The caring cupboard!

Hello, it's Chloe here.  Have you a moment to spare?

I've a feeling in my whiskers that my Mum is about to tell you a story about me, so I think I'd better tell you first.
Well, you know what mums are like. There's not the slightest doubt that she'd get it muddled, and you deserve to know what really happened.

I had a very good time last week.  First of all we visited our favourite park, and then, at the end of the week, my Mum told me that we'd been invited out to lunch by a friend of ours.
Not that I get any actual lunch on such occasions, my Mum has this strange idea that cats should only eat at home.
But this doesn't really matter, I love visiting and exploring other people's houses.  I'm a very sociable cat.

This friend of ours has a great house to explore.  It has lots of stairs, lots of room, and there are plenty of intriguing things to inspect and get your whiskers twitching.  As my Mum and our friend ate their lunch, I had a very busy and exciting time.

Mind you, I tried to be polite and to share my excitement by going back downstairs every now and then to tell them what I'd found.  But they were so interested in their food that they didn't really listen.
Which, between you and me, was just as well.
All this exploring was proving rather tiring.  I felt in need of a rest.

So I went back upstairs in search of a comfortable chair for a short nap.
And guess what I found?

A door I hadn't noticed before was slightly open, I pulled at it with my paw and found myself in the most welcoming of cupboards.  It was very warm, and there were shelves all covered with clean sheets and blankets.  The perfect place, as I'm sure you'd agree, for a weary cat in need of a nap.  In fact, I was certain our kind friend had left the door open for that very purpose.

As I pushed my way in the door closed behind me.  All the better as the warm cupboard was now also dark . . . perfect for a good snooze.

I don't know how long I slept, but I certainly know what woke me up!  It was my Mum yanking me out of the cupboard in a very rough and ready fashion.
"So this is where you've been hiding!" she exclaimed very crossly, "I've been looking everywhere!"
Hiding?  I blinked at her in surprise.  I'd no idea what she was talking about.  I'd only found the warm spot that our friend had made available for me . . . how was that hiding?

It seemed that she'd been searching and calling for quite a while, but how can you possibly hear someone calling your name when you're fast asleep inside a cupboard?
Our good friend was smiling at me, so I don't really think my Mum needed to have been so upset.

It seems I'd been sleeping in what my Mum called an 'airing cupboard'.  But I feel confident she's got the name wrong, surely it must be a 'caring cupboard'?

Back home, after all that excitement, I finally went to sleep on the sofa.
If we've got a 'caring cupboard', my Mum keeps it well hidden.
I wonder . . .  do you think I could ask for one as an extra birthday present?

Water Day

It was only a few days ago that I learned of the UN's World Water Day, an event which is taking place today, and being celebrated worldwide as I write.
Clearly the rain knew before I did.  It must have taken quite a while to accumulate the torrential downpour that's currently beating against the window.

What's more, by a remarkable coincidence, it's on World Water Day that Thames Water has received a record-breaking £20,000,000 fine for seriously polluting the River Thames.

Do we need World Water Day?

As I'm sure you'd agree, those of us in the western world are prone to take water for granted.  We rarely marvel at the outcome when we turn a tap, or express gratitude when we fill the kettle.  Sub-consciously, we consider water to be little more than an amenity, and the supply of water needed to be fully under our control.

How different in the parched areas of Africa, where millions are currently suffering in conditions of severe drought.
Or in the inundated regions of South America, where homes and lives are being swept away in severe flooding.  The vital water that sustains can just as easily destroy.

But, just think about it for a moment . . . and, as you do so, pause and look down at your hand.
If water is no more than an amenity, how is it that over sixty per cent of your hand is made of water?  What's more, the water isn't static and personal to you.  Tomorrow it could have moved on to be the burgeoning bud on a tree, or perhaps activating a cat's paw.

It's also true that, aware only of the unity of life, and not of mankind's manufactured differences, the water that flows through a monk one week could just as easily be empowering a terrorist the next.

Ultimately, as the scientist Bruce Lipton tells us in a short video, without water there is no life . . . click here to enjoy his thoughts for yourself.

Today, as part of the worldwide activities, people are gathering at water sources to reflect, give gratitude, make music and celebrate.
For this one day at least, water is being recognised for its unique and vital role.

As I write these words I can see that the the rain has stopped, sunshine is filling the room.

Before the clouds return, I must go out and give gratitude for every puddle!