The Naming of Cats

 

The Naming of Cats
by T. S. Eliot

The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn’t just one of your holiday games;
You may think at first I’m as mad as a hatter
When I tell you, a cat must have THREE DIFFERENT NAMES.
First of all, there’s the name that the family use daily,
Such as Peter, Augustus, Alonzo, or James,
Such as Victor or Jonathan, George or Bill Bailey —
All of them sensible everyday names.
There are fancier names if you think they sound sweeter,
Some for the gentlemen, some for the dames:
Such as Plato, Admetus, Electra, Demeter —
But all of them sensible everyday names.
But I tell you, a cat needs a name that’s particular,
A name that’s peculiar, and more dignified,
Else how can he keep up his tail perpendicular,
Or spread out his whiskers, or cherish his pride?
Of names of this kind, I can give you a quorum,
Such as Munkstrap, Quaxo, or Coricopat,
Such as Bombalurina, or else Jellylorum —
Names that never belong to more than one cat.
But above and beyond there’s still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover —
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name.

Image belongs to me.

My Little Feral Cat Colony

I was never a cat person. Truly. But these darn cats stole my heart anyway.

When I first discovered them in my backyard, it was just Mama Kitty. Not long after, Spot appeared — one of her four babies. She had tucked her litter safely beneath my deck. That was May 2025. There were four kittens in all, and I named them Mama Kitty, Spot, Stripe, Boo, and Heartley.

And just like that, our adventure began.

And it was an adventure.

Watching those kittens grow brought so much unexpected joy to my heart. Their tiny paws, their wobbly steps, their playful tumbles across the deck — they made my backyard feel alive in a way it never had before.

A few months later, Mama Kitty disappeared, leaving her adolescent kittens behind with me. She would return sporadically — just long enough to eat and check on her babies. Then one day I noticed her belly was growing.

Oh no. More mouths to feed.

I had asked for help getting her spayed, but no one came. So lucky me… another litter on the way.

Then she stopped coming altogether. About two weeks passed before I saw her again — and her belly was no longer round. Silly me, I told her, “Go get those babies.” I said it every time she showed up. And she did show up — every single day. She would eat quickly, glance around, and then dash off as if the deck were on fire.

This went on for a while.

Then one day, I saw something tiny scurry across the deck.

Suddenly, I had three tiny black kittens along with Mama Kitty and the first litter.

Eventually, Mama Kitty and the three little ones were rehomed. It was bittersweet, but they found safety and warmth.

I still have Heartley (now neutered), Stripe (now neutered), Spot — who is now called Junior — and Boo, now affectionately known as Sweet Boi. They come and go as they please, and I worry constantly when they disappear for a few days at a time.

I was not cut out to be the caretaker of a feral cat colony.

But somehow, I was drafted.

And I wouldn’t trade the adventure for anything.

The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (27 Feb. 1807 - March 1882) was born in Portland and attended Bowdoin College.

The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
The vine still clings to the mouldering wall,
But at every gust the dead leaves fall,
And the day is dark and dreary.

My life is cold, and dark, and dreary;
It rains, and the wind is never weary;
My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past,
But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast,
And the days are dark and dreary.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

It’s bound to change

 

Where light exists, there’s shadow

Where a rose is, you’ll find thorns

And where the dusk descends at night

The sun will rise at dawn

Where fear exists, there’s courage

We are free to be controlled

And where there exists a secret

There’s a story to be told

Each end’s a new beginning

Sometimes lies reveal the truth

And where there is growing old it’s ‘cause

At one time there was youth

If you fail repeatedly

There’s more chance you’ll succeed

But the only guarantee in life

Is nothing’s guaranteed

‘Cause life is contradictory

Where less is often more

It’s a paradox, it’s opposites

A constant upward fall

In a world where silence deafens

And where there is icy heat

Where sometimes things are awfully good

And sometimes bittersweet

So when life’s playing up

Try not to let it get you down

‘Cause sometimes we must lose ourselves

To finally feel found

And you are not alone

So many others feel the same

‘Cause the only constant thing in life

Is that it’s bound to change

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

Stunning artwork by Ernie Francis Art

This one is from 'Letters from Life

Becky Hemsley Poetry on Facebook

A PLACE

 

