OUR EXTENDED FAMILY

We are an extended family. That means Theo, Nana and Pop Pop, Ma Ma and Ba Ba, Plato the dog, and Pip and Pearl the cats. We get along amazingly well. Theo is my grandson who you see in the photograph. He is the little guy on the right. His friend Majid is looking at the camera. Theo is now just over three years old.

Theo likes to throw balls but has had to be restricted to throwing them outside. Not that he always listens. Lately he is into banging on anything nearby so Ba Ba got him a drum. He destroyed the first one so Ba Ba got him another. I know at some point we will have to contend with Theo with a drum set. He watched something on the computer that featured Celtic music with drummers and now faithfully follows their every movement with his own drum.

When I said we get along amazingly well I was not speaking of Plato and Pip and Pearl. Pip, a beautiful long haired gray cat, has always ruled the roost. He looked at Plato and said "What's the big deal?"

At first Pearl would not come out of Ma Ma's and Ba Ba's bedroom; lately she has gotten much braver. She actually went over and sniffed Plato's nose the other day which amazed me no end. She is also into destroying rugs with her claws. We have tried to put something called "Soft Paws" on her to no avail. She is nowhere to be found when the trip to the vet is upon us. We religiously put her out most of the day and only the less valuable rugs are on the floor. Plato ignores both cats, although for awhile he was leaving his scent in places they frequented which caused no end of problems. I now keep him with me at all times since you can only take so much of a dog marking his territory in the house.

We are in the middle of a construction project to end all construction projects. For a long time the only access to our house was up a neighbor's steps to a path, down the path and around a hedge to the back door. There was really celebration when the steps to our front door appeared for the first time. We've had almost no rain since the project began which is a problem facing California but nice for us. Plato tends to be a little careless where he runs.

I think a lot of families these days are extended families. I do enjoy ours.