BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Native American Do you see what I see?

Hmmmm....well, in Ancient Rome the cat was sacred to Diana, the moon goddess. At that time, the cat was also considered a guardian of homes and a symbol of domestic goodness. I am not sure if the black cat would be considered as such.

My Robin was back this morning, just after the bunny hopped away.

In Germany they have a saying: a black cat crossing your path from the left to the right side brings bad luck - a black cat crossing from the right to the left brings good luck. I think it's rubbish.

There is an ancient Egypt cat-goddess called Bastet - who I like very much.

I have a black cat, a black and white cat and a grey long hair tabby (talk about fur balls.....yuck!)...she looks like a little bitty maine coon...and I believe they're all guardians of my home and symbols of domestic goodness. I love them so much!

Many evenings we sit in the garage with the garage door up and enjoy the evening sounds. It faces the East, so we don't get to enjoy the sunsets, but we've seen some incredible sunrises. Anyway, yesterday probably around 4 or 5p the hummers were entertaining us with quite an arial show. There is are hummingbird feeders on either side of the door. Suddenly 2 of them came together and fell to the ground. The grass is about 3 or 4 inches long so I could only see grass moving and an occasional wing. I assumed a pair was mating, although I'd been told that they mate in the air. We watched, but didn't go near....and before long the 2 flew away. It wasn't long after that when I noticed something moving in the same place....I couldn't stand it any longer....I went into stealth mode and sneaked over there...it was 2 male ruby throats duking it out like a couple of little boys on the school yard!!! Jeez....they are territorial and it's mating season to boot. I'm surprised they didn't skewer each other! One of them definately got the worst of it; when they flew apart again the smaller one went to a teeny branch and was a little shaken, but soon flew to the feeder and was fine. Those little things think they are huge. They're so precious and bring such joy. My mother found one in her garage years ago. It was lying on its side but she could see it was still alive. She mixed sugar water and saturated a q-tip with it and then she held the hummingbird in her hand to help warm it up. She placed the sugar water saturated q-tip near it's beak and pretty soon it began to eat. It regained body temperature and strength and flew off. She was thrilled to have such an experience!

We have a Carolina Wren nesting in a box on the carport, a Sparrow (I think) with a huge nest in the gardenia "tree" (it's over 8 ft tall). The woodpeckers are back with the cardinals. We have a rookery of sorts in our YARD!

The only ones we're missing are the hawks. We did see them a few times, near last year's nest. But haven't seen them in at least 2 weeks. They must have chosen another nesting area.

This morning I posted we hadn't seen the hawks in a while. Working in the yard about 1:30 this afternoon. Here comes one of our hawks swooping across the front yard, black snake in talons.

The neighbors crow started chasing the hawk. I'm going to have a word with that crow.

Dear Wendy,

So you know what keying is all about. :-) I live in Studio City, but the magnificent tree is located in North Hollywood. Both these places are suburbs of Los Angeles. I don't have any of my keying materials anymore. You gave me a great idea. I should take a photo. I just don't know how to upload them. My beloved late husband was so good at that. What I can do is take a photo and give you a detailed description of the bark and the leaves. I'll bring a fallen leaf home with me so I can look at it in detail.

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Dear Connidee,

I love the story about your mother nursing a hummingbird back to health. How joyous is that! The hummingbirds are coming back and enjoying my aloe. They much prefer the one with yellow blooms. I had an aloe with red blooms, but they didn't care for that. Hummingbirds have stayed for up to twenty or more minutes on that plant even when I am on the porch. The aloe is just beneath the front porch. A few years ago, a hummingbird came to the window to say hello to me. There are no flowers right there.

I am in love with our cats! I know I have talked about them somewhere here. Pharoah, the Savannah hybrid cat, loves to drink water out of a glass. He especially loves it when there is ice in it. He's very affectionate and loves kisses. He bumps your head for them. Puma, the Northern Indian Jungle hybrid cat, loves to fetch. She'll bring her toy to you so you will throw it for her. She'll play this game forever. It's just about impossible to resist her. Those eyes and they way she communicates is really something.

Walk In Balance,
Deer

Theresa,
are your cats large cats? They sound wonderful.

Mom still talks about 'HER hummingbird'. It was joyous for her and she'll never forget it.

I didn't know aloe bloomed. The only aloe I've ever seen are the small plants we have in the house. You must live in the south.

Until this past Christmas, I had never seen an aloe plant bloom either. I have several in pots and two of them are getting quite large. But I don't think mine are the type that bloom.

A stalk shoots up from the middle of the plant, several feet high, similar to a yucca. The top branches out like a little tree, with a bell shaped flower on the end of each "limb." They're perfect for hummingbirds. All the ones I've seen had red blooms. The plant has distinct stripes on the "leaves."

Dear Connidee,

I live in Studio City, which is located in the San Fernando Valley, a suburb of Los Angeles. Puma, the girl cat is rather small. She has the tiniest paws I have ever seen. Pharoah has become taller within the last couple of months. They are both two-years old. Most cats of Pharoah's breed are quite large and tall. He seems to be an exception. I wish you all could see them.

Yes, Aloe Vera does bloom beautifully. The ones in the backyard did not do well s I don't have the original ones. The ones my beloved late husband planted are rather scrubby and have not bloomed. The one underneath the front porch blooms a lot and has many stalks of blooms on it when it does. Aloe blooms come on large tall stalks.

Hummingbirds are a totem of joy. I am so happy your mother keeps her hummingbird in her heart. It must bring her a lot of happiness.

Walk In Balance,
Deer