Dear Hanna3~

Animals to enrich life and we have always had plenty. Each has their own individual character. I remember Zeppelin Dog used to love to charge the waves, be carried back with his stubby little paws lifted off the sand, then when deposited on the beach charge back for another go.

As an opposite we had another, a Shepherd, who was so nervous of the sea he would not get out of the car. Mind you that did have it's up-side, wet dog and car upholstery are an unfortunate combination.

I too live a litle inland in a rural small town, about an hour from the coast, and the seasons here are quite pronounced too. I remember once a garden pipe burst on a winter's night and in the morning the wire fence was a beautiful frozen waterfall in the shape of a fan.

I hope you and Sam are doing well

Croix

Dear All

I will be taking a break for a couple of weeks for a rest and a minor health matter. Look forward to seeing you all again soon

Croix

PS you will tell when I"m back on line because then my normal avatar will re-appear, replacing the temporary "back soon" one:)

Croixy man hope you're ok.

Thanks for your moving and lifting post at mine the other day.

Wishing you good health good rest and the best for you.

Take care and thank you for how you help so many.

Cya on your return Mr Croixy 🐧⛄(snowman)

Hello 😺 Croix, you're back!

How are you? (I mean, really, can we celebrate? 😼)

I hope all went well, no complications, etcetra.

mmMekity

Hey there Mr Croixy man 🐧 and everyone ☺

Pretty cool mmMekitty posted here, I do think about many lovelies here and lately have been thinking more about you.

Cool sounds like you're back. In that case although I can't see 👀 you it's good seeing you 😆

Seriously though I do hope you're healths picking up and that you're holding up well.

You're often in my thoughts with respect and appreciation always.

Hi to Mrs Croixy 🌹 that's a beautiful Rose because she sounds like a wonderful lady.

Hi from a distance to cranky cat and your other calm puddy tat

Go easy good man and I hope you've noticed I only used 4 emojis ... this time anyway...nyahaha...😄 oops that fell out

Hello Demonblaster, 😸

I'd use more emojis if there were more cat face emojis for me to choose from, at least as many as there are people face, 😼- it's not fair!

mmMekitty

Dear mmMekitty, DB and everyone~

Thank you for the welcome back, quick of you to pick up on my change of avatar back to normal. It feels good to be greeted like this.

I'm afraid I've not as yet checked your threads to see how you are both faring, will try to do so straight away.

DB you so did NOT use just 4 emojis,walruses can count up to 6 :) Ta for the rose, Mrs C will appreciate that. I'm afraid Nasty Cat has gone to create mayhem in that celestial cattery (was a very good age) just leaving Sumo Cat in the feline department ATM. It's funny he has changed character again now he is the only cat and become more demonstrative (but still bossy)

My health is so so, not all treatments going to plan, but what do you expect if you are a walrus and live on an iceberg? Mind you I'm surprised not to be flipper deep in comatose inebriated kiwis as I was when I came back last time I took a break. (plus the empty DB and Lion cans)

I'm surprised at the dearth of cat emoji, obviosly the emoji company does not have a CEO with a cat to tell him or her what is proper:(

Croix

Are we moveing in opposite directions, so fast we didn't notice each other as we zipped past?

Ah, it is good you found I had snuck in here with my graffiti markers, primed to graffite(? - pronounce: graf-feet) on little patches on your thread.

Oh,& what's that about 'nasty' cat? Did old age get the better of 'm? I'm so sorry - 'nasty' perhaps, but you will miss old 'nasty' cat, I'm sure.

Was Sumo head of household already? Or has he promoted himself?

Aw, they don't have emoji walruses, sealions, seals, just an otter...🦦...? Really? Is that an otter? Not good enough!

