On this day forty seven years ago I was 11 years old and living in Yokohama, Japan. Our family had earned the privilege of a home leave visit back to the US after having been there since 1965 and my dad having signed up for another stay in Japan.
It was the day my obsession with the moon began.
I had been dropped off to visit at the house of one of my best friends (prior to leaving WA) in Gig Harbor WA. Her mom put on the TV to watch the moon landing which for us -in and of itself something of a novelty since we didn’t watch TV in Japan.
In the closet was her very pregnant cat having a whole box full of kittens. We ran back and forth from the closet to the TV reporting with screams of delight, “There’s ANOTHER kitten!!” Running back to the closet, we named each kitten after the moon mission. We started out with Neil, Apollo, Moon, Lunar, Armstrong, Rocket and others. We started to run out of names! There ended up being 9 kittens in all. Such an exciting day.
It stayed with me all my life. Cats and moons. We can all relate to both in some way. Last night was another full moon. I hope you looked up, just for a moment. If not, don’t worry- it will still be there tonight.
Shibori Girl 
what a beautiful memory of cats and the moon
reminds me of a favourite poem by Yeats
The Cat And The Moon
The cat went here and there
And the moon spun round like a top,
And the nearest kin of the moon,
The creeping cat, looked up.
Black Minnaloushe stared at the moon,
For, wander and wail as he would,
The pure cold light in the sky
Troubled his animal blood.
Minnaloushe runs in the grass
Lifting his delicate feet.
Do you dance, Minnaloushe, do you dance?
When two close kindred meet.
What better than call a dance?
Maybe the moon may learn,
Tired of that courtly fashion,
A new dance turn.
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
From moonlit place to place,
The sacred moon overhead
Has taken a new phase.
Does Minnaloushe know that his pupils
Will pass from change to change,
And that from round to crescent,
From crescent to round they range?
Minnaloushe creeps through the grass
Alone, important and wise,
And lifts to the changing moon
His changing eyes.
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I never knew of this poem. I love it! thanks Mo~
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your wonder-ful story is….well….wonder-fullllll !!! last night i did spend 1/2 hour watching that bright silver orb dance and weave in and out of the clouds. what a performance it was. (i left a pitcher of water out last night so that we could drink “full-moon water” all day today !)
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I laugh every time I think of this. I remember being positively giddy.
full moon water – sounds good to me!
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What an exciting night! Kittens and the full moon–I can hardly think of anything better. My bedroom window faces east, so when I go to bed, it streams onto my pillow, illuminating the white fur of both of my cats. It’s a lovely sight. Thanks for making me think of it.
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nice imagery! mine faces west so I watch the moon set.
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Such a fun memory and happy birthday! I received the latest lot of scraps and marvel yet again at your artistry!
Thanks for inspiring us all!
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I think I’ve written about this in the past but was reminded about it again today.
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So many memories at once! I too had a cat that had lots of kittens at a time but not on such an auspicious day. We lived in Okinawa for awhile and I came to love the Japanese folktale of the rabbit and the moon – do you know that one? My daughter had pet rabbits and we often sat outside at night to enjoy the huge flying bats and the moon and stars. I bought handmade pottery cups with the rabbit and the moon depicted! And NOW my husband works for NASA so I will be sharing this story and the clip with him. NASA has a website full of images if you are ever interested in seeing galaxies and various wonders of the universe to go with your moons – which, by the way, are fabulous!
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i love the rabbit in the moon folktale and images from Japan. a long time favorite. for those that don’t know it you can read it here:
http://www.uexpress.com/tell-me-a-story/1996/8/1/the-rabbit-in-the-moon-a
I love the NASA site and its images!
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Such a great story! Our little deaf white cat staged a breakout late on the full moon night out a window. She had an adventure in the moonlight. I wasn’t awake for it, but will ask my son if she was dancing! Thank you for the post.
Xo
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sounds like a great full moon adventure! i forget why, but as i recall, white cats are often deaf.
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Such a wonderful memory and what a beautiful association between the moon and cats!
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Such a beautiful post, and fantastic comments, full moon water and rabbits!
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