A love that IS up to scratch

He was curiously staring at my hand covered with scratch marks in the process of healing. “Where did these come from?” he asked me.
Tidds (the older of our two cat children) loves lying on the kitchen table. Every now and again when I pass by I stop to give him a quick brush and a kiss. He just seems to love it. As soon as I start he rolls over until I’ve brushed all 360* of him.

It took me a long time to win Tidds’ trust. Little M (baby Monster) is an easy going, loves everyone kind of personality who just wants to play all the time, but Tidds I’ve always perceived as the more serious one. He is about 7 years older than M. He is very clever though. He knows his body parts and when you ask him for his ear so you can kiss it, he doesn’t give you his tail. He even knows his left and right paw from each other.

I’ve never seen him play; not by himself or with a person – only with his little brother. Sometimes when he is lying on his back

Just because you can!

This morning around 2:30am I was just about ready to strangle a dog or two!

The dogs were so restless most of the evening. I think it was the racket from a party that was on just up the road. It got the other dogs in the neighborhood all excited and I suppose it is (or can be) somewhat contagious. Who knows? Maybe the one mongrel actually understands what the other one is barking about.

Koda the watch dog is now awakening from his slumber but so far it is also quite clear that his middle name is not quite Braveheart. Not yet anyway. Maybe I should paint his face blue and

Even if the mountains crumble into the sea

Nagasaki 1945, after the atomic bomb

Nagasaki 2011, following the earthquake and tsunami

A torii is a gate marking the entrance to a sacred space and is closest associated with Shinto, the indigenous spirituality of Japan. Traditionally it was made from wood or stone, but today they can also be made of reinforced concrete, copper, stainless steel or other materials. (Source: Wikipedia)

What is so remarkable about the torri in the images is that