Dear Essie,
Thanks for noticing that little bit of helplessness there.
Yes, new friends, but temporary.
Not like us, snuggle button Es. We were tight. I haven't seen those guys since.
Like I said, ships passing in the night. (long dark night of the soul, this)
But, yeah...Janie's sweet,
she still has nice feet to lay by.
(or is it 'lie by'?)
Love her so much, but dang, not here all the time like you were, Essie dear.

To answer your question about herding dogs, rrrff, I guess we all just sniff each other and leave the herding to when there's a real problem. You know, like when kids don't know when to shut the gate at the dog park, or people forget about important things like filling the water dish, or introducing each other with proper nose touches.

And your other question about "what remains the same" reminds me of that song by Led Zepplin, The Song Remains the Same...too cool...but maybe that's just a Corgi thing and not a stray cat with oozing eye thing...Led, that is. hmmmph, rrrrff....

Yes! What remains the same are those smells and snuggles.
Janie still likes to nap and cuddle.
I love it when she plays guitar too....that dang flute can go though. BARK!

Yes....Essie, I read you. Here are my orange ears....say on.

Arrow,

Wow...so there are more creatures like you, huh?!

:)

You look happy in those pictures!

You also - heh heh - look a little like...

...like you don't know what to do with yourself.

Question:  If there is a herd of herding dogs all together, who does the herding...and who is herded??

;)

It's been a while since I've been around another cat.

To be honest, I usually prefer the company of humans to other cats.

Cats can just be so...

catty!

;)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is a question I've been pondering:  when your human picks you up and moves you far away to a new place,

and everything is different in that new place,

does anything remain the same in your life?  If so, what remains the same?

Some of the smells are the same...

but some are so different.  The ones that are carried on the air through the window,

lingering around my nose when I'm snoozing in the sunlight -

those are different.

The smells on the pillows and blankets are the same.

And Ginnia smells the same...

But Ginnia has changed.  She is distracted these days.

When she comes home, she seems to be thinking of all kinds of things.

Sometimes I feel like she's too busy to spend time with her ol' cat.

But then...

she'll pick me up and snuggle her chin next to mine.

Then she'll let me jump up next to her on the couch and purr while she types on that computer thing -

(that boxy thing that plays music, you know) -

and she'll pet me absently, 

and every once in a while, 

she'll say, "Essie!  How are ya doing, Essie?"

and she'll smile at me.

So Ginnia changes, but the moments she remembers I exist are nice.

 Sometimes, even though the scenery here in this apartment in Colorado is different

from the scenery back in that little one-bedroom apartment in Iowa I used to share 

with you and Ginnia and Janie,

there are moments (now, for example),

that make me feel almost like I never left home.

I'm lying on my back, stretching my front paws, purring,

and Ginnia is playing music on the computer.

Soft light from a couple lamps and a candle is making me drowsy and comfy.

I feel at home at this moment.

If only I could look up and see your big orange ears somewhere.

Siigh.

Essie to Ears...you reading me? :)

It simply doesn't get better than this, dear Es.
Met up with these Cardigan Welsh Corgis today at the dog park.
BARK!
Cousins! Just look at those tails...mercy.
Webster and Angel are true blue Corgis, but you know those snouts and tails (rather silly, in my humble opinion) set them apart. Not to mention their big feet! Janie had a good talk with their people while we played and barked and drank water 'til we couldn't anymore.
Webster was rather stand-off-ish, but Angel was ....angelic. (sigh)

Now, that boy in the picture here knew something.
Do you see that pitch?
He's got something going here.
He knows where to put it, so to speak.
The boy was sweet as sugar and sharp as a pin.
So attentive to my need to drink water and rest.

And Janie knows this boy! He will be back!
Not like those other dogs (ships passing in the night)
at the dog park.
So sad, but true.
Real relationships relate.
(astounding wisdom there, in case you didn't catch it Essie, dear)
Yes, this boy is a grandson of her friend, Sara.
He will be back! Dane is his name. Good kid.
He happens to love pitching the ball to me and petting me!
He doesn't even mind the messy, glop that happens to drool from me when I bring the ball back to him! Now THAT is a friend.

Take Care, Es! Miss you!!
Arrow, the Welsh Pembrook Corgi (cousin of the Cardigan Welsh Corgi) - distinctions and all

Dearest Essie,
Your new friend looks grand. And you look entirely complete in that green ribbon....oh, my. Your kind words go a long way. Love the song lyrics you sent me. I will treasure them.

Thanks too, for sending those photos of you as a kitten.
. . .rrrrff
Reminds me of when I first met Ginnia and Janie.
rrrrf....snort
So, you are just one year my senior 'ol gal, and don't you be reminding me of age now!
Birthdays are coming up you know!























