Cotty-Cat

This morning as I was drinking my coffee in the kitchen and listening to Buddy Holly and Ricky Nelson, I saw a beautiful gray cat with white feet outside my window.  She was stalking the squirrels that gambol around out there.  She must have been a pretty good hunter because she was quite a fat cat! Or perhaps she belonged to someone.  It reminded me of looking out of my window at my parents' old house in Maryland, watching our cat, Cotton, stalk things out in the yard near the woods beneath my window.  I miss having an animal so much.  I wish I was allowed to have a cat in my apartment... I'm promising myself that this will be the last year without one.

This is Cotton.  He passed away last winter, at the age of 19.  He has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. 

Do you have any stories to share of special cats in your life?

Studying with Anne

One of my favorite books is Anne of the Island, by L. M. Montgomery... the third book in the Anne of Green Gables series.  In it Anne is going to college and I don't know how, but L. M. Montgomery makes studying sound so cozy and good.  I wish that it felt like that when I study/write papers for my MA in French (and the workload is particularly heavy right now).  I think having several cats around and living in a home called Patty's Place might have something to do with it.  Although I can brag that I have a boyfriend as wonderful as Gilbert Blythe.

Write with me!

I would love to write more letters and make more friends,
so write me a letter at:

Emilie Staubs
49 Englewood Ave. #2
Brighton, MA 02135

And I will respond!

A Letter

I just received a letter from my aunt today.  It was on a card with a painting of a ranunculus.  It's a horrid name for one of the most beautiful flowers, in my opinion.  When I lived in France they were my favorite flowers to buy at the market. Gorgeous and colorful--- and most of the time only two or three euros.

I love writing and receiving letters. I participate in a few websites that I get mail from: Swap-bot and Post-crossing.  It's lovely to get mail from random people across the world, but I love it even more to get a handwritten letter from a dear friend, an aunt or my mom or grandmother.  I have felt closer to my deceased grandparents on my mothers side through writing letters too.  I know that they wrote many letters and I know from one of my older cousins that when my grandmother wrote on a card she would start on the right hand side and then when that was filled would move to the left hand side of the card.   It may be an inconsequential little thing for some people, but to learn this little habit of hers made me feel so close to the grandmother I never knew. 

New Life For Horses and Inmates

 http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/09/18/maryland.prison.horses/index.html?hpt=C2

This article about inmates working with retired racehorses touched very close to my heart.
As an undergraduate I participated in a reading conversation group sponsored by my university at a nearby medium security prison.  My time working with the inmates taught me so much and opened my eyes to a completely different sphere of society than the one that I grew up in.  I would love to participate in a similar program again.  Combining that experience with my love for horses sounds ideal.  Second Chance Farm looks like an amazing place.

Horsey Horsey

So, to start off my new blog, it is only appropriate that I explain the title.  Winnie (Windsong) was my horse.  My beloved flea-bitten gray Arabian mare that I felt closer to than I can ever describe.  She passed away about two years ago, but I still miss her terribly and I'm still hers.

And I just found this great "Horsey" bike by Eungi Kim from Korea this morning.

This would have been perfect for me as a child, when I was always pretending my bike was a horse anyway.  I named my bike-horse Esmerelda.

From: http://www.designboom.com/weblog/cat/8/view/11472/horsey-by-eungi-kim-seoul-cycle-design-competition-shortlist-revealed.html