...off to see the wizard !

I like road trips...

sometimes... I enjoy the planning phase...
especially if it's to somewhere far away...
packing snacks... checking the weather along the route...
making motel reservations, if needed...
making sure that I have CD's, cell charger...etc...

sometimes, for shorter jaunts...
I just "go"...
Friday...I just "went"...

when I used to go to casinos often...
I would just go, if I felt lucky...

my last casino jaunt was over a year ago...
the one before that, at least a year previous...
I just don't consider myself a "gambler" anymore...
I can't afford to... it's too expensive..

so Friday, it wasn't so much that I wanted to gamble...
or "felt lucky"...

I just wanted to have a break...
to have some "fun"...

to be somewhere... other than Mudville...

before the "busyness" would begin...
[responsibilities at church...my bath redo...]
and since I didn't get to visit my friends...
who live on the Oregon coast this summer...
it was now... or never...

so I watered all my plants...
fed the kitties...
and around 8:30 AM...
rolled onto I5, Northbound...

traffic on I5 wasn't too bad for a Friday...
but by the time I had gone through "Ahnoldtown"...
and took I80, westbound...
I found myself in some heavier traffic...



moving with the last dregs of the morning commute...
which really began to thin around Rocklin...
a place, where on a clearer day than yesterday...
the looming mountains begin to peek over the horizon...
I eventually got out of the heavier traffic...



as I climbed up into and through, Auburn...
the highway rolled into a series of hill climbs...
rolling curves and steep descents...
which can be fun when the traffic is sparse, as it was...



my car has a really smooth V6 engine, with power...
so when traveling longer distances...
I use "cruise control"...
otherwise, before realize it... I get going too fast...

but the rolling hills...
with curves are a problem for "cc"...

it's not loosing power on climbs that's problematic...
it's the curves & descents...
and the other cars who "coast" ...
speeding up and changing lanes...
causing me to abandon "cc" in favor of better control...

so I had turned off the cruise control earlier...
during the heavier traffic...
and when I saw the speed limit sign...
at the crest of a hill...
accompanied by the ominous...
"radar speed monitoring in use"...
it caught my attention...



then, I looked at my speedometer and saw 80+...

very conscious of a need to slow down...
I took my foot off of the gas...
but as I was in traffic...
AND going down a long hill...
it took a bit to get below 70...
[there was someone behind me...
so sudden "braking" wasn't a good option...]

then, suddenly... there he was...
red & blue lights flashing in my rear view mirror...



a very nice CHP guy...with his citation book in hand...
after a brief discussion of how fast I had been "clocked at"...
he took my license & registration to his car...
returning a few minutes later with my "ticket"...

he told me that the fact that I'd been slowing down...
before I saw him... didn't matter...
he pointed back down the hill...
where I could see a motorcycle unit and 2 other CHP cars...
also giving tickets...



he said that the motorcycle CHP guy...
had got me with his radar...
and it was that speed...
that he was ticketing me for...



I'm looking at the others also being ticketed...
and think...
"speed trap...I fell for a speed trap !"

the ONLY other time I've EVER gotten a speeding ticket...
was in the mountains...with NO traffic...
on a fairly straight downgrade...
where you will pick up speed...
unless you consciously avoid it...

that... and a speed trap at 3AM, near Elkgrove...

so...

NOT a propitious sign for a "good" trip...

but then...

perhaps that would be it...
for the bad luck...

anyway... that was my hope...



so...continuing on... the road climbs quickly...



by Kingvale...just below Donner summit...

it was time for a rest stop...

but no gas...the prices there were like 6 weeks ago here...

*OUCH*



so after a "rest stop"...[too much coffee...]
and a brief refueling moment...
[fresh popcorn smells SO good...]

AND a brief nature moment...
[looking back behind the parking lot...]
smelling the trees and the mountain air...
it was back on the road...



continuing on "up"...
then, going over the summit...

marvelous vistas...

but bad air quality this day...
and extreme brightness "over the top"...

NOT ... a good picture day...



then heading down the eastern side...
now in the shadows...
an almost sudden absence of trees...

NOT helped by the widespread devastation...
left by fires a couple of years ago...

then... the CA/NV border...
crappy, torn-up roads on the CA side...
becoming very smooth and new on the NV side...

