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Imfloofdence (floofinition) – Animal behavior marked by cocky boldness.
In use: “While other kittens kept close to Mom, Jazz was the picture of imfloofdence, marching up to adult cats and dogs and challenging them to duels, and aggressively trying to steal food from everyone everywhere.”
The wheels of time rolled through another day into Thirstday, August 11, 2022. Thirstday, the time of week when you pause to think of the things for which you thirst. Maybe it’s unrequited love. Or something simpler and more personal, like a cancer cure. Perhaps you thirst for food security and shelter, social justice, or equality. It could be that you thirst for another time, when you knew yourself as a younger person with a wide-open horizon before you. Our thirsts are different, Thirstday reminds us.
Sunshine tore the night covers back at 6:14 AM. The sun’s valley reign will go on to 8:17 PM, taking our temperatures from 18 C where we now sit to 90 F by late afternoon. A wondrously blue sky highlights the day’s placid nature. Everything looks calm, peaceful, and serene. Only arguing jays break the morning stillness.
Wasn’t so a short while again. The house floofs love this weather. Papi turned in a record mad dash as the halls and rooms became LeMans. He took the Mulsanne Straight chicanes flat out, demonstrating mind-blowing speed and control as Tucker watched with bristling white whiskers.
The Neurons have turned to Bill Withers, sliding an old high-school favorite by him from 1972, “Use Me”, into the morning mental music stream. I understand The Neurons’ reasoning. It’s a dream thing which I’m still unknotting. It’s a good song to hear again, to help look back on things in a quiet pause between more urgent matters. Though we never knew one another, Bill and I lived in the same town, Beckley, WV, for a few years. Yeah, it was separated by about six years, so meeting him was remote. Did see him in concert once and have great admiration for him.
My Thirstday coffee is a-calling from the kitchen counter. Stay positive, test negative, etc., endure, survive, and go on to thrive. Here’s the music. Cheers
Flooficacy (floofinition) – 1. An animal’s power to produce an effect.
In use: “The floof book which almost every young floof uses, Training A Human, A Guide for Young Floofs, instructs young floofs to learn early which method of swaying your human has the best flooficacy – big eyes, sweet noises, silly action, playfulness, or deep loving.”
2. Something pleasing to animals to eat that is considered rare or luxurious.
“Same the beagle loves American cheese, but his people give it to him so infrequently that it’s a flooficacy in his mind.
3. The state or quality of being an animal with a diminutive stature.
In use: The flooficacy of young animals such as kittens, puppies, kids, and lambs, often stir people.”
Infloofgration (floofinition) – The act, instance, or process or adding an animal to an environment.
In use: “Proper infloofgration to a household when a new floof comes into someone’s life is critical. The established animals and newcomer both need time and space to adjust to the situation’s new parameters.”
Centrifloofetal (floofinition) – Moving or tending to move toward a center which is focused on animals.
In use: “More homes are becoming centrifloofetal as catios and enclosed patios and yards are added to let pets enjoy the outdoors in a safe manner.”
Hoochie Floof (floofinition) – An animal who is free from anxiety and worry, or who acts in such a manner.
In use: “Although born prematurely in the Cincinnati Zoo, Fiona the hippo seemed like a hoochie floof as she navigated her first actions in the public eye, drawing millions of clicks and inspiring books.”
In the game of months, August is a powerful force but one-dimensional. Her gifts aren’t subtle.
Tuesday, August 2, 2022, greets you with a warm smile. But what will happen next? A storm with thunder, lightning, and maybe rain? Or a liberal dose of high heat?
She gave us hours of lightening and minutes of thunder last night. The lightning show kicked off before eleven PM, well after sunset at 8:33 PM. Lightning continued until almost three AM. For a period, it was flicker one two three flicker one two three flicker one two three. Thunder muttered once in a while about not wanting to be there and then unleashed a significant boom as if to say, “Fine. Here. Satisfied?” There may have been rain but evidence of it was cleaned up by sunrise at 6:03 AM. The net was knocked out, though.
The cats dealt with it in their own ways. Papi, who loves the outdoors, came in before I was aware that storms were upon us. Tucker, who is blase, shrugged, found a porch spot, and went to sleep.
Temps today are cooler. It’s 22 C now and the high will be 92 F. We may have more thunderstorms later. Winds shifted yesterday so we’re not getting smoked out. Our largest threat, the McKinney Fire south of us, received rain, higher humidity, and cloud cover, all which helped fighting the fire.
With all that smoke in the air for the last several songs, The Neurons plied the morning mental music stream. You know many of the usuals: think of smoke and it was probably heard. But stealing from The Neuron’s m.o., I said, the key word is smell, and then went off on Johnny Winter and the old Bobby Bland song, “I Smell Trouble”. I was a Winter fan starting with Egar and then learning of Johnny. As I became more interested in the blues in the late 1970s and early 1980s, I found some great videos from Montreux. Sadly, those videos can’t be shared. So, here is instead “Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo”.
Stay positive, test negative, and take precautions as needed. I believe it is now coffee time. The Neurons agree. Here’s the music. Have a better one. Cheers
Michael Seidel, writer 