Do you have two names?  Maybe one the family uses and one for everyone else. Well Myanmar is also called Burma.  People there have no last name or family name.  So if you see Ming Ming and Mo Mo written down, you don’t know if they are brothers or friends. The men chew betel nut, which stains their teeth red, and both men and women wear longyis, a wraparound skirt.  Men tie theirs in the front and women fold the cloth over and tie it at the side.  Also, the women of the Kyan tribe wear brass neck coils around their necks from a young age.  Over the years, the weight of the brass pushes the women’s collar bone down giving them a long neck.  There are many religious places in Burma, including stupas, pagodas, temples and monasteries which were fun to explore.  The biggest book in the world is in Myanmar.  It is 1460 pages of polished marble, which is engraved with hundreds of lines of Buddhist texts.      Purrs, Gulliver

AI generated photo

Greetings!  My name is Circe, code named “Lady Tumbleweed”. I am Sir Gulliver of Dorito’s new little sister.  Did you know all cats have superpowers? In Germany, cats are associated with independence and magic.  Cats purr at frequencies between 25-150 Hz, which is the ideal frequency to help heal bones and tissues and we have over 100 vocal sounds while dogs have only about 10.  We are much more expressive communicators, which is why we are ideal as supersecret spies! We can run up to 48 KM/h in short sprints- almost as fast as a car and we can jump up to six times our body length in a single bound.  Because these superpowers take so much energy, cats spend about 70% of their lives sleeping (recharging), which means a 9-year-old cat has slept 6 years of its life and is only awake 3 of the nine years.  The world’s oldest cat lived to be 38 years old!  I am still a kitten, so I have many years of spying and postcards ahead of me. 

Whisker wiggles, Lady Tumbleweed.

Hiding in plain sight is a large segment of the super-secret spy training. My friend Bubba mastered this art early in his career.  He chose a high school in San Jose, CA.  Bubba became a model student, often the first one to school, waiting for staff and students to arrive. He would sit quietly in the back of classrooms, wandering in and out, and would spend many hours in the stacks of the library eavesdropping as well as reading a great deal.  Bubba monitored the athletes on the sports fields and memorized their play books. Soon, the high school students gave him his own school id card and wrote about him in the school’s newspaper. Bubba is now retired from spying and was recently nominated to the Super-Secret Spy Hall of Fame for his work.  Even retired spies don’t like having their picture taken, though I will tell you he is also an orange and white cat.  Purrs, Gulliver

This is a favorite story of mine on how the raccoon got his markings.

“Stop, Thief!  cawed the Raven, who saw someone in a mask running away from his home.  Raven could see a torch in the thief’s hands and hear the jingle of the beautiful silver bracelets he had stolen himself some years back.  The next day he went to each of the forest animals – Bear, Owl, Eagle, and Chipmunk – but none seemed to know anything about the missing jewelry. Finally, Raven visited Raccoon.  

At that time, the Raccoon was all grey, from nose to tail. “Someone has taken five silver bracelets from me,” Raven said. “Do you know anything about that?” “No, I don’t.” Raccoon snarled. Raven apologized and thanked Raccoon, but when Raccoon turned his back, Raven saw five dark rings of tarnish on his tail.

“Ah hah!” Raven said. “It was you!” Raccoon was contrite and admitted what he had done, but Raven didn’t think that was enough. “From now on,” Raven said, “everyone will know you are a thief. Your face will show the mask with which you hid yourself, your hands will be blackened by the ash from your light, and your tail will always have rings stained on it. And so it was. 

Raccoon never really stopped his thieving ways. He still comes out at night looking for things he can take, wearing his bandit’s mask and dirty paws.  Purrs, Gulliver

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Why did the chicken cross the road?  “Stop with the jokes,” Hansel clucked. “I have a long history of famous ancestors.” Chickens (and their eggs) are native to India and Southeast Asia. The earliest tame chickens date at least back to 7,000 years ago.  In ancient times chickens were used in religious ceremonies and for fortune telling.  About 2000 years ago the Egyptians learned to hatch chicken eggs by keeping them warm in baskets over hot ashes.  Chickens multiplied like crazy and went from a rare bird to becoming an everyday meal.  From India to the Middle East to Europe and beyond, the fowl has migrated around the world with people.  “So you see how important the chicken is to humans.” Hansel crowed.    I’m glad Hansel is my friend and will never end up as someone’s dinner.  Purrs, Gulliver.  

Now that I have caught up on all the catnaps I was missing, I will tell you more about my time in the super-secret spy training.  All trainees had to live in foreign countries for much of their training. My first assignment was in Hong Kong. I was there over the holidays of Thanksgiving and Christmas and missed home terribly.   Hong Kong means Fragrant Harbor in Chinese and is not just one island, but over 260. It started as a fishing village and was populated 30,000 years ago.  Now it is one of the most densely packed cities in the world.  One of my favorite memories was going out with friends and having snacks called “Dim Sum”, which in Cantonese means “touch the heart”.   Purrs, Gulliver

First it was the mice, now it is the birds that are spreading rumors. They are chirping and hooting that cats want to run everything. Who wants the responsibility?  We already have people as slaves. Cousin Sasha gets 12 meals a day plus treats, unlimited catnip, cat naps whenever she wants, a maid to clean her litter box and pick up her toys and a warm bed every night.  Who says we have not already reached the peak of leadership?  My big brother Smokey even keeps the dogs at home in line with just a sharp hiss and well-placed swat occasionally.  I have some great mentors to follow as I grow older. I can CATegorically state cats are not planning to take over the world. Sir Gulliver of Dorito.