I learned a few years back that the NVHP...
are "ever vigilant"...
and 65... MEANS 65 !

I got stopped once... right across the border...
doing 68... got warned...

I ALWAYS set "cc" in NV now...

so I'm behind a large truck...in the slow lane...

and over a rise... off to the right...

THERE IT IS ...



Reno..."the biggest little city in the world"...

and in the center of this picture...
see the "dome" ?

that's the Silver Legacy casino...my destination...

I park "free" in "self parking"...
level 4, right in front of the elevators...

I generally can't get this close...
but it's only 11:45 AM on a Friday...
so this means that they aren't "packed-in" yet...
[I HATE crowds...]

so, I enter the casino after a brief stop at the ATM...
[I said I didn't plan this...]
and head for the "slots"...

I "wander"... waiting for a machine to "call my name"...



I like "Double [or Triple] Lucky 7's"...
"Wild Cherries"...
"Red, White & Blue"
or "10 x's"...

mainly because I've WON on them...

I generally play $1 slots...
although I will play $.25, $.05 & $.01 slots...
if I find one I "like"...



then... there's the "Wheel of Fortune" machines...

the pay out on "payline winners" isn't too good...
unless it's "loose"...and you win often...
but it is "progressive"[you could win millions...]
and then, there's the "spin"...

sort of like a "bonus round"...
it supersedes any other winners on the payline...
and gives you a spin on the "wheel"...
amounts go from $20.00 to $1000.00...
[I've won the $1000.00...twice...]

but, on this day... the best I could do was $75.00...
[a person next to me won $500 on a spin...]

and so... after only about 1 1/2 hours...
I wasn't feeling it...

AND...I had lost all I cared to...

so I got back on I80...
and headed west...



as I neared "Boomtown"...
I started feeling lucky...
so I pulled off [I needed gas anyway...]
and when I saw the price of gas...
[the same I had just paid in Mudville...]
I filled-up and drove around to the parking lot...

so I wandered in... and saw this...



I don't generally play these kind of machines...
because they don't often "pay"...
and you could spend $100,000...
and STILL not "hit the big one"...

so I didn't spend much time or $ on this...
it did give me a bit of a "roll"...
but not enough to get me to "invest"...

I spent about an hour...wandering...

playing a $.25, $.05 or $.01 machine that caught my eye...

but ... nothing fun...

not wanting to lose any more $...
I was making my way "out"...
when I made "eye contact"...

with this...



I LIKE Double/Triple Lucky 7's...
I have won BIG on them...
and lost too...
I had actually tried to find a "friendly" one earlier...

I was "feeling" this one though...
so I sat down and put in a $20...
several "plays" in... it hit...

2 green 7's...and a Double Lucky symbol...
[matches a winning symbol & doubles the win...]

$300.00 !!!

setting a "short limit" for myself...

I continued play...
*ding* *ding* *ding*...
3 green 7's...

$150.00...

*TIME TO CASH OUT*

I had replaced my losses... and then some...


on the way back to Mudville...
things went smoothly, although "slowly"...
[no more tickets for me, thank you very much...]

I passed a jack-knifed big rig...
stopping eastbound traffic just above Kingvale, for miles...

westbound... the road was deserted...
until I got closer to Ahnoldtown...
where it got congested with "rush hour"...
as it was now around 5 PM...



the real problems began on I5, southbound...
by the southern edge of Ahnoldtown...
it was a barely moving gridlock...
which would last for miles...
until well past Elkgrove...



around 6:30 PM... I arrived back in Mudville...

I had been to Oz...
survived... and made it back home to Kansas...

as I made my way onto the porch...

I remember thinking...

"...there's NO place like home..."

...school daze & nightmares

this is my 4th year being retired...
after 20+ years in an inner city middle school...
[grades 7 & 8....]
the last 4 years, I taught reading & English...
for the 17 years before that, I taught music...
[as well as English, world history & careers...]

but for the last 10 years of that 17, only music...
4 bands [3 levels] & orchestra...

most of my students didn't have much...
so I worked very hard...
to build up a cache of school equipment...
they could use without any cost to them...

