The Eleventh Hour

Oops! I've been spending so many hours copy-pasting articles from one platform to another over the last couple of weeks that I lost all track of days and nearly forgot what day it is.

Yes, today celebrates the eleventh anniversary of la Pensine, ironically halfway between Eklablog and Blogger as this dual number suggests. I'm doing my best for the transfer to be completed by the end of August, the expected date for the migration of Eklablog to Overblog's servers with their standardised designs and ads galore. Well, Blogger is no El Dorado but it's still the least bad solution than having to ask for donations to finance a blog hosting service. So thank you to everyone who has been faithfully following me over the years and chose to keep doing so on this new platform. And, of course, to all the newcomers who jumped on the bandwagon.

Did you know that master number 11 is also known as the “angel number”? In the traditional tarot of Marseilles, it is associated with the arcanum of Strength, a symbol of courage, determination and persistence. Looks like it's exactly what I'm currently experiencing with this tedious and time-consuming migration which should take many more weeks to complete.

As a thank you for your patience and diligence, I would like to share a wonderful story with you.

As a thank you for your patience and diligence, I would like to share a wonderful story with you.

Do like birds do
Birds, they live on fresh air and water
On hunting and fishing
But nothing ever stops them birds from flying higher

"Fais comme l'oiseau", Michel Fugain (1972)

About a month ago, a friend of mine found a baby bird which had fallen from its nest in a car park and seemed to be struggling for life. Following her heart, she brought it home to feed and nurse it despite her five cats on the lookout. Last weekend, we visited a friend in the countryside and brought him Miss Birdie so she could grow freely in a less hostile environment than in the suburbs of Paris. It was a memorable and informative experience, filled with tenderness and laughters. Since Miss Birdie regarded my friend as a surrogate mother, she had become totally domesticated, flying around us, perching on our heads, shoulders, arms, backs; greeting us and playing as young pets usually do. What amused me the most was her tasting chocolate of her own initiative, which seemed to get her high in such a way that she would swoop down like a rocket towards the fridge as I headed to the kitchen to fetch the cake and would smear chocolate on her beak and feathers like a greedy kid. Tonight I heard Miss Birdie just got adopted by a family of sparrows, which makes our friend both sad and happy she could get back so quickly to the kind of of life she was meant for. A free bird life. We can hope she'll come back to pay regular visits to the one who took care of her. We sincerely hope and pray so.

In Amerindian culture, the sparrow is often regarded as a messenger from the spirit world. It is believed that when a sparrow appears, it brings messages of love, joy and good fortune. The sparrow is also associated with community and social ties, reminding people of the importance of coming together and supporting each other. (Source)

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

Pictures: Mimi B. and Ey@el

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The Hut on Fire

Thank you for subscribing to my YouTube channel to help me gain visibility and incite me to make more inspirational short videos like this one. You may also subscribe to my Odysee and Crowdbunker channels that both protect my videos against potential censorship (some videos are actually available solely on these two platforms) for extra support. Thanks again. It will only cost you a couple of clicks and you'll be able to discover many other enlightening contents from other people the censors don't want you to see.

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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The Donkey, the Tiger, and the Lion

The donkey told the tiger: ′′The grass is blue”.

The tiger replied: ′′No, the grass is green”.

The discussion became heated up, and the two decided to submit the issue to arbitration, and to do so they approached the lion, King of the Jungle.

Before reaching the clearing in the forest where the lion was sitting on his throne, the donkey started screaming: ′′Your Highness, is it true that grass is blue?”.

The lion replied: “True, the grass is blue”.

The donkey rushed forward and continued: ′′The tiger disagrees with me and contradicts me and annoys me please punish him”.

The king then declared: ′′The tiger will be punished with 3 days of silence”.

The donkey jumped for joy and went on his way, content and repeating: ′′The grass is blue...

The tiger accepted his punishment, but he asked the lion: ′′Your Majesty, why have you punished me, after all, the grass is green?”

The lion replied: ′′In fact, the grass is green”.

The tiger asked: ′′So why do you punish me?”