A PLACE

I think I'll go somewhere today

to a place I've been before

Not to the family doctor

not to the mall or grocery store

It's the place I often visit

when I'm down and feeling low

It's the place I hold the key to

and no one else will ever know

It's a place where I've fought battles

a place of loneliness and pain

A place where sometimes I go crazy

but it's better than insane

A place I find a little solitude

a place of sunshine in my heart

A place where happiness exists

a place to find a brand new start

Sometimes I need to run away

if it's even for a day

Then I find a new perspective

to take my cloudy skies away

I think everybody has a place

a place where they can also go

It's a place of much contentment

a place you may already know

It's right between your ears

and nestled just behind your eyes

It's a place that holds your secrets

a place where no one tells you lies

I have to go away now

to the place that I speak of

I'm so familiar with this place

indeed , a place I truly love

Source: Tim Stultz - Cambridge, Maryland poems and stories on Facebook

ai art by me

I’ve been looking at things all the wrong way.

 

I realized today that I’ve been looking at things all the wrong way.

Well, at least for me.

I’ve been thinking my life wasn’t enough or that things haven’t gone my way so much that I’ve forgotten that I can control it all.

It’s up to me what I see- not just what I look at.

I’ve been staring at the glass thinking it’s not full enough or too empty and stopped remembering that I can keep filling that glass every day just as much as I want to.

I don’t have to be okay with accepting less than I want…

In fact, I’m tired of that.

I need more.

I deserve more.

More happiness, more fun, more things that fill my soul and fire my passions.

I’m through chasing empty pursuits, hanging around negativity and letting toxic people stay in my life.

I’m not going to keep looking at that glass and hoping it was fuller.

I will take every chance to fill it to the brim and live the life I want.

No more settling, excuses and feeling disappointed.

I’ve tried that and it just doesn’t work.

I’m welcoming all the people, places and adventures that make me feel alive and bring depth to my soul.

Maybe that means taking road trip without a map.

Perhaps that means dancing in the kitchen with the music turned all the way up.

Or maybe, just maybe…

That means setting out in search of love, laughter and happily ever after-

And never looking back.

The Ravenwolf on Facebook

Behold, all souls are mine.

 

I saw the above quote on Facebook on The Soul Journey with Sarah Moussa, "Every soul is whole, no matter how wounded the mind is." When I searched who to attribute this to, I got several results and all led me to Bible verse. The ai from Google is copied below. I think it is a beautiful description.

The primary Bible verse expressing the idea of wholeness in body, soul, and spirit is 1 Thessalonians 5:23 (NKJV): "Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." This verse highlights God's desire for the entire person to be holy and preserved. 

Key Aspects of Biblical Wholeness:

Three-Part Being: The Bible indicates humans are composed of spirit, soul, and body, with God's goal being the sanctification of all three parts.

Ownership: Ezekiel 18:4 states, "Behold, all souls are mine," implying that every soul belongs to God.

Holiness and Preservation: The focus is on being made "completely" or "entirely" holy through God, keeping the person blameless.

Integration: 1 Thessalonians 5:23 suggests a holistic view where the spirit (higher nature/relation to God), soul (emotions/mind), and body (physical) are all significant to God. 

Other related verses regarding soul and being include Ezekiel 18:20 (soul and responsibility) and Matthew 22:37 (loving God with all heart, soul, and mind). 

Art from Facebook on The Soul Journey with Sarah Moussa

Stanley Brothers, The Rank Strange

 

Anger is important.

 

"I sat with my anger long enough, until she told me her real name was grief.

I'm not a whole person, and I don't think I will ever be. Parts of me died in the house I grew up in, and I visit them in dreams. When you are not fed love on a silver spoon, you learn to lick it off knives. Your anger is the part of you that knows your mistreatment and abuse are unacceptable.

Your anger knows you deserve to be treated well. Anger is important, it needs to be expressed, acted out, and vocalized. When it doesn't, it begins to manifest into rage."

C.S. Lewis

surrounded by treasure...

 

Source: JOURNALLING with Donna Ashworth on Facebook

Walking Tall

 

Walking Tall

Yesterday’s steps you can’t retrace, by slowing down or quickening pace,
changing course, or turning back – You still will be on the same old
track. The only change worthwhile you’ll find, will be a change of heart
and mind – leading and directing you  - on towards that lovely view.