I liked my job... my school...
my colleagues & my students...

we didn't "memorize" a piece...
and then go to "contests"...
playing the same piece until we won a trophy...
but they did learn to read music...

we participated in a community parade...
from time to time...
and generally went to the CMEA festival...
[sort of like "THE state test" for musicians...]

I NEVER had the same advanced students, as a group...
for more than 1 year... so just as they got "good"...
they moved on to high school...
so we never earned a rating of "I"[superior] at CMEA...

but we often earned a "II"[excellent]...
and one year... the best group I would ever have...
came SO close... to a "I"...
it really hurt...

the judge said, "you're really pretty much a "I"...
but next year, there'll be no question...
so I'll give you a "II" this time...
and next year, you'll really appreciate...
the "I" you earn..."

there was no "next year"...

of the 65 students in that group...
only 12 were 7th graders...
and the 8th graders would scatter...
to many different schools...

it had been the "perfect storm"...
and then... it was gone...



I had a "Music Room"... much like this...
[most commonly called "the band room"...
until I added orchestra to my schedule...]

I would spend about 2 weeks after school was out...
cleaning instruments & mouthpieces...
putting together the "Summer repairs" list & p.o....
marking & piling them in a safe spot...

sorting music, filing it, doing inventory...
closing out my fund raiser accounts...
painting & repairing music stands...
and storing EVERYTHING away behind locked doors...

I didn't get paid extra...

but if I didn't do it...
no one else would...
and it needed to be done...

so I just did it...



2 to 3 weeks before school was to start...
I began to go back...
[I didn't get paid extra for this either...]

to "un-pack" my room...
put away the "Summer repairs" that were now, back...

re-stock my supplies of reeds, oil...
cork grease, strings & rosin...
drumsticks, mouthpieces, chin rests...
ETC....
[out my own pocket, of course...]

make sure I had enough "beginner" books...
[one year, I had 63 in beginning band...
at the first of the year... IN 1 CLASS...]
playing 9 different instruments...
besides percussion...

by the 2nd quarter...
I was able to whittle it down to 45...
by moving the most talented "up"...
to intermediate or advanced band...
this would be the year of my best advanced band...
which would have 15 1st year players...
by the end of the year...

before school started...
I also relabeled instrument cases...
labeled music folders...
chose music, passed it out...
I had racks for each class...

and set up my room...





when I left music...
I also left most of the "fun" behind...

I still had to set-up my classroom...
now an ancient portable...
with very limited storage space...
and since the "administration" decided that we had to "vacate"...
[ie...move "everything" out and take it home each summer...]
because of "renovation" and relocation of some teachers...

this meant that all the textbooks...
had to be returned to the book room...
at each "school closing"...

and retrieved, at the "opening"...
hauling them on a wobbly cart...
making a number of trips...
over bad blacktop and cracked cement...
unless there was construction...
then ...it was over dying grass and hard, uneven dirt...

and finally, UP THE RAMP...
into my classroom...

this was AFTER hauling stored boxes of classroom materials...
from my garage to my car, packing the car...
driving to school, driving back behind the portables...
unloading my car... carrying things UP THAT RAMP...
and then, re-assembling my classroom...

I would still get that "tingle" all teachers get...
looking at the "finished" room...
just waiting for the ones who would populate...
[or as I came to think, the last couple of years...]
"infest", the room in a day or two...

I didn't come to dislike "kids"...

they just became so different...

more,"entitled"... less interested in learning...
LAZY...spoiled... and willful...
nothing could make them care...
about their future... about how they treated each other...
about the lack of respect they had...
for everything... and everyone...
including themselves...

but even when I liked my job & students...
and looked forward to returning to "my school"...
working again with colleagues...
and administrators I liked & respected...

I had the "dreams"...

at first, I thought that I was the only one...
then my good friend & mentor said...
"Oh, yeah... school dreams...we ALL have them..."
and I felt better...

I haven't had them for a while...
since I left all that behind...
but the other night...I had one...
and it was a doozy...

waking me up at 5 AM...
agitated... in a foul mood...
I couldn't settle down...
& just go back to sleep...

I had to distract myself...
playing solitaire on my cell to clear my mind...

