myself crying tears of relief hearing that my little Scooter was fine after getting "fixed up", I pulled out my camera and started looking at all the pictures I have taken of her. In this particular one, I got totally facinated by how pink her little nose and ears and feeties were. You would have thought I was stoned or something (I wasn't) the night I took a close up of her gripping her little toes.

The picture is a little blurry, but you get the idea.

She is totally, completely white, with beautiful blue eyes. She is also totally, completely stone deaf.

Having a deaf kitten in the house has been a little bit of a challenge, as in when she jumps up on something she shouldn't and can't hear me yell "NO!", but it's also been a joy. I've learned to get her attention by stomping on the floor to cause a vibration that makes her look at me. Then I can shake my finger and she's learned that means "NO!" Of course, I still say it, even though she can't hear it.

I watch her facination with things that are moving, that she can't hear. Her eyes convey such trust and pureness, and when she looks at me, I can't help but wonder what is going thru her mind.

Which brings me to my point. Until this morning, this little deaf baby has only seen probably 3 human beings in her short life. Suddenly, her most trusted human has put her in a little black carrier, transported her in a car and deposited her with strangers that begin sticking things in her and putting her back in a cage. All of this in complete silence. The vet says I'm probably taking this a lot harder than she is. By tomorrow after I'm able to bring her home, she'll forget all about it. I hope so. I would hate to think that I've caused a little being so much trauma. Of course, it would be far worse to have allowed a deaf cat to get pregnant and have kittens she wouldn't be able to hear call for her, and would have a huge chance of being deaf themselves.

I expect tonight to have Ringo fussing at me, wondering where she is since they've become fairly regular snuggle buddies.

The one to the left was made when she was a bit younger.

The one below was made a couple of nights ago.

At least I can talk to him and tell him she'll be home in the morning. And he'll give me the slow blink that I know means he loves me and believes that all will be well.

When I do get little Scooter home. I will do everything I can to reassure her that this is her PERMANENT home, that she is safe, and she is loved.

She can then resume her innocent life in complete silence.

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

I've always been facinated by the way an anole (lizard) can change colors based on it's environment. The other day, I was fortunate enough to be able to capture images of one going from bright green to brown as a result of encountering fresh pine straw.

How cool would it be to be able to change color just to blend in? Then again, would you really WANT to live a camouflaged life? Of course, now that I think about it, I guess some folks do. I don't know. Kind of thought provoking, though...

They're BAAACCKKKK

I wrote the other day about the little lizard paradise being wiped out and replaced with the skimpy pansies. I didn't see any lizards at all for two days. I finally saw two yesterday and then got this pic this morning of a little guy perched on the handrail looking down into what used to be heaven with a very puzzled look on his face. I can imagine him thinking "Crap! It looks even worse from up here!"

Maybe he had climbed up the post to get a better look to see if there was anything left of his magnificent kingdom. No such luck.

The next time I see him (assuming it's the same one), he is now down amongst the pansies surveying the damage.

Bless his heart. He's thinking "Good grief! Now WHY did they have to go and do this?? With this much space between the flowers, I'll spend more time brown than I do green and I HATE being brown!"

Well, of course, that might NOT be what he's thinking at all, but I'll bet it's something along those lines.

Your Caption Here...

Being up a little early (actually WAY too early) after live blogging the election last night with my MRBA buds, I find myself wanting to do a little blog myself.

I decided to look through my camera for a picture to inspire me this morning. I've had this one in there for a while, just waiting on the right moment to bring it out. I do believe now is the time.

So, WHAT exactly is happening here?

You know how you feel when someone takes a picture of you when you least expect it and you are making some awful face? Yep. Or when you are taking a bite of food and your mouth isn't quite closed? Yep. Of course, Gracie wasn't eating, but if she were able to talk, she'd probably be cussing me BIG TIME for showing this pic of her in public. Talk about your unflattering faces! This would be one of those.

Let's see. She could be saying...

WHAT???

Or, perhaps...

NAAAAA

I don't know. I am not that creative. I can't think of anything cute to use as a caption for this picture. What say you?

Paradise Lost...

Lizard paradise, anyway...

Overnight, the lush, beautiful jungle inhabited by a number of anoles has been transformed into a somewhat bleak place with a few scraggly pansies.

Yes, I know that at some point over the winter, the pansies will fill out and be pretty, but in the meantime, I can't help but be a little sad for the little lizards who lost their beautiful home.

I think it was too soon to dismantle the flower bed, but apparently our landscaper felt differently. So we've gone from this:

To this:

Kinda sucks, don'cha think?