I saw, in BB Café, while having my 🍿,🧂+🍯(caramel),🐟(tuna), &🥛blend, Windows 11 is out or nearly, but I suppose they are not going to add more emojis to address this discrimination... Oh, well, what they will do is going to be bad enough, as usual. They keep saying how they are making things better, but I have disagreed every time since XP. 📉

😺mmMekitty

Oh, great, find your iceberg again, & where are you?

No matter, I will start tunneling & carving out a New Cavern for BB's Big Band! It's not all that long until Xmas, so we'd best get started.

(Thanks Croix, for the link - funny, I keep forgetting how to find this place, well, now I have a direct conduit for me to be beaming in & out anytime!

I don't know why I kept losing this iceberg - it's been as if it was floating all around Antarctica, under the beautiful Arora Australis, but tell me, what keeps an iceberg, big as this, afloat? An iceberg in an ocean, is as to an ice cube in a glass of water?

Anyone got a ton of lemons & astraw?

mmMekitty 😻on 🪕🎶

Dear LRC (see your other post for the name)~

I'm here. Nice to see you have made it, and in case you are wondering Parler does not mean parlour spelled wrong, but a French pun - cross talk- even though that's not the meaning of Croix as I use it.

My iceberg will float indefinitely due the the large number of empty beer cans and bottles discarded there by Grandy and DB in my absence. As I bought a fridge the the proceeds from selling the amp they left behind after their last riot-to-music I can keep everything cool.

Why do you want lemons? If you suck them (wiht or outwith straw) you will look like a sourpuss:(

Look forward to seeing you here again.

Croix

Hello Dear Croix, mmMekitty,

I was wondering where my amp went to...I was thinking that the mermaids must have taken it down below into the depth of the sea to their merhouse and were playing the songs of the sea to all the creatures in the underwater universe.......

Hmmm, Not sure how those beer can and bottles got their...I really dislike the taste of beer.....yucky....

I will pop over to your iceberg and collect those cans and bottles...for recycling....I wonder who they belong to?.....We don’t want them to drift away from your iceberg and cause harm to our fishy friends or their environment...

Enjoy your night lovely people...

Grandy....

Dear Grandy~

As the beer cans were Upper Hutt brewery Panhead Custom Ales' Supercharger APA, a well known NZ brand, I'm pretty sure I know the source. Talking of sauce - by elimination I would put the bottles down to you and the inebriated kiwis I kept finding in odd corners.:)

Don't recycle too many, you would not want my iceberg to sink - then you'd have nowhere to party when I've gone fishing.

I hope your night is a good one too

Croix

All that water is one big drink, with ice blocks, right? & a little lemon in cold water is quite refreshing. I don't expect mint, although, if there is a greenhouse somewhere out on the top surface, I'm sure we could grow some, & then that would make the water taste even better, so long as you don't mind waiting while the mint grows a bit.

I'm surprised, Croix, someone sold you a refrigerator down here on your iceberg in the Antarctic? 😼 In that case, step over here & let me show you this glossy prospectus. I can offer you a deal of a lifetime, to get in on the ground floor of this brand new, never to be seen again, offer to stake your very ownshare in this unbelievably rare Bit Coin mine, & guess what? It's been here, right under your nose all the time, just waiting to be exploited! For a mere10% deposit towards your initial investor's fee, I can sign you up right here & right now! 😻😺 Trust me! Here, take my gold pen, please, keep it....(just not in your pocket - it might melt)

Gotta rush off, 💨, places to go, people to meet, you know how it is?

* Had a so-called expert in to fix up my PC, including a problem with using my tele as a monitor too, & I thought he had, but there was a brief power outage, short enough for my PC to resart on it's own, but now I cannot get the tele to show as a monitor, & it is really difficult to navagate this website without any visual support. I'm not so good as some people I know, who have no option. I dread how I will manage if I could no longer benefit from any visual input, when using my PC. Text-to-speech, as useful as it is, is only one side of the equation. I also would need to be able to remember many keyboard combinations to use to navagate & apply, edit, & use things like links, lots, I don't remember most already.