[THIS... is why I don't watch violent scary films...]

it was a pretty common "school dream"...
I had a new class... a rowdy, noisy group...
not unlike ones I had the last year I taught...
but for some reason, there were some adults there too...

sitting with the students as "visitors"...

and when I employed the usual "methods"...
to show that I WAS in control...
the students responded...
but the adults undercut my authority...
and chaos reigned supreme...
until the bell rang...

in my dream, I left the classroom, extremely angry...

I went looking for the principal...
who saw me coming...
and made himself scarce...

then, as I was looking around for him...

I woke up...

in these kind of dreams... all is surreal...
I'm never at "my school" or in "my room"...
but I'm somewhere familiar...
[in this dream, I was teaching at MY elementary school...]

sometimes...I used to dream that I had left CA...
and returned to Chicagoland...
in these frequent re-occurring dreams...
I often lived in the same place...
[NEVER a place I had lived...]
and was aware that I had left CA...
and my old school...
and was trying to find a job teaching there...

since the dreams were surreal...
rooms would "morph"...
become smaller or larger...
or become other places altogether...

I can still see bits & pieces of these dreams...

sometimes they were "school dreams"...
where I was the teacher...
and sometimes, I had returned to grad school...
to finish the DMA I started, but left undone...
a kind of "school dream", I guess...

although my most common grad school dream...
is coming into a class I've missed a couple of times...
and there is a test...
and, of course... I'm clueless...

the other one is that I rush to a rehearsal...
only to discover that I either don't have my trumpet...
[or the music...]
or I don't have ALL the trumpets I need...
or some other necessary piece of equipment is missing...

but ... it's in my car...
now...if I only knew where my car is...

sometimes, I was still in Mudville...
but at my school's "rival"...
and being mistreated because of where I was from...
[ironically... I did post-retirement "testing" at this school...
and was "looked askance at"...for that very reason...]

the common ground is always frustration...
a loss or lack of control over my situation...
[and we all know about my "control issues", don't we...?]
and for teachers... the "new class" is always...
the "great unknown"...

I've left all those school issues behind me now...
I only think of them when I have my monthly FFers lunch...
[the letters stand for something "clean"...and, I'm NOT telling...]
with several former teacher colleagues...
though we did just meet last Saturday...
and there was a LOT of angst & frustration vented...

I guess I just held on to some of it...
causing the "school dream"...
that's a relief...
because I don't need any more stress...
what with the impending bath tear-out...



so, attention all you "school ghosts & goblins"...
find someone else to terrorize...
because...
Catsinger has left the campus...

...one down, one to go

as I sit here...
top lip s-l-o-w-l-y regaining its' feeling...
tongue running over "new" surfaces...
on several front teeth...
and finding bits of debris...
still stuck where it doesn't belong...

I breathe a LARGE sigh of relief...

my dentist is really a great person...
she takes my panic attacks totally in stride...
doing anything and every thing she can...
to "get me through"...



today was "re-bond the front teeth" day...
[technically, "3 small fillings" that cost me $155.00]
since my top & bottom front teeth meet evenly, like these...
they wear down and break off...
this is the 3rd bonding procedure...and each time...
I'm more of a basket case than before...

she gave me a shot that I swear to you I never felt...
[she is that good...]
she kept reassuring me and "holding my hand" throughout...

she is VERY aware of my phobias re laying too far back...
"stuff" running down the back of my throat, gagging me...
and things too far back in my mouth...

she's seen the panic attacks first hand...
so she does what she can to help me get through the procedures...



I got to wear the shades...
but she would fore go the "dam"[blue plastic sheet...]
making do with the "light" and lots of gauze pads...
the air blower made my mouth water...
which made me need to swallow...
so it was stopped...

she was also very "circumspect"...
re the use of the "water squirter thingy"... AND the "suction thingy"...
she let me sit more "up"...
even allowing me to move to an even more "upright"position...
"during"... when I started to "pant" a bit...

she figured out that I would keep my mouth open...
allowing the materials to stay dry and "cure"...
if I could swallow from time to time...
which I could accomplish with my mouth open...
if 2 people removed their hands and instruments...
and allowed me to swallow...

when I HAD to keep my mouth open...
she would tell me how much longer...
and allow me to push the gauze forward with my tongue...
when it started to get too far back...

yes...I know this makes me sound...
like the #1 wuss of all time...

pain doesn't bother me...
blood, needles, drilling, the smells...
oral surgery...root canals...extractions...
don't bother me...

laying flat on my back... or almost...
with stuff oozing down my throat...
gagging me...
while 2 people stuff a number of tools in my mouth...
wedging it open...
[you better know that chunk of plastic came out, fast...]
blowing air and water down my throat...
and it's panic attack time...

it's irrational and I can't control it...