Oh...grrrrrr...
I really didn't mean to impart any negativity or ill will by referring to your oozy goopy eye....quite the opposite and with warmest regards I send such affectionate terms. Yes, you were a rescue off the streets, but Ginnia named you after Queen Esther of the Bible!
Such regalities!
Queen Elizabeth has corgis, you know!
I'm a queen's dog through and through. You and I, Es? Yes, we belong TOGETHER.
What was Janie thinking to send you off with Ginnia?

Well, I suppose, after all you are her kitty.
...grrrrr

Yes, dearest Essie, you have no need to worry about looking your age!!!
You don't look a day over....well....you're young girl...YOUNG!!!! Bark!! Bark!!

Enough reminiscing for now. Janie has more photos of us together.
Perhaps I will send a few later.
Love you and miss you, sweet Es.
You are queen!

"Like a bridge over troubled water..."

Arrow,

You sound lonely, old friend.  :'(

I'm sorry to hear that.  

I don't know that Neil Young song you mentioned, but Ginnia has been listening to a song that seems to relate to this situation...

These are the words that I would sing to you (if I could sing):

"When you're weary, feeling small, when tears are in your eyes,

I will dry them all.

I'm on your side, oh, when times get rough,

and friends just can't be found,

like a bridge over troubled water -

I will lay me down.

Like a bridge over troubled water,

I will lay me down..."

Now, it seems quite obvious to me that the solution to your (and everyone else's) emotional problems is, well, ME.  :)

So I will now treat you to a little gallery of my recent adventures.  Enjoy!

Part 1:  I love bags...
 

Wonder what's inside...wonder if I could FIT inside...

I LOVE this bag!!!

I LOVE BAGS!!!

Part 2:  a new friend...and a new look?

(I like Ginnia's new friend...but she put this bow on me...)

Her name is Laura.  She seems nice...

(Um, HELP?!)

Essie sweet,
I've been thinking..
This distance thing - not so cool.

You know that one song by Neil Young,
_Like A Hurricane?_ There's a line, "I am just a dreamer, and you are just a dream." I can relate..was there a time when I wasn't quite so lonely? Not liking this. When Janie goes to work she sets the dial to Wisconsin Public Radio and I get a bunch of intellectuals talking their nonsense to each other, liking the sound of their words and lofty ideas, when hey!....the reality is we all need to work together cooperatively and can't until we listen to each other rather than just talk at each other. BARK!!!! >>>whew, sorry for the rush of heat there.

Yeah, Janie goes off to work and leaves me with this canned music and lofty intellectual talk. I much prefer your snoring and Ginnia's attentions to this rattling emptiness. But a consolation is that Janie's still the light of my life. What a friend! Always walks me, feeds me, and plays soccer each day (well, not enough soccer). I should be more thankful than lonely. :}

Dear Es, the deal here is cool and all, (goodness, Janie walks my stubby legs off, and the doggy park is fabulous! And each day there are new smells by the river - way too many to count or keep track of) but I'm missing something here. I think I would rather be where I'm known than not known. It's hard to get a grip on where I am.

Well, Essie dear...just a little lamentation. Not wanting to burden my long lost fluff companion fur ball oozy eyed snore face. Not wanting to send any overhanging issues or questions of why or when. Just wanting to vent a little. And our correspondence has been so much a relief to me....even if you are maybe "just a dream."

the water

Dear Essie,
Yes, I'm a little like the stars that seem to fall from the sky and land in this water mesmerizing and betwixting me here and there from wishes to settles.

But just so ya know, hey, (oops! lost my noble Corgi-ness to the dialect, so sorry) I'm a land animal through and through, so if you ever want to get back together for snores and naps, I'm in. Love the water, but hey...there are drop offs out there!!!! And the sooty beach was way scary with things bubbling up and threatening. Good thing Janie called me back for treats otherwise I may have sunk into an abyss!!!!

Lake Michigan was WAY worse. WAVES!!!!! That's where the dog-paddling came in! Swept me entirely OFF my stubby paws!!!!!!! aarrffff, whine, sigh

Take care, sweet fluff Es.

P.S. (...dog paddle?)

I guess I've never tried to "dog-paddle."

I don't really like water (ugh) but the way you describe your adventures with it kind of almost makes me want to try to learn to swim.

I think I'll be content to live vicariously through you when it comes to "dog-paddling" and any other sort of activities that involve getting wet.

:)

Yours,

Ess

Dear Arrow,

I'm very relieved to know you don't think I'm fat.  :D

I just ate this amazing-smelling food out of a CAN (you always know dinner is going to be good when it comes from a CAN) - chicken and cheddar feast with gravy!  