Okay,

Must sleep 🙀 I'd like some music, just a little acoustic guitar, okay?

mmMekitty 💤

Hi DB, Grandy, anyone listening, thanks

Dear Croix...I think I've just come to understand, albeit in a small way, what this curious old saying means "Does a tree make a sound when it falls in the forest if there's no one there to hear it"? everyone has heard that old one haven't they?

What do you think...does it? Likewise am I lovable if no one loves me? Do I look nice when I take the trouble to look my best if no one tells me so? Am I even visible if no one sees me? Am I a living, walking, existing fellow human standing among all the others if no other person has ever touched me in months and months. {I mean small trivial, fleeting "touch" e.g. like a finger simply tapping your arm or something...some contact to indicate that I still exist.

which takes me back to my original question..."Does a tree make a sound when it falls in the forest if there is no one there to hear it?"

Here's what I think. A tree falling would still make sound if there is an atmosphere, which I assume so, if I also assume the tree was a living tree, up until the time it falls. That we may have functioning ears & if we are near enough, permits us to receive the disturbance in the atmosphere when the tree falls, crashing into the ground. No functioning ears, no sound would be received, but, close enough to the source, & the vibration through the air,& ground may be felt in the body.

If no one had functioning eyes, visual comparison & judgements would be irrelevant. Other judgements about one's other features may be compared, & some ideals about what beauty is, I think, would still be constructed, so , if living with even one other person a definition or argument about which of you is more beautiful would arise.

I love these thought experiments Sometimes they make my brain feel swimmy.😸

I have spent long periods of time where no one has touched me, even through clothing, & sometimes it feels distinctly weird. I sort of do a double take, as my brain assesses what the person just did. I am not comfortable with people casually touching me, or, even more uncomfortable when they presume any prolonged touch like hugs, for example.

Since losing most of my eyesight, I've had to permit more touching. But, I do not want people presuming they are permitted to reach out & grab my arm, hand, shoulder, whatever, just because they think they are trying to help. If I protest, I have offended them.

I still tend to 'block' in my mind, & try to imagine my body is wooden &/or the thing touching me is not flesh.

That's only for humans. I don't want human touch to be so real.

Cats, dogs, or any other living, breathing creature, & I'm fine. Indeed, I really enjoy the tactile experience when greeting dogs, & when I had Mekitty.

An odd thing happens sometimes, when I am 'taking my time', shall I say, getting to sleep, & I might feel , from within, often incorporating how my head is angled, if I have a blanket over part of my head or not, & alongside, my mind conjures up an image, which does not look like me, & I feel as if I do look like the image. It is a very odd feeling, to realise when I am doing this, that the sensory information from my hand & what I perceive in mind are different.

So, I do wonder, because even my conjured image relies upon previously acquired visual data to create, what image would be available to us if we never had functioning eyes.

mmMekitty

Dear Moonstruck~

You are always there, even if there is no other around, and you are a complete peron with looks feeling, emotions and judgment. you also have a rich past history -your life

If you doll yourself up and know you good, that is an end in itself, and being noticed by others a very pleasant bonus. You are lovable, your past tells you that, your offs prong tell you that - and your grandkids.

You are someone I, and many others, wish to talk wiht and aught wiht, and share down-times too. You are very much a human being.

I'll give you quote from a different source, I"m not religious but find it amusing

“There was a young man who said "God
Must find it exceedingly odd
To think that the tree
Should continue to be
When there's no one about in the quad."

Reply:
"Dear Sir: Your astonishment's odd;
I am always about in the quad.
And that's why the tree
Will continue to be
Since observed by, Yours faithfully, God.”
― Ronald Knox

Croix

Dear LRC~

I'm tempted by your bit-coin mine I must admit, but before going any further I must get rid of this spare money tree. It's only young and in a pot ready to transplant. Just starting to bloom, there are two $20's on it already - so what do you say to $AU100? Then we can haggle over the mine.