The lion replied: ′′That has nothing to do with the question of whether the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is not possible for a brave, intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with a donkey, and on top of that to come and bother me with that question”.

The worst waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who doesn’t care about truth or reality, but only the victory of their beliefs and illusions. Never waste time on discussions that make no sense.

There are people who for all the evidence presented to them, do not have the ability to understand, and others who are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment, and the only thing that they want is to be right even if they aren’t.

When IGNORANCE SCREAMS, intelligence shuts up. Your peace and tranquility are worth more.

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The Enchanted Metsät of the Far North

With two thirds of its territory covered with forests (metsät in Finnish), as the land of Santa, Finland is best known for its dark and cold landscapes and early twilights. The winter solstice (shortest day of the year) is celebrated there as Yuletide, an old pagan festival honouring the “rebirth” of the Sun, on the 25th of December, after its transient disappearance under the horizon.

In Western religions, mythologies and literature, forests are places [...] where perceptions become confused, uncovering some hidden aspects of time and consciousness. In a forest, what is inanimate may suddenly become animate, gods turn into beasts, outlaws stand for justice, Rosalind shows up as a boy, the knight of impeccable virtue is degraded to the status of a primitive, straight lines make circles, and the familiar is replaced by fantasy.

~ Robert Pogue Harrison, Forests: The Shadow of Civilization (1992) (retranslated back from French as I could not find the original quote — Ed.)

Ossi Saarinen is a young Finnish photographer who, like most of his fellow countrymen, is fascinated by the magic of Finland's vast forests, and especially its wildlife which became his favourite subject and field of expertise. “My typical photographing day starts before the sunrise when the animals are most active” he explains. “I grab my camera and zoom-lens, put them in my backpack and head out to the forests near my home. Most of the time is walking around searching for the animals or laying down and waiting. When the day gets brighter I go back home to rest and prepare for the evening.”

Oh deer, Ossi's stunning photos are so awesome, they look like the stuff from fairy tales as you can see on his Instagram account,  I've had the hardest time creating this sample gallery (not to mention Eklablog's servers crashing every time I uploaded a picture). I have a soft spot for foxes and squirrels so cute and expressive. How about you?

Have a Merry Christmas everyone and watch out for caribous!

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

Cover picture: Ossi Saarinen

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The Feline Cuddle Therapist Who Rehabilitated All Black Cats

A while ago, I wrote about a “cuddle therapist” black cat by lake on my doorstep helping me and other people feel better. It would appear that the lovely tom has a twin. Or maybe he can be at several places at once. Or  that angels have decided to shape-shift into black cats in attempt to open up the hearts of humans, leading by example and at the same time, dissolving all those stupid and cruel superstitions which unfortunately still persist. I was deeply moved by the story below and I expect you will be too.

According to the old legend from Ancient Egypt, cats have nine lives. It would appear to be true for Rademenes, a two-month old black kitten given up for adoption and condemned by a fatal upper respiratory infection before ending up as nurse assistant to a veterinarian in the unpronounceable city of Bydgoszcz, in Poland,

Dr. Lucyna Kuziel-Zawalich works in an animal shelter. After the black kitty was brought by his owners to shorten his suffering and she “took the little ball in her hand,” she couldn't bear to euthanise him. Since his condition was very contagious, he had to be quarantined. But thanks to the devoted love and care he received, Rademenes quickly made an impressive turnaround. “Maybe he knew he as near the end and began fighting for his life,” explains his rescuer.

Ever since, Ramedenes never left the shelter and now devotes his life giving back the love and care he received to other sick pets, cats and dogs alike, cuddling up with them with his comforting purr, sometimes licking their wounds, in the awareness that his caring loving presence can only speed up their recovery. “It's as if having been so close to death's door himself, he now wants to help others get better,” says Dr. Kuziel-Zawalich.

Anyhow, this adorable cat is more human than most humans (fortunately not all of them), has become the mascot of the shelter and even has his own Facebook page. Actually, his story went viral on the Internet and he's now a sort of local tourist attraction as the black cat who brings luck: “This sounds ridiculous but he actually comes out to greet new people coming in. Which is really, really endearing.”