....so I'm pretty happy about that!  Mmm-MMM!

One of my favorite things to do after a meal is duck under the couch and just chill.  It's cool under there and I can collect my thoughts.

Tonight as I was collecting my thoughts, I remembered that you mentioned my "goopy eye" in your last post.  Hey, that wasn't very nice.  :/  It's not my fault that I have a broken tear duct and my left eye is constantly oozing brown goo.  

Did you know that if it weren't for that goopy eye I could probably be a very successful feline model?  You may laugh, but there are some very successful cat models out there and I think I could have had a shot at that career if it weren't for this ugly eye (well - and the occasional fat roll; but as we have already established, I'm really not fat...so the fat rolls aren't really the main thing that keep me from cat model stardom).

I guess I've been a little self-absorbed lately.  I've been looking in the mirror a lot lately when Ginnia is out and about doing her school and work and whatever else she does out there in the wide world.  I've been thinking a lot - perhaps too much - about the way I look.  I am aging, you know.  I'm getting to be an old cat.

Ginnia always says I've gotten prettier with age.  Apparently I was really scrawny when I was a kitty.  I was a rescued kitty, you know.  Rescued off the streets.  Before you were even born, Arrow (see image below)!

I'm getting pretty sleepy...so I'm going to sign off for now, my friend.  It's fun to hear of your adventures in the great Northern land of Wisconsin.  Apparently I live near mountains...though I don't really know what mountains are and Ginnia never lets me outside ( no fair! ) so I have no chance to explore them.  Sigh.

Goodbye for now, Arr-Bear.

Love and kisses,

Esther Linnea

(the soft and silly - and vain, I suppose - cat who lives in Colorado)

well...Lake Michigan is certainly cool, but rather frightening, dear Essie!

oh, my....what a day!

Janie had me to the bay AND the lake...gosh..what?
Is she THAT deprived of water from her days in Iowa...gosh.

Okay..so just now the glimpse. I'll write more later.

Today I nearly got sucked into what seemed to be an enormous liquidious stupidious mess!!!!!
WHAT?!?
I never knew my legs could do that!
Can you, Essie dearest, dog paddle?
Oh, no! Of course not!
You would cat paddle....hmph, pfft,ttssst..sorry.:}

So, yeah...I was just strollin' along the water's edge and woooft!
Off I go into a wave of push and shove!!!
How VERY rude.
And I needed to swim for my life.
Not goin' there again...No.

Ya. recovery a bit tonight.
I'll write more tomorrow.

Stay dry dear friend. Warmest cuddle loves to you, sweet fluff ball of potential energy undefined.

By no means, dear Essie, do you look fat!!

>>such a sweet face

Those rolls around your middle, I mean those rolls you do on the floor are so....active. I don't remember you so....active.
Your snoring was way over the top conducive to my napping patterns. And my, oh my, you can snore, gal!

Did I somehow prevent you from rolling and playing and fun by all of my chasing? :/ geez....not at all my intention.

You, my dear Essie, appear to be just as inviting as ever. SO fluffy and sweet. My Essie, I miss you. I await the day of our reuniting. May it come soon.

Love to you, my long lost fluff ball, oozy eyed friend.
Let's keep in touch, shall we?

Am I fat? Honestly, now...

  >> HELLO Arrow!

It is sooo good to hear from you...I was beginning to wonder what became of you.

And now I know - you're spending all your time looking at lakes and birds.  Well, you always were the one that got to take walks outside.  I get to sit and look out windows...sigh. :]

It's so...nice...to know you are thinking of me.  :)  Who would've known how much we would miss each other - we were not exactly on the best terms back in Iowa.  :')

But love is a furry - I mean funny - thing.

I guess you don't always realize you love someone until you stop seeing them...and then you realize that a part of you is missing because they are missing from your life.

All right.  That's enough mushy stuff!!

I have an important question to ask you - and I want your honest opinion:

Am I gaining weight?  Do I look fat to you in this picture??   

Ginnia keeps saying I'm getting fatter and I don't know...I don't really feel fatter.  I feel happy here, for the most part.  There is so much space to lie around and snore and roll around on the floor.  :D  And no obnoxious corgis to try to chomp on my head or herd me up like some sheep in a field.  (I DON'T miss THAT about you!)

So...do I look fat?  Honestly, now.  I'm quite serious.  Perhaps I need to go easy on the Cat Chow.  ?

Essie, dear Essie....you, my lassie, are furry. These guys? Nothin' but feathers. God help them.
They fly too.
We didn't do that.
We stuck to the chase and the cuddle, nuzzle love of life. Who needs a flock?
We just need a good chase.
Essie, dear Essie......