Keep to the rules and bear your load, along the rough and rutted road,
on that wayside seat awhile -  gathering strength for the second mile.
Keeping an eye on that distant height, that draws you on by day and night
- walking tall and walking straight – the better world to recreate.

Patience Strong

Patience Strong was a prolific English writer best known for her inspirational poems and prose. She published under the pen name Patience Strong, choosing anonymity to allow readers to focus on the message of her writing rather than the author's personal life.

ai art made by me in chatgpt

When we are young, we want to look older.

 

When we are young, we want to look older.

And when we are old, we want to look younger.

And there is a window in the middle of it all when we’re supposed to look as we wish.

But we waste that time wishing

we were taller or thinner or curvier,

our hair was longer or shinier, curlier,

parts of our body were firmer and perkier

and we’d started to use anti-wrinkle cream earlier.

And by the time we realise we were perfect just as we were,

the window has closed. It is too late.

Too late to realise that all those things never really mattered in the first place.

But it’s never too late to start letting go.

To stop wanting, stop wishing.

It’s never too late to accept yourself.

To look in the mirror and realise that all along, you never needed to look older or younger or anything else.

You just needed to look like you.

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

Artwork by Lisa Aisato

Source: Bring Side on Facebook

Everyone is a house

 

Everyone is a house with four rooms, a physical, a mental, an emotional, and a spiritual .

Most of us tend to live in one room most of the time but unless we go into every room every day, even if only to keep it aired, we are not a complete person..

Rumer Godden

Artist Credit: Miriam Bouwens

Source: Bring Side on Facebook

I put my thoughts into chatgpt and asked for help writing. My thoughts, chatgpt's beautiful rewrite:

Everyone is a house with four rooms— physical, mental, emotional, spiritual. I have two I never enter. I tell myself they are the physical and the spiritual— the rooms that ask me to be present, to believe, to live in my body. Instead, I wander the mental room, walls lined with restless thoughts, lights that never turn off. I sit in the emotional room, where the air shifts quickly— sunlight one moment, storm the next. The other doors stay closed, dust gathering at their frames. My house is whole, but I live in only half of it.

by debcd with the help of chatgpt :)

The world is full of wonders...

 

The world is full of wonders waiting to be discovered, shining brightly in every corner of our lives. 

Each day brings new sights and experiences that can inspire us, but it is crucial to notice what we choose to focus on. 

Our thoughts shape our feelings, and when we pay attention to negativity, it can weigh heavily on our minds and hearts. While staying informed about issues in the world is important, we must also find ways to balance this knowledge with positivity. 

By looking for beauty in small moments, like a blooming flower or a colourful sunset, we can nurture our well-being. 

This mindful approach allows us to become the best versions of ourselves, leading to happier lives. When we take care of our inner world, it, in turn, reflects on our external lives, making our surroundings brighter and more joyful. 

In this way, we create a cycle of positivity that enriches both ourselves and those around us ...

C.E. Coombes 

Art: Ariye 

Source: Serendipity Corner on Facebook

Rank Strangers - Ricky Skaggs

 

Be Careful!

 

Be Careful!

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

After years of struggle and crying out in prayer, Frank quit drinking. He attributes his continued sobriety to God’s work in his life. But he also made some important changes. He no longer kept alcohol in the house, watched for warning signs in his thinking and moods, and was wary of certain situations. He leaned on God and knew not to leave an opening for temptation or sin.

“Be alert and of sober mind,” the apostle Peter warned. “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Peter knew we needed to be watchful because the devil’s attacks are often unexpected—when it seems like our life couldn’t be better, or we think we’d never be tempted in a certain area.

James too warned his readers to submit to God and “resist the devil.” When we do, our enemy “will flee” (James 4:7). The best way to resist him is to stay close to God through prayer and time in Scripture. When we do, God comes near to us (v. 8) through His Spirit (Romans 5:5). James also offered this encouragement: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up” (James 4:10).

We all face challenging moments in life when we’re tempted and struggle. We can rest knowing that God wants us to succeed and overcome. He is with us in our troubles.

By Alyson Kieda

REFLECT & PRAY

When do you seem to be more susceptible to temptation? How has God helped you in those times?