You saw my reply to Moon, I'm prosaic and think it can exist without human contact, as could the far side of the moon.

You made an presetting observation over your feeling almost like you conformed to your imaginary image. If I had to guess I'd say you have to spend an awful lot more than most folks making images of reality in your head - sort of half like filling in the blanks, or continuing to hold an image longer. This simply becuse you need a frame of reference your vision might not supply clearly.

Do oyu think htere might be something in that, or am I off track?

Perhaps for soothing music as requested

Andrés Segovia plays J S Bach

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZEUjDoji3Y

 

I had an uncle that lived with us for a while when I was a lad and he played this piece often on his violin, though he was more vigorous than this rather gentle version. - pleasant memories.

Croix

Here's another question: what's the worth of a planet, full of life, if there is no sentient life to appreciate it, whether on or off the planet?

*

Hehehe, you can't offload your soon to be obsolescent money tree on to me .... look here, there's no braille bumps on any of those 'leaves', & besides, there is next to no interest in money lately, & before much longer, physical notes & coins will be permananttly withdrawn from use.

*

Those imaginings are spontaneous, just influenced by some physical variants, including my own facial expression, which I can adjust, too, & change the whole image. I can feel longer in my face, with higher cheekbones, or a fuller mouth, or with my hair colour changed, & styled, with hat, hood, scarf, or I feel an attitude goes with the look...I gues it's more like the creation of a character. but incomplete.

I also can see some more impressionistic images, such as what I think my PDr looks like, & have him dressed in clothes fairly similar to what I knows he prefers, or put him in something very unusually bright,but n😼 he's always got his clothes on!

Colour has always been important & attractive to me. I liked mixing paint, matching colours in patterns, just looking at , or spotting certain favourite colours. Colour is the first thing I notice about anything.

*

😸 I like, very much like Back's 6 Cello Suites, & find myself completely drawn into them while listening. Also the Goldberg Variations, all solo piano, as well. But I'm not keen on choral or the music he wrote for the Church. Not into church music. No opera either. The occasional counter tenor, or songs without words, yes.

*

Whose that fellow? George Bernard Shaw, I think it was, who has a look I'm beginning to associate with you, Croix? It's a monochrome image in my head, unfortunately for you... 😺

nnNekitty

Croix......"Love it". Thank you. xx

Dear Moon~

You are very welcome, it's amazing all the different bits and pieces in my head🤔

Croix

Dear LRC~
The worth of a planet getting along very nicely without sentient life? There used to be (and I guess is still for many) the view that nature and animals are here solely for humanities’ benefit. This of course was debunked by Douglas Adams who pointed out humans are only the third most intelligent species on the planet, mice and dolphins being superior.

I can well imagine a planet where organisms even lower down the sentience scale appreciate the good things in their environment.

“& besides, there is next to no interest in money lately”. I’d beg to differ, I’m extremely concerned with it, particularly when it is absent.

It is very interesting, your imaginings and affinity for colour. I guess you must have a very rich and fertile imagination. High cheek bones remind me of Marlene Dietrich, I hope you have more success adopting her pose and attitude than I do with Arnie.

I’m glad Bach was a suitable choice. I do like some religious music, but for sentimental reasons from my youth, not its theology. A favorite is not suitable for bedtime, the Hallelujah Chorus, which I was trained to sing.

I’m afraid you have done GBS a great injustice, I’m much more like Alistair Cookie, the compere of Monsterpiece Theater, an example here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSiVZ524yW4

Croix

You don't seem to have been sitting thinking in your parlour lately Croix...gotta question for you...how do you reckon all this COvid hysteria/drama will end....with a bang or a whimper?

Others are welcome to answer too.

Dear Moon~

You are one of the people I've been meaning to catch up with, just seem to get too tired at times to do everything - sigh.

I wanted to becuse I know this particular holiday season is not one of your favorites and I'm hoping you and pet are getting along OK with plenty of distractions to take you mind off things..

