Fred and the Walnuts

close up photo of a hand holding three white kittens

I am seeking to share time, experience, and parts of my life with my readers. Somewhere they call this ‘building my platform’, but I’m not sure what I call it. I might call it ‘making a connection.

I pledge that I will continue to work so that I gain clarity and focus for my readers, audiences, and clients. Then I can continue to make the world a better place, one word at a time.

So, as I continue to work and strive for clarity where do I go to gain these treasured jewels?

I am seeking to share time, experience, and parts of my life with my readers. Somewhere they call this ‘building my platform’, but I’m not sure what I call it. I might call it ‘making a connection.

Today, Fred is my connection. I watched this morning as Old Fuzzy walked along the corral fence down by our feedlot. As he’s walking, I notice he has a tail. Not a tail, but…

I’ve shared how we have been cat-free for a number of years until a stray momma cat, which we named Miss Kitty, came to make her home under one of our outbuildings.

The reason Miss Kitty came to live under our building, at least this is our guess, is that the farm neighbors down the road who take in lots of stray cats have so many strays Miss Kitty was looking for someplace not so crowded.

Now Miss Kitty has had several litters of kittens and some have survived and some of those have had litters. We still aren’t to the numbers that our neighbors have, but we are no longer cat-free.

Most of our cats are not tamed strays. Even Miss Kitty, who will almost allow someone to pet her, but not catch her, is still a stray. Which is why we have so many cats. I do say most of our cats are not tamed.

That doesn’t account for Fred. Fred was named by our Young Fuzzy so why he chose the name Fred not only doesn’t have a rhyme or reason, but because it’s Young Fuzzy, it doesn’t need either a rhyme or reason.

Fred is dominantly a Siamese cat. Mostly white with gray markings on her ears, tail, and paws, and beautiful blue eyes. She loves to have you scratch her belly. She would be a mink cat collar around your neck or a lap warmer, and Fred thinks she’s a house cat.

There is no accounting for the foolishness of cats. So, back to Old Fuzzy working at doing his chores and me watching, and his tail of…wait for it…untamed stray cats (except for Fred, she’s tamed and part of the tail). About five kitties are following along as if Old Fuzzy is a ‘cat whisperer’. He may be going to get feed for the calves, or up to check on some other critter and there they go trotting along behind. There’s no rhyme nor reason for many things, I guess.

Now to the walnuts. They have nothing to do with Fred. It’s just, a few years ago I wanted some walnuts and we have lots of walnut trees in our neighborhood. Big Fuzzy and his little Fuzzies dutifully went out and gathered me lots of walnuts which got stowed in our garage never to see the light of day. I’ve been told they are still there.

I’d still like to have some walnuts for some reason. I’m still craving these walnuts for brownies and whatnot, but I wasn’t aware we still had them and doubt but wonder if there were any good ones…

Last year there were no walnuts. Even though we have a walnut tree right by our front walk there were no walnuts on the tree.

I don’t know what the squirrels did, for it was told to us by our neighbor, (not the one with the stray cats) when he went out squirrel hunting last year there were no walnuts even on the trees in the forest. That was last year.

This year the walnut tree by our front walk is loaded. This reminds me of the old warning, ‘Be careful what you wish for.’ Initially, this year, I picked up a few walnuts—an ice cream bucket—full of walnuts.

I’ve watched the YouTube video of turning these jewels into useable items, but, sigh. I think that’s all the further these walnuts are going to get for two reasons. The video said if the walnuts float they aren’t any good.

Well, Old Fuzzy scooped the nuts off the walk the other day and he said they all floated. This is a very sad face here.

But, to the warning, our front walk walnut tree has just this year got taller than our house and deck. As I sit in my office at times it seems as if God is throwing walnuts at me as if to say, ‘here you go, have a walnut.’

And there you have it. Life in the middle of nowhere with Fred and walnuts.

Ecclesiastes 7:

23  All this have I proved by wisdom: I said, I will be wise; but it was far from me.

24  That which is far off, and exceeding deep, who can find it out?

25  I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness: