A Hunting We Will Go

"Hark, who goes there? Could it be my breakfast?"

Chillin'

Briar chillin' in the bushes at the beach.

Hiking With Briar

Briar chillin' in the tree waiting for some dogs to pass by.


I love hanging out with Briar, and of course his person, too. But Briar and I are kindred spirits. He enjoys being outdoors as much as I do. I get so much joy watching him explore.

The part I love about Briar the most, is the effect he has on people. Astonishment fills all who see him walking on the beach and hiking in the forest, or playing high school volleyball.

"What is that cat doing here?!"

"Is that your cat?!"

"Wow, a cat hiking in the forest, how cool!"

"Does he really follow you?"

Yes it's very cool and he really does follow us.

In fact, Briar is so cool he's on twitter now. What does Miley Cyrus know anyways? Twitter isn't some contest about amassing millions of fans, and then quitting. Twitter is all about connecting with real people, or in this case, a cat.

Follow Briar on twitter.

Friend Briar On Facebook.

Playdate Gone Awry

The day's lucky survivor.

It was a non-surf Saturday, and I was feeling a little sluggish and in need of outdoor body movement.

I text one of my parenting friends, "want to take the kids to the beach?"

"Yes, I'll be right over," she texts back.

We hadn't been at the beach more than five minutes, when my friend's son catches a baby squirrel.

I went to the beach to feel better, but watching Briar playing with a baby squirrel, gave me an instantaneous, "I am going to vomit," kind of feeling. Yes, I say that a lot when I'm feeling uncomfortable. ( If I've ever ridden in your car, you already know that.)

"He likes playing with the squirrel," says Briar's person proudly.

"Well I'm sure the squirrel doesn't like playing with him," I say.

Unfortunately, my kids were there. Talk about a bad influence. My kids get play dates with a murderer.

"Briar is a warrior!" shouts Vinny. "Hooray," cheer the rest of the kids.

Angels Are Real 3

Gio painted this picture at school. As I was studying it, I noticed an angel, in the upper, middle portion of the picture.

"Gio, look, I think that's you're guardian angel," I say.

"What does a guardian angel do?" asks Gio, not sure if a guardian angel is a good thing to have.

"A guardian angel keeps you safe," I say.

"Good," says Gio.

As I gazed at his painting I wondered if it is his guardian angel. So far he's saved my life, and one other. Gio kept me from going surfing at a spot where there happened to be a shark attack exactly when I would have been there.

Here's how he saved my life.......

He grabbed a shark book, one with a Great White Shark jumping out of the water, with its mouth wide open, while hysterically screaming, "shark!"


I think she's smiling for the camera. Yikes!

I had been having a sharky feeling at this spot for a few weeks. So much so that I had paddled in not one, not two, but three times, in a two week period. As a rule, surfers don't paddle in. It isn't cool. Surfers are the epitome of cool. At least we like to think we are.

Gio's hysterical shark screaming, hit a nerve. A nerve I'm glad I recognized and listened to.

"Nope, I'm not surfing today, no way no how," I say.

Within a few hours, I got a call there had been a shark attack at Marina Beach. Thanks Gio!

Then, the other day, Gio saved Briar's life.

"Would you ever see Briar again, if he gets hit by a car?" Gio asks my friend as we are riding bikes.

My friend was pulling the trailer that contained Gio, and Briar secure in his Pet Pak, or so we thought.

A few minutes later Gio's screaming, "Briar's getting out!"

Somehow, Briar managed to escape from the zipped Pet Pak. He started heading for the road, as a very large truck was approaching at 50 mph. I think I blocked Briar with my bike, because he suddenly he switched directions, and ran into a motor vehicle free field.

"Phew!"

I believe in angels. I believe they help us everyday, all day. The trick is listening to our angels, and not analyzing the information. All we need to do is be. Being, as opposed to doing, allows divine inspiration to flow through us. What a joy it is to have a three year old for a role model. Thanks Gio!

Response Blog to "House Arrest"

My friend has this cat. His name is Briar. She has a lot of trouble keeping track of him. Way more trouble than I have of keeping track of my own children, usually.

She frequently texts me asking, "has anyone seen Briar today?" Briar used to hang out at Vinny's school, but he's moved on to bigger and better things.

For example, one time when he didn't come home all night, he turned up the next day at a wedding! I wonder what he brought as a gift for the bride and groom? Silly me, he brought himself, as anyone who has been graced by Briar's presence knows he truly is a gift from God. Or maybe he just is God. Remember that song, "What If God Was One Of Us?"

Then when my friend was picking Briar up from the wedding, she was stopped by a guest, "is that you're cat?" This is the very same question she gets whenever she is out and about with Briar.

"Yep," she replies.

"That cat came in my room last night and slept under the bed!" the guest informs her. And we aren't talking about the Holiday Inn here folks. No. We're talking about an upscale place in a posh tourist town where Clint Eastwood was once the mayor.

When I was starting my blog I told my friend, "you could totally start a blog for Briar. You could give him a GPS tracking device and then people could go online and see where Briar is any time of the day." I really meant then she could see where he was anytime of the day, instead of waiting for someone to find him on one of his nature walks or stowaway car adventures.

It's always shocking when people do listen to me, especially when they say, "OMG you were so right!"

Anyways, now Briar has his own blog. If only she would update it everyday. Hmmmmmm. Where did that random thought come from? But the best thing about Briar's blog is reading about how kind, helpful and full of love people are. People who come across Briar are always calling my friend to return him home safely. In today's world, Briar is living proof that people still care and go way out of their way to give a helping hand.

When people see my friend and Briar walking at the beach they ask her, "is that the famous cat?" Doesn't he have his own website?"

"Yes, it's briarkitty.com" she responds.

I am still hoping one day she will get Briar his own GPS tracking device, for her own sake. Hint. Hint. Hint.

When she meets people on the street they frequently offer her unsolicited parenting advice about how she should keep him inside where he can be safe from the dangerous world.

Somehow I don't think Briar would be very happy locked up inside all day, even if it would keep him safer. I had an indoor cat who I tried to keep safe and eventually he ate something he shouldn't have and choked to death. Sorry that was sad, but sometimes we have to let our children venture out into the world and let them live their lives. This may be one of the hardest parts of parenting.

The other night Briar came home after being out who knows where, and my friend thought he was hurt because he was having a difficult time jumping up to his perch and he growled when she touched him.

"I'm going to have to keep him in for a few days," she texted me.

Anyways, I was thinking for his house arrest, I would offer her some unsolicited parenting advice.

"Get Briar a Roomba. The cat in this video really likes riding it. I believe it will make his days locked up inside much more enjoyable. Plus, you won't have to vacuum."