{"id":20456,"date":"2021-10-17T00:10:01","date_gmt":"2021-10-17T04:10:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/?p=20456"},"modified":"2021-10-16T18:17:37","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T22:17:37","slug":"glorious-61-cats-family-friends-and-horses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/glorious-61-cats-family-friends-and-horses\/","title":{"rendered":"Glorious 61, Cats, Family, Friends, and Horses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>30, 40, 50, 60\u2026Typically these are milestone birthdays, not 61. But for me this year, when I turned 61 last month on September 26, it was<\/em> a milestone, because it\u2019s a day I\u2019ll never forget. Maybe it\u2019s because last year when I turned 60, it was rather anti-climactic. It\u2019s not that I wanted pomp and circumstance and a big celebration, but Covid thwarted everything anyhow, making the day a quiet hurrah as I celebrated at home with Dan and the cats. Not that there was anything wrong with that, but the day didn\u2019t have the impact I thought 60 would bring.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why this year was so special. Not in a grandiose way, but special in the wonderful way of just spending time with beloved family and friends and relishing in the gratitude of having them in my life. My mom, my boys, my son-in-law, my grandson, and my dear friend, Christine Michaels of Riverfront Cats all came by for the evening. We drank wine, we ate pizza, we laughed, and we just reveled in the joy of interacting with one another. Covid had us nearly numb from isolation and the cautious venture back to life was exhilarating.<\/p>\n

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Without a doubt, the greatest birthday gift of all is my grandson, Calvin.<\/p><\/div>\n

My grandson Calvin was the icing on the cake \u2013 he endlessly entertained all of us with his silly antics and his impressive grasp of mimicking and comprehending what we adults kept throwing his way. He\u2019s a sponge for sure and even the cats were thrilled to have some commotion in the house. They also equate Calvin with food, patiently waiting for him to drop a crumb of whatever he\u2019s chomping on at the moment.<\/p>\n

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Jazmine is patiently waiting in Calvin’s chair, knowing full well some sort of morsel will be coming her way.<\/p><\/div>\n

Christine spent the night (yes, even in my 60\u2019s you’re never too old for a fun girl\u2019s night!) and the next day the celebration continued as we made plans to go horseback riding, something she and I enjoy doing together whenever we can. We both are known for our love of cats, but we also both have a passionate love for horses (and really, all animals).<\/p>\n

As fate would have it, when we arrived at the stable, the first creature to greet us was a friendly black cat and as it turns out, there were numerous barn cats on the premises. I immediately felt at home \u2013 I bonded with the horses with Christine jokingly calling me the horse whisper as I communicated with them, earning their trust.<\/p>\n

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We haven’t even met the horses yet, but are greeted by a black cat! Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

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Meeting several more barn cats – they are very people (and horse) friendly. Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

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Just hanging out with a couple of my cat buddies before we saddle up. Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

I was also constantly being followed by the barn cats (all properly spayed and neutered) and Christine joked that I was like Cinderella with all the woodland creatures surrounding me! Honestly, that\u2019s just how it is with me. Cats, dogs, horses, rabbits, and more \u2013 I\u2019ve always been at ease with animals, more so than people, and I have a natural affinity to them.<\/p>\n

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Getting to know some of the horses before we go riding. This beauty really took to me. Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

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The feeling was mutual – I felt the bond with him, too. Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

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This little pony and I had instant chemistry! Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

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Just reflecting on life and how blessed I am for what I have. Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

We had a glorious day \u2013 bright and sunny \u2013 and I\u2019ll never forget how happy I felt at that moment. Everything \u2013 all the stress of my day job, Covid, personal deadlines for my cat life, and so much more just faded away. Do I have the same dexterity I had in my youth when I rode? No, of course not. But when you\u2019re surrounded by those you love, doing what you love, age is nothing but a number.<\/p>\n

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Riding with Itchy. Not a glamorous name for a horse, but fun nonetheless! Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n

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Christine and I enjoying our ride.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Yes…always with the leopard print. I am who I am. Photo credit: Christine Michaels<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

30, 40, 50, 60\u2026Typically these are milestone birthdays, not 61. But for me this year, when I turned 61 last month on September 26, it was a milestone, because it\u2019s a day I\u2019ll never forget. Maybe it\u2019s because last year when I turned 60, it was rather anti-climactic. It\u2019s not that I wanted pomp and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20469,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1423,1378,1099],"tags":[1461,1459,1460],"class_list":["post-20456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-black-cats","category-feline-human-bond","category-the-zee-zoey-cats-and-family","tag-celebrating-birthday","tag-friends-and-family","tag-horses-and-cats"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Black-cat-approaches-Deb-Barnes.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20456"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20475,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20456\/revisions\/20475"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20469"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeezoey.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}