My morning wakeup call
Just as I sit down at my computer this morning
To tackle my ever-expanding list of things to do
My cat Attabi silently slips into my office with an entirely different agenda
As he hops on my desk and lies in front of my keyboard
Attabi balks as I try to shoo him away
And his persistent presence gives me pause
To remember that I’m not just here
To churn out disposable income
To amass more superfluous stuff
To boost my sagging sense of self-importance
For in the end, on this January morning what could be more important
Than gently applying the brakes to my overactive mind
And forgoing, for the moment at least, the demands with which I’m (self) encumbered
Taking the time to cuddle and caress this gentle-spirited boy
And delight in the unyielding bond between us
Living with five cats helps my ticker keeps on ticking
I’ve always been a cat guy. Ever since Little Kitty Foo Foo, my feline companion who inhaled with the rest of us 
during respites from teaching high school in Tennessee in the late ’60s. And while there have been others, none has been with me as long as Chocolate, the grand dame of the Lavender-Mulkey household who is now nearing 20 years of age and from whom I’m learning about mortality.
Chocolate, Kaali, Attabi, Bandit and Desmond are all full-fledged family members, each with his/her role in family dynamics, each with a special place in my heart, each reminding me about my connection with all the creatures of our planet. I know that I frequently become more present, more connected with who I really am when I take time to just be with them. But I had no idea that their presence actually make my ticker tick more effectively. Just check out this excerpt from ABC’s “Can Having a Cat Lower Your Heart Attack Risk?”
Researchers at the University of Minnesota’s Stroke Research Center looked at 4,435 people, aged 30 to 75 years, who were participating in ongoing national government health research from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Study.
They found that over a 20-year period, those who had never owned a cat had a 40 percent greater risk of death due to heart attack and a 30 percent higher risk of death due to any sort of cardiovascular disease than previous or current cat owners. Researchers found no such protective effects for dog owners.
You can read the whole article at ABC News: Stroke on Your Mind? Stroke Your Feline.
Don’t forget to pet your kitty!
Sunday, March 9th, 2008Friday cat blogging . . . on Saturday
Four of our five cats taking their afternoon siesta. Bandit (black and white) and Desmond on bed, Kaali in window seat and Ataabi in laundry basket. Chocolate, the 19-year-old grand dame of the bunch, was asleep in my office when this photo was taken.
Saturday, November 17th, 2007Friday cat blogging
Friday cat blogging returns 240,000 hits on Google. Well, what the hell, I’ll join in this weekly ritual as observed by bloggers around the world. Pictured here is Bandit, the warrior-lover of our feline family members (of which there are five).
Bandit retains a lot of his instinctive cat nature since he and his brother Desmond had to fend for themselves in their youth. Based on his hunting prowess, my guess is that Bandit could make it on his own in the wild.
On the other end of his behavioral spectrum, Bandit greets me and Shonnie each day around daylight by jumping on the bed and licking us on the lips, kitty kisses as we refer to them.
Bandit sometimes takes walks in the woods with us, really more like walking with a dog than a cat. Though he sometimes gets distracted by squirrels and such, he sticks with us on our woodland treks and, more often than not, comes when we call.
Friday, July 13th, 2007