I have to sit up..get everything OUT of my mouth...
cough... swallow... take some deep breaths...
and regain my composure...

I think it started with one of those impression trays...
the ones they fill with the oozing foam that hardens...
that you MUST leave in place for MINUTES...
[probably 3-5... seems like an eternity...]

NEVER used to bother me... not in the least...

then...one was put in my mouth a couple of years ago...
as part of a crown replacement on a back molar...
as I bit down, while leaning way back...
a big glob of the plastic foam oozed out of the back of the tray...
and started down my throat...

laying as far back as I was...I couldn't breathe...
and it triggered my gag/panic reflex...
causing me to sit up suddenly, tear the tray from my mouth...
coughing & wheezing...gasping for air...

my dentist wasn't too pleased...
until she saw the size of the glob that was going down my throat...
then she understood why I panicked...
since then...I've had this phobia...
and she is very understanding...
which I really appreciate...

so it's one visit down...
and one visit to go...
November 3, 2008... the crown prep...

I know that there will be an "impression tray"...
but this is a front tooth... a lower right canine....
so at least there shouldn't be "too far back" issues...

and I don't have to lay back... I can sit up...

and there is a void[missing molar] on that side...
so any extra "goo" shouldn't ooze out...

anyway, that's what I keep telling myself...

...has it been a year already ?

["cats singing"...they look like raccoons...but they are cats...]

it's hard to believe that it's been a year...
since Miz Minka finally succeeded...
in her attempts to get me "blogging"...

a LOT has happened in my life...
since I took my "leap" into cyberspace...

two treasured & much loved members of my cat family...
Tippy & Robbie have gone on "ahead", to wait for me...
the giant mess I was living in...
has been greatly reduced, cleaned-up, re-done...
sorted, taken "away" & uncluttered...

at this point last year...
the DR/LR were stacked with painting & cleaning supplies...
the wood floor was hiding under a "protective layer of grime"...
new rugs were stored in the garage...
and some furniture was STILL in boxes...

most of my big plants were in the back yard...
as the awning had just been back up for about a month...
and I would have to haul them around to the front porch...
and, eventually, get them inside...
[though NOT soon enough for a couple...
who have since, fortunately, "bounced back"...]

I still had up the dirty, shredded drapes...
on the "rods" that Gracie considered her "personal perch"...
the nook shutters were still in boxes...[after 2 years...]
and an ugly wall AC unit was the only indication...
of where a nice window had once been...
next to the fireplace...

I didn't yet know about the bathroom floor...
and the pervasive rot that would generate...
the impending tear-out and rebuild...
of the entire bathroom...

then there was the "office"...

piles of things needing sorting, tossing & filing...
hardly room to sit at my computer...
forget practicing... or finding anything...

book shelves stuffed with books...
I wasn't going to want to read again...
so anything new...
[who doesn't buy new books ?]
ended up, stacked & piled ...
on my "bookcase" headboard...
or on the "underneath" shelves...
making them "in-accessible"...

along with magazines I wanted to save...
[Cooks & Fine Cooking]
catalogs, by the dozens...
and piles of mail...
[I put the important mail in a pile...
& the rest ? it became clutter... what else ?]

this scenario was repeated with DVD's & CD's...
although they tended to be scattered about...
since there was no way to put them away...

I had storage for both...just couldn't get to it...

besides these changes...
I've made some major personal "adjustments" as well...

some spiritual... some physical... some mental...
some emotional... some behavioral... some perceptual...

I've explored all these areas in great detail...
on this blog... feel free to check out the archives...
if you "missed" anything along the way...