Dear God, please help me draw near to You instead of pulling away. I need Your daily guidance to keep me on the right path.

SCRIPTURE INSIGHT

In addition to the admonitions of Peter (1 Peter 5:8) and James (James 4:7) regarding spiritual vigilance in resisting temptation, Paul also had something to say about it. After noting how the Israelites had succumbed to temptation in the wilderness (1 Corinthians 10:1-11), he warned the Corinthians: “If you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful . . . . When you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” (vv. 12-13). The apostle lists two examples of how the “way out” can sometimes involve fleeing. He says we’re to “flee from idolatry” (v. 14) and “sexual immorality” (6:18). The Holy Spirit helps us to succeed in overcoming temptation.

Arthur Jackson

Source: Our Daily Bread daily email - February 13, 2026

Rehoming Fee

After careful thought and consideration for circumstances, I've decided it's for the best I re-home myself. Looking for a forever home, preferably with an in-ground pool. There will be a rehoming fee, just to make sure I'm going to a good home. Serious inquiries only. Picture of banana car so I don't get lost.

Source: Facebook (original owner unknown)

Kid Rock

 

Don’t come to life too late.

 

Don’t come to life too late.

Don’t forget all that you loved about the mortal mundane of this magical moment we call life.

Don’t spend so much time in dusting the corners of a decaying day that you forget to dance a little even if it’s just inside your own beating heart.

Don’t fret the bills and the bails of laundry languishing in piles of forgotten forlorn things.

Don’t forget how much you liked to sing,

To kiss the foreheads of children and old alike.

Don’t forget the touch of a trembling hand trying to reach the tender parts of your longing .

Don’t wake up only when the clock has no more minutes to give

Don’t wait until the mirror is fogged with years you never truly saw

Don’t chase the ghost of a perfect life while the real one waits, barefoot and patient,

tugging at your sleeve with the soft insistence of the present moment.

Let your breath be more than borrowed air

Let your laughter shake loose the cobwebs of routine

Let your hands hold something more than worry

the weight of a friend’s grief, the small miracle of a dandelion wish,

the heartbeat of another, pressed palm to chest.

Do not count your joys in what was lost or never found

Do not love so carefully that it never spills over the edges

Do not forget that even silence hums with its own kind of song.

And when the end comes

let it find you full,

not of regret,

but of the wild, reckless beauty

of a life

lived.

Source: Larson Langston on Facebook

Art by Lisa Asaito

When Love Shows Up

When Love Shows Up

Give generously to [the needy] . . . and do so without a grudging heart. Deuteronomy 15:10

“Why are you crying?” The question was asked by a volunteer for a Christian relief ministry helping those whose homes had been destroyed by Hurricane Helene. The woman (who had burst into tears in the previous moment) replied, “I’m not crying because I lost everything. I’m crying because love just showed up.”

God’s heart shows itself in His desire that we help those in need. When Moses gave the people of Israel God’s instructions before they entered the land He’d promised them, he told them, “Do not be hardhearted or tightfisted” toward the poor. “Rather, be openhanded and freely lend them whatever they need” (Deuteronomy 15:7-8). Their hearts toward the poor were to reflect God’s own: “Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart” (15:10).

Whether in disastrous situations or everyday life, when we give to those in need out of the blessings God has kindly given us, we make evident the love of His Son, who came “to proclaim good news to the poor” (Luke 4:18). In fact, God promises He “will bless” those who share His unselfishness with others (Deuteronomy 15:10), both in this life and the next (see Luke 14:14). We can’t see God yet, but others may catch a glimpse of Him when we emulate His compassion for them. May His love show up as kindness through us today.

By 

James Banks
Our Daily Bread
Sunday, February 8, 2026
Daily email.

Please, choose each other...

 

The paramedics were strapping me onto the stretcher, the red lights flashing against the neighbor’s garage, and do you know what the loudest sound in the night was?

It wasn't the siren. It wasn't my jagged breathing.

It was you two. Standing in the driveway, arguing over who was supposed to check on me, whose turn it was to drive, who was "too busy" with work.

I closed my eyes and swallowed the lump in my throat, not from the pain in my chest, but from the pain in my heart. I wanted to scream, but I only had the strength to whisper one truth to myself:

“The day I’m no longer here… you will only have each other.”