Actually I'm not sure if we have talked since you made preparations to go and visit family - your son I think.

So how are things? Have you managed to view any tournaments?

Now for your question -to which I have not real answer. Certainly numbers escalate rapidly as restriction are removed and I'd expect long term life is going to change a bit.

I know in my own case I've physical ailments that would make me catching Covid an pretty serious affair, so I tend to limit my activities to a minimum out in the world. Still go for walks when I can but no coffee shops or similar. Wearing a mask, which I do, is made more difficult due to one of the ailments I've just mentioned, but worth it, at least I believe so.

So to answer your question I think people will get used to the new conditions and adapt. Hopefully without the health system becoming too overburdened. Not much of an answer I know, however what do you expect from a walrus?

Croix

Hello Croix & Moonstruck,

In my very humble & not well-educated opinion, because it would do COVID-19 no good to eliminate us, or to make us so frequently ill that we are unable to get out & mingle & therefore permit the virus many opportunities to infect more of us more often, which means more virus reproduction, therefore, I think, we will eventually have a variant or two, which will treat us more gently, & may well become more like the common cold virus we barely acknowledge,

So, to answer Moonstruck's question: Neither whimper nor big noisy crash, just a slow demise. In the meantime, there may well be more nasty varients to contend with. In that event, I think I will be whimpering, or crashing myself...still, I'm trying to be as optimistic as a cat can be.

mmMekitty

Amazing!

I never knew there was such a thing as a "humble" cat:) All the ones I met seem to think I'm a doorman, part of their staff, and tend to give me what-for if I open the door into rain or cold rather than into summer (obviosly not doing my job properly)

I think their theme tune must be

Oh Lord it's hard to be humble
When you're purrrfect in every way
I can't wait to look in the mirror
Cause I get better looking each day
To know me is to love me
I must be ... etc etc

-C

I must be ...an adorable cat,

Oh yes, it's hard being this humble,

So you'd better be happy with that!

Or there's the one by Don McLean,

but I don't directly quote:

Everybody loves me, Walrus - what's the matter with you?

Tell me what did I do

To offend you?

*

Correction:

I'm trying to be as optimistic as a pessimistic cat can be.

ought to have been the sentence in my last post. See, perfect as I am I am fallible.

Now Walrus, what are you keeping warm in the otherwise redundant, fridge?

mmMekitty

Dear mmMekitty and All~

Speaking of Don McLean I guess this just about applies to why I started this thread

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And, I knew if I had my chance that I could make those people dance, and...
Maybe they'd be happy for a while

Incidentally you have not offended me and I keep things cool in my fridge, such as clams. In what way is my fridge redundant? After all it is nearly new.

Croix

You haven't noticed, Walrus, that you live in an environment , which is an old-fashioned,(not frost free) fridge, with no walls, shelves or doors, but %#@$ing cold? Like an open-ended icebox!

What you need is to upgrade, at least to frost free, because as the climate warms, there will be more frost, even rain, which will mess with the construction of your iceberg. If you don't act soon you'll begin to notice your iceberg has been melting already, & by the time you've noticed, it may be too late to stop the melt.

When you are resting on the uppermost surface of your iceberg, does lying on the iced melt so that you are essentially lying in a pool?

*

You weren't by chance in a coffee shop in Brisbane one day, when some buskers came in & started to play & sing, American Pie, the full length version, were you?

mmMekitty 🎵..itthey caught the last train for the coast ... 🎸😸

Merry Christmas Croix......from your favourite Grinch! heheheheheh

Hello Moonsie, DB, Grandy, & all the band jamming out Xmas songs for Croix's angst & our amusement,

❄🍪🎶🥕🤶📦🍒🎍🥛💖🎄🌟🍭🎁🎼🎅🔔🍬⛄ ☮️ ❤️🍍

Merry Xmas to all!

mmMekitty