I'm really seeing some core behavior differences, now...
in myself...
but you'll just have to discern them for yourself...
for the time being, anyway...

I think that with this change...
I'm gaining a better understanding...
of what I am feeling...and why...
along with being more selective...
in revealing what I'm feeling & thinking...

and along with it...
establishing a calming..."que sera, sera" attitude...
[letting go of things I can't change...
& not worrying about things that God has in control...]
is a vital part of who I am becoming...

but like any authentic change...
it has to be practiced...refined...
and stand the test of time...
before it becomes fully formed...
and truly, "me"...

I've seen some very positive signs...
but there's much more work to do...

I don't know what's ahead...but I don't need to...

with all the amazing answers to prayers...
the achievement of long-held heart's desires...
life goals, wishes, hopes & dreams...
embarked on or embraced...
that I've seen in my life...
and the lives of those I hold dear...
in the last year... I can trust...

I can trust God to make me who He wants me to be...
to make my life the best it can be according to His will...

so today... a very special day ...
in more ways than just my blogoversary...

I'm very thankful...
for ALL God has done...

for the opportunity to write...
to share my thoughts...
my struggles... my hopes...
to know... and be known...
and to grow... in His love...

God is SO good...

thanks to all of you who have stopped by...
even if it was only because Google sent you...

and a special thanks to all of you...
who've encouraged me...loved me...
physically helped me... supported me...
"put up" with my growing pains...
and are still my friends, "anyway"...

you know who you are...
and I love you...


post script...
check out a few "before & after" pictures on the following post...

...has it been a year... ? pt. 2

welcome to "has it been a year...? pt. 2"...

the pictures...

I don't have much in the way of "before" pictures...
of the massive LR/DR/nook mess...
there are several reasons for that...
I didn't take pictures...
my "other" camera wouldn't download pictures...
by the time I figured out how to get pictures on my computer...
some were lost "in the process"...

trust me... it was a mess...

[those of you who saw it...
thanks for your silence about it...
and for helping, change it...
"you are forever in my heart"...]

DR/LR...



this is the DR west wall, "before"...
you can see the paint swatch on the "old" color...
but by this point... a LOT of stuff was gone...
the furniture you see had been in boxes...
and things were moving along...
s-l-o-w-l-y...
but moving, none the less...



from another angle... you can see that some painting...
had taken place...
before all the prep/repair was "perfect" enough...
by some standards, however...

at the risk of seeming ungrateful...
[and I'm very grateful...]
the "quest for perfection", although appreciated...
was, at times very frustrating for me...
and as a result...
there are some areas of window trim...
as yet, unpainted because we ran out of time...
[you can't really see it...
but I know where it is...]



here we see the "deeply red" accent wall...
finally finished...
[sort of...
it needs a 2nd coat & trim touch up]



the LR fireplace wall...
[complete with Lacy...]



and the TV cabinet...
[complete with cats...]

HIDDEN MESSES...UNCLUTTERED



my bedroom closet after donating about 10 bags of clothes & shoes...



my hall "storage" closet...
after "extreme" re-organization...


THE OFFICE...



these 2 pictures are of the book shelf area...






this is the file cabinet, to the right of the kitchen door...





this is the book shelf area, "after"...
[downloading 10 cartons of books...
and a dozen bags of trash...]



here, you can actually see the file cabinet...
and the closet can be accessed...



PANTRY/NOOK/KITCHEN AREA...

the "nook" wasn't too bad...as it had been cleaned out...
nearly a year earlier... and was just "cluttered"...
as was the kitchen...
with all the stuff which needed to be in the pantry...
but couldn't fit because of clutter...



this is the "pantry"...on the utility porch...
[which is a misnomer, as it is entirely inside the house...]



20-something bags of donations...
& 6 bags of trash later...



the nook, notice the shutters... uncluttered...
[before Gracie "ate" the grape ivy...]



and the pantry...


CEILING FANS/LIGHTS...



even after 20 years...
I never got over being "startled"...
waking up in the middle on the night...
and seeing THIS...looming over my bed...
[there was one in the office too...
originally... even in the BATHROOM...]

there was a short in the switch...
so for the last 3 years... it didn't work...

the one in the office worked...sort of...
well... it stirred-up a lot of dust...



so I was really glad to see this...
as a prelude to this...



and then, God said, "Let there be light"...

and it was good...