Listen to me. Please.

I know life in America is hard right now. I know you’re tired. I see the stress in your eyes from your mortgages, the exhaustion from your corporate jobs, the noise of politics that tries to split you apart, and the endless scroll of screens that keeps you distracted.

But I see you fighting over small things as if love is something you can afford to lose. I see you keeping score—who called last, who spent more on Christmas, who Mom loved "best."

But that day is coming. Faster than you think.

The day will arrive when I won’t be the referee. There will be no more Sunday dinners where I force you to sit at the same table. No more Thanksgiving turkeys where I make you put your phones away. No more group texts where I’m the only reason you respond.

And when that quiet Tuesday comes, and the funeral flowers wilt, the only thing left standing will be what you built between yourselves.

It will be love… or it will be a terrifying silence.

Being a brother or a sister isn’t just about having the same DNA or showing up in the same old photo albums.

It’s remembering the time you camped in the backyard when you were ten.

It’s knowing exactly what a glance means across a crowded room without saying a word.

It’s being the only other person in the world who remembers the sound of your father’s laugh or the smell of my Sunday pancakes.

Being siblings means being a sanctuary, not a courtroom. It means being home, not a battleground.

So, while I still have breath in my lungs to ask this of you: Drop the pride.

Whatever old wound you are nursing? Let it go. Whatever political argument you think you need to win? It doesn’t matter. Whatever money you think is owed? It’s just paper.

Call your brother. Visit your sister. Not because you have to, but because the world is a cold place, and you are the only people who share the same history. Forgive each other, even if the apology isn't perfect. Even if they don't deserve it yet.

Don't let a misunderstood text message or a rough holiday turn into ten years of silence. I have seen too many families in this country crumble because pride weighed more than blood.

Because when I’m gone, I don’t want you to grieve me in isolation.

I don't want you standing on opposite sides of my grave. I want you to hold each other up when your knees buckle. I want you to look at each other and say, "We’re okay. We have each other."

That is my peace. That is my calm.

The house, the car, the savings—that is not your inheritance.

Your inheritance is each other.

Please, choose each other... before you no longer have the choice.

Source: The Story Maximalist on Facebook

Ralph Stanley - The Uncloudy Day

A Hope of Spring

 

And as the light returns,
Hope creeps back in, too,
The promise of what's to come,
Of life that starts anew.
As the winter sheds its layers,
And Spring prepares her way,
Each bud, each leaf, and flower
Will appear to greet the day.
The world awakens gently,
With colours bold and bright,
Though chill blows in the breeze,
We welcome back the light.
As the sun appears once more,
New dreams come into sight,
With every bloom a promise,
Nature's timing, always right.
So let us cast off shadows,
Embrace the fragrant air,
For in this dance of seasons,
Hope finds us everywhere ....

C.E Coombes ' A Hope of Spring'
Art: Daniel A. Gordon

Source: Serendipity Corner on Facebook

February and ever after...

 

Source: Etheric Echoes on Facebook

I want to be sure

 

Oh, the nights I have wasted

Caught up in my head

When I could be sleeping

And dreaming instead

The hours I’ve spent

Wishing I could be thinner

And picking apart

What I’d see in the mirror

The days I have lost

To my stubborn self-doubt

The time it has cost me

To count myself out

The moments I’ve missed

Wishing I could be more

Then hating myself

Every time I fell short

The seconds I’ve squandered

As time ticked on by

Whilst I tried to reach

For a bar set too high

But that’s in the past -

Time spent worrying, wishing,

The dark, sleepless nights

And the things I was missing

Cause all of those hours

And days are now gone;

No time to look back

Only time to move on

To more time for sleeping

And more time for dreams

Less time to tear myself

Apart at the seams

Less time for mirrors

And less time for hate

Less doubting myself

Whilst I’m lying awake

More time to limbo

The bar that I set

More moments for stubborn

Self-love and respect

‘Cause time marches on

It will never stand still

And I don’t want all of

My days to be filled

With wanting and worry,

With dread and with doubt

No, I want to be sure

I’ve made

each

moment

count

*****

Becky Hemsley 2023

Artwork by Gisele Oliveira F (gisifraga on Instagram)

This poem is from Words to Remember

Source: Becky Hemsley Poetry on Facebook