Memory Lane - Cat Style

My last post was a time progression of the maturation of a human (me) and I thought since I was traveling Memory Lane I would do a post of the kitties I've had in my life.

Annie

Meet Aniak, a.k.a. Annie. She was living when I first started this blog so she is in a couple entries. My understanding she was a Russian Blue with green eyes. She was just under a year old, had previously had a litter of kittens, when we got her from her foster organization in Kodiak. She, and Chloe, moved with us from Kodiak to Florida. She was very sweet although she had short patience for combing ;)

Tally

Talalamacus, a.k.a. Tally, was a sweet, timid, but not-too-bright boy that we adopted in Kodiak after Kitty died. He was living at my vet's office after several failed adoption attempts because he was so timid. He hid a lot, especially when we added a new furry friend to our home, but would eventually get used to the change. Eventually he and Chloe became very close and he would wash her ears and face. She would  encourage it by tucking her head into him - it was bizarre. Did I mention he was a beautiful kitty with big blue eyes?

Kitty

Kitty was an entertaining cat who loved to hunt, actually kill, smaller creatures. He was what I would describe as a "bad boy" yet he loved kids and would let them carry him around holding him by the neck. Go figure. We adopted him in Anchorage, moved him and Chloe to Aniak for a couple years, before living out his final years in Kodiak. We adopted him Feline Leukemia positive so we were lucky that we had him as long as we did.

Nermal

I had Nermal when I lived in Seattle. I still argue that he was the world's cutest cat. He was a bit developmentally disabled or just punch drunk from rough housing with his Uncle Spencer from about day one when he arrived as a kitten. He was grey and white (my favorite cat colors) with gold eyes. He was a small cat.

Spencer

Spencer was my first cat. I got him from a coworker in Seattle (and later, the son of two of his litter mates, Nermal). He was a great cat with big beautiful eyes that I could not catch in a photo - he always squinted when I took his picture. He liked to play and hunt and was extremely friendly. When my neighbors would walk their dog, he would go with them. As you can see in the photo above, he worried our poor parakeet, possibly to death. After I got a divorced and would come back to visit him, he would snuggle up so tight against me and purr so hard that he drooled. Wonderful, wonderful cat that I think about often.

Iditarod

I heard a short story about this year's running of the Iditarod on NPR yesterday. It reminded me of the times that I have witnessed the start in Anchorage, the restart is Settler's Bay and the end in Nome. I'm sharing some photos but if you know the recent history of the Iditarod, don't try to piece these together because I'm including different years together. One year I did actually see the start in Anchorage and the end in Nome - that was cool.

Me with Libby Riddles in Nome at the Gold Nugget. She didn't race that year but was in Nome during the Iditarod finish.

Me with Dee Dee Jonrow. You can tell by the frostbite that she did race that year. I believe this was 91 and Rick Swenson won but Dee Dee was right behind him. I should Google it to see.

This is the burlwood marker for the end of the race. I recall being in Nome for 2 race endings and one of them I stayed in hotel right about where this photo was taken - needless to say it was noisy as each racer came into town day and night.

This is a restart from Settler's Bay in the 80's some time. The ceremonial race began in Anchorage but the race is restarted the next day. I don't know if they still do this practice or not. Again, I should Google it and see!

This is a photo of the start of the race from Anchorage and probably taken the same time as the restart photo above.

Our First Valentine's Day...

...as a married couple. I took a beginning cake decorating class at Frederick & Nelsons while living in Seattle. I moved the few supplies with me to Alaska so on our first Valentine I finally went for it and made my sweetie a cake (scanned non digital photo from the 80's). It was 3 layers of cake with raspberry filling between - all from scratch too. Yummy!

Dad's Here & Mom's Birthday Dinner

Tonight we went to Maggiano's in Tampa to celebrate Mom's birthday which was actally yesterday but in our family, everybody's birthday is changed to the nearest Saturday so we can all go to dinner together, LOL. After dinner we picked dad up at the airport. He's here for a week, the off to Aunt Flossie's in Arcadia for a week, and then back here for a week. He sure gets around for an 80 year old!

The three of us, Dad on the left, me in the middle, and mom on the right. Not the most flattering of photos but heym whatcha gonna do?


Eddie loves his pawpaw and trusted him enough to chew his bulley stick on his lap. Pee-U that thing stunk but Ed didn't seem to notice.

My completed Christmas tree! Finally got the top part done. Bought some new ornaments at Cracker Barrell last night when I went there for dinner with my mom. They ahd a beautiful assort and all at 60% off!

Just a few random shots of the house decorations. This is our fireplace mantle. I have 7 stocking up this year since dad is here. The two on the ends are woven baskets. A friend in Kodiak was a basket weaver and I bought these from her. I think they are the coolest things. The next to last on right is one I croceted for our first Christmas together (in Anchorage). I basically crocheted the sock and then cross stitched the elk design with yarn. I got the design from the pair of socks I was wearing at the time, LOL.

A plate of wooden cookies and a Yankee candle gingerbread house candle holder that Marge gave me for Christmas last year.

My front door welcomer. I ran out of batteries trying to get the front doors. Perhaps I will take more photos tomorrow. I still need to clean up the dining room table from my sewing projects before I can decorate in there.

The Olympics

Tonight I watched the opening ceremonies of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Bejing China. I missed the beginning because Jerry and I went to dinner with his mom and cousin Maureen who is vitising from New Jersey. I've always loved the Olympics, both winter and summer games, and was considering my favorite/strongest Olympic memories.

1 - Being a volunteer for the Anchorage Organizing Comittee. I lived outside of Anchorage at the time (circa 1987) and helped with mailings and answering phones for the committee trying to get the winter Olympics in Anchorage for 1992 or 1994. France and Norway ended up hosting those years and while I never truly thought a "remote" town of the size of Anchorage would be awarded the games, it was fun to participate in that dream.

2 - The 1972 Munich games. In case there is anyone on the planet that doesn't know about this tragedy, eleven Isreali team members died as a result of a terrorist attack. We (Americans) were looking forward to seeing our Olympic hopeful March Spitz and, even though he had an amaizing performance at the games with 7 gold medals (a record still held today), there was a tarnish on the games for me. I grew up with years of hearing about death and the Viet Nam war and the Olympics would have been a nice respite from the killing.

3 - Romanian Nadia Comaneci and the first perfect 10 score in gymnastics (1976 Montreal summer games). That was the year I graduated from high school and the bicentenial of the United States but I was more excited about this tiny gymnast that seldom smiled despite her accomplishments. She transformed the sport for me - previous to Nadia I liked watching Gymnastics, after her I loved watching gymnastics. You can see her performances on You-Tube.

Well, those are my top 3 personal Olympic memories. What are yours?

P.S. I could care less about medal counts. I just like to watch the athletes perform at their peak. Sure a little national pride but for me it is more about reaching your goal or potiental than it is about the win.