...Maneki Neko, the Japanese Lucky Cat

Maneki Neko...the Japanese "lucky cat"...
translated means, "beckoning cat"...
also known as "Welcoming Cat"...
"Fortune Cat" or "Money Cat"...



it is quite common in Japan or Japanese businesses...
often made of porcelain or ceramic...
expensive ones...sometimes even jade or gold...
although cheaper ones may be made of plush, plastic or vinyl...
[solar powered,"movable" ones are always plastic...]
they are believed to bring good luck to their owner...
and are often made as a statuette, keychain, a toy, a plush figure...
or, most commonly as a "coin bank"...



[this business is taking NO chances...
"lucky bamboo" [$$$]...
gold lucky cat family...
AND...a BIG lucky cat...
& between the 4 of them...
both paws raised...]
the origins are vague...
but Maneki Neko are first documented in the late 1800's...

by the early 1900's, they were a popular item...
in both homes & places of business...
believed to bring good luck...
especially to the person who receives one as a gift...



the gesture of "beckoning" varies with the culture...
what we Westerners consider a wave of "good-bye"...
Easterners consider a welcoming gesture...
"welcoming" customers, money or good luck...



the raised right paw...
is said to bring in "wealth & good luck"...
so the "gold" finish on this "raised right paw" cat bank...
is all calculated to maximize the "good luck"...


[there is NO significance I could find for the "cyclops"...]

a raised left paw, is said to "bring in customers"...
and some believe, VERY lucky for drinking establishments...
[leaving the right paw for the other stores...]

in Japan, those who hold their liquor well...
are called "hidari-kiki" [left-handed]

also, the higher the paw is raised...
the more luck...
or ...
the farther the distance ...
that the luck will have to travel to reach you...



both paws raised is believed to bring success in business...
and good luck in your life...
which is probably why this lucky cat...
looks like he's "channeling" the Buddha...
or is just, "blissed-out"...



Nyan Nyan Nyanko is a version of the lucky cat...
who in Pokeman type fashion...
enjoys imitating food...is very curious...
but is very fickle and easily bored...



here's plush one masquerading as a 'burger...



here are several vinyl "foodies"...
[I know... these look suspiciously like
that other Japanese "feline fatale"...
"Hello, Kitty"...
appropriate enough since "HK"...
was inspired by the Maneki Neko
as was the Pokeman character, "Meowth"]





the traditional Maneki Neko...
is a calico, Japanese bobtail...
but they come in many colors...
most of which have Feng Shui significance...
as do their placement in the business or home...
especially when made of crystal...

"blue", placed in the "north"...
will bring good health for the family...
as well as ridding the home of bad luck...

"red", placed in the "southwest"...
brings love, promotes good luck for the family...
and raises the level of fortune for the family...

"green" [or white], placed in the "northeast"...
brings good luck to all...

"yellow", placed in the "west"...
brings wealth, prosperity and success...

"purple", placed in the center of the home or business...
brings the fulfillment of dreams & desires of the heart...
it also raises the level of achievement of dreams and desires...




this Chinese style porcelain box, features...
the "jao cai mao",[in Mandarin...]
the Chinese version of the lucky cat...
which can trace it's origins back to a Chinese proverb...
"when a cat washes it's face, it will rain..."
[sending customers into stores, seeking shelter...
bringing business to stores...]

the later Japanese version...
"when a cat washes it's face... expect visitors..."

there are a number of stories about people...
who befriended a cat...
and became the recipient of good fortune...
for their kindness to the cat...

there are other stories about cats "beckoning"...
saving those who responded to them from bad things...

it's no wonder that in Japan...
cats are considered lucky...

but since the origins of the Maneki Neko...
are so vague...
they could have come from anywhere...
or a combination of several things...



continuing on in this less-stylized version...
[like those of crystal]...
we have these small ceramic, hand painted...
VERY collectible figurines...



some being VERY small...



others... a bit larger...
[I'd sure use a "lucky cat" slot machine...]



and then... some things need NO further remarks...