Welcome to Winter, 2020. Events in my home country (USA) have been such a bummer this year, for all the reasons you know. But let us have a little cheery note. I have a bonus contest and everyone can be a winner. I am down to slim pickins for awards, sorry. The prize will be nothing but my never ending appreciation that you even read the dreck I write.
Below is a picture of cats on a staircase that I took in Cairo one a tour visit to Cairo in February 2020. This photo was taken in the old medieval part of Cairo, in the Coptic Christian community. When they say “old” in Egypt; they mean way old. The original, or medieval Cairo, where people still live today, was built in the 11th and 12th
century. The houses in this picture were built around the 15th century, but have been refurbished through the centuries. When people say they live in “new Cairo”, they live in the modern part of Cairo that was built in the last 150 years. Sections of the new Cairo look a lot like old Paris, just a little run-down
Back to the Cats:How Many Cats Can You Find in This Picture?
I am sorry for that digression from the cat contest. I took this cat picture above in some back alley of the old Coptic section of Cairo, built in the 15th century. By the way, cats, largely feral, are common on the streets and in apartment buildings of Cairo. There are only a few dogs in comparison. I have no idea why cats predominate. You would think the dogs would eat the cats, but no.
Another cat counting contest (trap) is set below. There exists an imaginary dumpster, a commercial garbage bin sans metal outside of my apartment in the sort of upscale neighborhood of Maadi. Neighbors create a BIG pile of trash and industrial strength garbage trucks come by twice a week and haul off the trash. Meanwhile, it is also the cats meow (sorry), The picture below is right after the garbage truck hauled away the refuse.
We are not done with Cairo cats yet. Here are just some great random pictures including cat yoga and cat squatters on my man-purse:
Final Note: I cry for my beloved country, the United States of America. I am sure there will be healing in 2021 and beyond; just as I am sure there is a balm in Gilead. I always take great solace in that Biblical phrase; even though I do not quite understand it.
In Jeremiah 8:21 – 22, Jeremiah is mourning the coming Babylonian siege of Israel: “Since my people are crushed, I am crushed; I mourn, and horror grips me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?
We have an answer to the last cat counting contest: See below
