THE NEW YEAR ARRIVES AS WE FOCUS ON A GENTLEMAN CAT & A KITTEN IN TRAINING, PLUS A BETTY WHITE NOTE

As 2021 draws to a close and 2022 arrives with all the sparkle of a diamond ring in the intense strategic lighting over jeweler’s display case at Christmas, I offer this photograph of young and old.
We’re using it to celebrate the feline portion of the theme of our weekend feature, Let Sleeping Dogs Lie & Napping Cats Nap.

We’re also going to mention someone the animals lost as the year drew to a close: Betty White, not just the actress but the animal advocate. She was 99, almost 100 — made the age seem too young to go, didn’t she. That’s a Parade Magazine photo of the star. Here’s a great quote from Betty White: “If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do.” [LARRY NOTE: “As a moody human, I concur!” snarled Larry. Now: back to our weekend edition.]
In the opening photo for this edition, the older cat is The Senator, my companion and advisor since 2008 — he was already 6 or 7 when we got him -- wandered up and stayed. The beige-with-highlights cat is Hastings, i.e., Captain Hastings Streetboy, our latest rescue — born in September of this year, found blind in a street on October 4... Old and young — like 2021 and 2022.
The Senator is a gentleman. He is napping in Martha’s recliner. Hastings, maybe 3 months old (barely) and maybe 5 pounds, is not quite napping — maybe. He was too alert to catch from the front, so he was probably just wide awake and flopped down to plot his next adventure. They represent the changing of years.
This photo captures The Senator with my office cat, William Powell, lounging on one of our couches where they have a perfect view of the TV. 
William is a former neighborhood feral who wandered up one day while I was painting the wooden trim at our old Dallas house. I hated to move him out of Dallas — the city has such a striking shortage of unwanted feral tabby cats. [LARRY ASIDE: I may need to check those cat stats.]
 William decided he liked me and adores Martha, so he moved in.
Every morning William and I have a hugfest at the keyboard in our office before I begin writing — it’s a lot like the relationship author John Steinbeck had with his editor Maxwell Perkins, only I’m not Steinbeck and William doesn’t like to use a pencil on paper. No thumbs.

Now that Hasting the Kitten is out of isolation after all his shots and tests, he and William have become romping buddies though William is still a little bit skeptical of the youngster’s motivations. William sleeps. Hastings is learning. 

Sometimes William sleeps on the beat up chair I rescued off a curb and intended to re-upholster years ago. 
He’s not always stereotypically curled up on the cushion. As you can see, he can nod off while sitting up in the chair like a philosopher who just dropped off while leaning over to listen to a tedious colleague trying to make a point about some theory of successful existence in the intellectual community. 
And we have some youthful photos of Hastings -- he's got a certain happiness that we cannot deny! [LARRY ASIDE: Here he is sitting on my laptop while wearing one of Martha's sparkly homemade anti-covid masks. Martha got him to try it on. It made her smile. It seemed to make Hastings feel all dressed up!]
So, as we launch ourselves into a new year, all of us at readlarry- powell.com wish the world a 2022 that is wonderfully laden with peace and good will and overabundant with joy. May we all find ourselves cheerily embracing a happy planet populated by get-along and do-right people! Not much of a challenge, eh? 
Start by hugging a cat, petting a dog and being a strong, loveable human being. Those 3 steps won’t solve all the planet’s problems, but they’re a start. And, then, maybe mankind won’t be in such a hurry to get off the planet. Not that I don’t trust mankind after 2021. Aw, I’m kidding — kind of. As my dear, late friend, Inky, the Cocker Laureate of the State of Texas, use to say to me, "Life? Lap it up!" Amen.
— Offer global advice or local tasty pie tips by clicking on ‘comment’ below or by emailing [email protected] and put LAY OFF THE CALORIES 2022 in the subject line. —-