Friday Follies

And Evening Spent at School

I coulda, shoulda, woulda with the horses but the students at school had two special events planned.  Since the drive there and back is a good half hour plus in some pretty tricky traffic, if I was going to attend, I really needed to simply stay after and not try to go home.

I called my friend Donna who graciously said she'd be glad to feed the Boys for me, and I just stayed where I was.

The first "folly" was the Mr. Academy contest.  Seven young men vied for the title of "Mr. Academy" by answering questions, showing off their talent, charming the judges, appearing in beachwear, and answering a final set of questions.  I must admit, most of it was pretty clever. Most of the boys took the "tongue in cheek" approach, giving silly answers, and even offerning such talent as making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or playing/singing a rather dreadful song, but we also had to excellent martial arts presentations, one super vocal number, and a keyboard performance.  In the end the student panel of judges voted for one of the martial artists who was soft spoken and witty.  It was all in good fun and quite entertaining.

I then went to a nearby pizzeria looking for some lasagna for dinner.  Oh my! Not only did I find some, but it was deeeeeliscious!! Meaty, cheesey and with an absolutely wonderful tomato sauce.  This is just a tiny little pizza restaruant tucked into one of those non-descript strip malls, and the food is fabulous.  As long as I teach at the academy, this place is on my list for both pizza and a meal or two for takeout on the way home. No doubt about it.

Then I headed back to school for India Culture Night.  It was an evening prepared by students to celebrate Indian culture.  We have a large population of Indian students in the school and they wanted to share some insight into their country and culture.  There were displays set up all around the building, a very well done slide show running in the library, and food...lots and lots of food.  Now, I do love the taste of Indian cuisine, but after an evening at a gala in an Indian restaurant a few years ago, I also know that Indian food does not all necessarily agree with me, so I was a bit cautious at the buffet table. I tasted a little of nearly everything, took small portions of the foods I knew would be OK and just generally nibbled.  My Italian dinner earlier had certainly satisfied me, so I wasn't really hungry--as I had planned--so I was able to avoid over indulging in all the wonderfully tasty food offered up.  These were all dished donated by students, parents and at at least one teacher.  Yummy!

Entertainment for the evening included five or six authentic Indian dances.  Again our students showed some amazing talent and artistry.  The dances were beautiful and energetic.  It was great.  The evening closed with a fashion show of stunning sarees, tunics, and other Indian garb.  It was really worth staying late to see the talent, dedication, and hard work of these students and to learn so much about India and its treasures.

I didn't get home until after 9 PM, so it was a long day for me.

I do want to introduce you to Patches, however.  This is the sight that greets me most mornings now.  My stray kitty has decided to sit in the tree by the horse trailer in the morning, waiting for breakfast. 

As you can see from this view, this is not a little short tree, but a BIG tree.  I don't know how much time Patches spends up there, but he/she certainly is pretty safe from most danger.

As you can see, Patches is quite a cute kitty, but still pretty scared of me.  Actually, though, Mommacat--the female that had the kittens here a couple years ago--the kitty I captured and had spayed, has taught Patches to "talk" to me.  Momma was always very vocal about insisting I feed her, and she seems to have passed that on to Patches.  So now, the two of us have a "conversation" in the morning as I set out breakfast.  Patches gets a nice bowl of dry cat food and a nice can of canned cat food every day.  Since he/she has realized I am the source of this delightful event, we have been getting closer to each other.  Perhaps, as time goes by, we may even become friends. 

Needless to say, at the very least, I would like to get my little pal a rabies vaccine and find out his/her sex and get him/her neutered.  I am suspicious, though that this kitty once belonged to someone and might already be neutered as my sweet BarneyKat was when he showed up.  Considering that Patches is a long haired kitty and doesn't look too scruffy, he/she may well have once been a pampered pet. 

People see a "farm" around here and figure it's a perfect place for any cat they don't want anymore to find a home.  So, I think Patches was probably dropped off by someone rather than being born in the wild.  We don't seem to have a feral cat colony around here, or else I would have far more kitty sightings than I do now. 

Years ago, we had a kitty show up like this. I named him Clancy, and it took a good six or seven years before I tamed him and, eventually, made him a house cat.  He was the sweetest fellow you'd ever want to know.  Patches, aside from the long hair, reminds me of him. 

Perhaps, with enough time and patience, he/she too will find a real home here.