This story is somewhat reminiscent of some anecdotes by this retired vet from Yorkshire:

“I know about Oscar now,” I said.
“Know what?”
“Why he goes on these nightly outings. He's not running away — he's visiting.”
“Visiting?”
“Yes,” I said. “Don't you see? He likes getting around, he loves people, especially in groups, and he's interested in whatever they do. He's a natural mixer.”
Helen looked down at the attractive mound of fur curled on her lap. “Of course... that's it... he's a socialite!”
“Exactly, a high stepper!”
“A cat-about-town!”

Cat Stories, James Herriott

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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The Panther of the Lake

It's almost Halloween. On this occasion, I intended to repost an article by Alanna Ketler about what black cats actually symbolise and had set to translate it in French only to realise afterwards that I had already done so more than a year ago. I did have that impression of déjà vu, but the title of the article was different and so were the website and more recent publication date, hence a search on my blog returned no entry (the embedded search engine on Eklablog is not what I'd call efficient). Come on, you can tease me with this, I deserve it! Wasting hours on a job you've already done is what you call being off with the fairies or completely off radar — there's an awful lot more you could say, but please, don't.

On the spur of the moment, I was quite upset (mind you), then I must have changed a lot of late because instead of raising a tsunami in a teaspoon or indulging in some Calimero whinging (an ancient nemesis of mine), I chose to take it on with humour and without berating myself, I'm bouncing back with this original article instead to roll over Halloween's unhealthy spooky tales (as if the mainstream media didn't feed us with their own all year long).

Telepathy

My story is a quite unusual. Since the beginning of last summer, I got into the habit of spending time by the lake in my neighbourhood to feed ducks and coypus, observe herons and geese, while enjoying the peace and quiet and sunshine (whenever available) to practice meditation and earthing (stay tuned for an article on this topic very soon). This is where I met a black cat, which I've called Panther, who popped up out of the blue one day and meowed and rubbed against me and eventually spent the afternoon with me curled up on my towel by the water. And he did it again the next day. And the day after. And almost every day of the week. No matter what time. It's as there was some telepathy going on.

I think it's actually what happens, because two weeks ago, it had rained a lot and it was chilly. I wasn't sure whether I should stop by the lake on my way back from the physio, all the more since it was unlikely for the panther to be out in such foul weather. Then I felt some urge to take another route and there he was, sitting atop a post as if waiting for me. Meowing loudly, he leaped off his perch and followed me like a faithful dog.

Cuddle Therapy

The Panther is definitely not a stray, he does have owners (who seem to groom him well going by his healthy coat), but unlike most cats, he's very outgoing and in great need of company. I saw him stroking against every passer-by on his lake, playing with kids, and even cheering up some loners like me as if if could feel who needed the most the touch of his magic paw. A lady even joked that he must be a “cuddle therapist”.

Incidentally, it has been shown that cats, and particularly cat's purr, actually had therapeutic effects. In some countries such as Japan or Austria, they have created ”cat bars” where people can come and cuddle cats to release stress. Purr therapy is not a myth. You can even find CD recordings of cat purr for those who can't keep a pet at home. Though, in my opinion, there is more to the healing effect than just the purring.

Inspiration

It's funny how everyone seems to think he is my cat and compliments me on how lovely he is. We must look like we belong to each other. Which we don't. We have no ties of sorts, but we're bound by some kind of tenderness. Thanks to him, I now meditate on a regular basis, I take the time to do nothing, and I'm feeling so much better. I'm becoming more inspired, more tolerant and more positive.

And you know what: the panther is scared of fish! Not only does he steps back when an angler waves a fish under his nose (before carefully putting it back to the lake), he literally runs off whenever some carp leaps out like a dolphin. Luckily, there are no sharks nor piranhas in the lake — that is as far as I know. Oops!

© La Pensine Mutine. All rights reserved. Reproduction prohibited.

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