Sunday, April 5, 2020: Today the first Unitarian Church of Victoria presented an “isolation” service where leaders and congregation alike participated from their homes via the internet conferencing scheme, ZOOM. It was great, technically viable and full of content. One of the questions put out to the congregation with referenced to the pandemic was “Want do you find hard to let go of?” and a member replied with a strong, one-word answer “Expectations.” Oddly enough, the stuff I wanted to post today was about our pets, dogs and cats, creatures who live day-to-day with no expectations. That is one of the reasons we love them. Worry some when watching the 6 pm news these days but otherwise take your cues from the cat.
Enlightenment Behind the Travelodge
Between the roadway and the Travelodge,
a patch of grass made green by autumn rains.
An old man stands with his leashed dog.
A scrawny tree nearby
still holds golden leaves,
though many have fallen.
The man is struck by some arresting thought.
Perhaps he has been released
to the freedom of pure existence.
The dog is about to pee and is glad to be on grass.
Or the dog, having peed,
enjoys the lightness of the moment.
Either way, it claims the zone.
(November 2018)
Cat in Sunlight on Christmas Day
Through the kitchen window
a fall of sunlight pools
across the patterned carpet
where the cat,
alert to all that changes,
sprawls among the radiant woven roses.
Shepherds, Magii, we are told,
followed light,
but hesitated at its edges,
fearful of what it could mean
to step forward from the shadows.
The old cat, enlightened fully,
purrs a while, then sleeps.
Poems, Pictures and Stories 
Enjoyed these poems, in the middle of the night, with Sylvia, the seventeen year-old cat, on my lap.
Sylvia has expectations. If I am up in the night, she expects to sit on my lap. When I get up in the morning, she expects to be fed. When she has eaten, she expects to play a game with one or more pingpong balls. She expects to sleep in the sunshine, whenever possible.
I don’t know what she expects about having her litter pan cleaned (a daily task, that falls to me), but I know the result, if I forget to do it.
At least that is my expectation.
Keep well my friends.
Thanks, Eric
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