A to Z Challenge: H is for Hope and Horizon

We have two cats whose names start with the letter H, so they have to share, in alphabetical order.

My name is Hope, and they named me that because they hoped that I would even survive.  The big man of the house belongs to m

They say I'm a little mentally slow, but I love books.  To sleep on, that is.

From what I've been told, I was found in a flower bed where the big man in the house works, by one of the gardeners.  There were four of us, and two had already died, and the other didn't make it long.  Our mama had been run over.

So the mama lady took me and brought me to the cat rescue and said, "May we raise this one, too?" even though she had a bunch at the time.  They said yes, and that was only the start of my troubles.

Because I had almost starved, I was already very weak.  Then, just as I was getting better, I got the sickness that killed a lot of kittens that season.  The mama lady sat up with me, sleeping sitting up, and giving me fluids with the IV or medicine every half hour around the clock for two days.  She took me to the emergency vet in the middle of the night once, too.


I survived, but the mama lady says there was a cost.  I have one eye that is permanently dilated, and my head is really too small for the size of my body.  I get lost in the house easily, mistaking where I am.  When I used to get lost, I would just howl until someone would rescue me.  Now I make it easy and don't usually leave the big man and the mama lady's bedroom

After all, why should I leave the room?  I have a food bowl, I've trained the big man to leave the water dripping so I can always have fresh water, there's a litter box for when I decide to use it and the tile next to the tub for when I decide I don't want to use it.  I get brushed every day a lot, and I love that.  In fact, the mama lady says that I would let her brush until all my hair fell off!

It's a good life, especially since I probably shouldn't have survived to live it.


Horizon, get in here, it's your turn!  Horizon!

Do I have to?  Okay, but I'm scared.

Hello, I'm Horizon, and I lived on the street with my cat family until I was 3 months old.  Then I a young lady caught me and brought me in her house and I was very scared and then she gave me to #1 Son as a birthday gift and he was mine until I decided I liked the big man of the house better so I moved into the bedroom with Hope

I'm scared -- the mama lady might ask me to move!

In fact, I'm still scared.  I don't like outside any more.  I used to try to get out of the front door, but the last time, I got beat up.  No more of that.

I'm scared of the mama lady because she's the one who give me medicine and brushes me, and I'm scared of loud noises and I don't like to leave the room much and I'm scared of the rest of the cats.

The best part of my life is when the big man of the house spends time with me.  That makes all the scared go away for a little while.


Today is:

Appomattox Day -- US (marking the end of the US Civil War on this day in 1865)

Astronauts' Day -- web generated by someone who wants all these brave people honored

Baghdad Liberation Day -- Kurdistan, Iraq

Bataan Day/Day of Valor -- Philippines (Araw ng Kagitingan)

Dita e Kushtetutes -- Kosovo (Constitution Day)

Dry Milk Day -- the first patent for powdered milk was issued this day in 1972 to Samuel Percy

Feast of Jalal (Glory) -- Baha'i

Gio to Hung Vuong Day -- Vietnam (National Day; celebrating the founding of the nation by Emperor Hung Vuong some three millenia ago)

Independence Restoration Day -- Georgia (formerly Day of National Unity)

Martyr's Day -- Tunisia

Name Yourself Day -- an internet holiday allowing you to change your name for a day, if you want to.

National Cherish An Antique Day -- hooray for old fashioned quality!

National Chinese Almond Cookie Day

National Former Prisoner of War Recognition Day -- US

Observation of the Nazi Occupation -- Denmark (anniversary of the Nazi invasion)

Public Library Day -- US (anniversary of the opening of the first "publicly funded" library -- i.e. a tax based, free library -- in the US, in 1833 in Petersborough, New Hampshire)

Remembrance for Haakon Sigurdsson -- Asatru/Norse Pagan Calendar (Haakon the Great, one of the Jarls of Hladhir)

St. Casilda's Day (Patron against sterility)

St. Mary of Cleophas' Day (one of the Marys in the Bible who was present at the Crucifixion)

Verruca Day -- Fairy Calendar (Goblin Celebration again)

Vimy Ridge Day -- Canada

Winston Churchill Day -- commemorates his becoming an honorary US citizen

World Konkani Day -- Goa (Official language of the Indian state of Goa; on the death anniversary of the pioneer of modern Konkani literature, Vaman Raghunath Varde Valaulikar)


Anniversaries Today:

Sophia Loren marries Carlo Ponti, 1966
Wayne Newton marries Kathleen McCrone, 1994
Charles, Prince of Wales, marries Camilla Parker-Bowles, 2005


Birthdays Today:

Elle Fanning, 1998
Kristen Stewart, 1990
Jesse McCartney, 1987
Leighton Meester, 1986
Taylor Kitsch, 1981
Keshia Knight Pulliam, 1979
Rachel Stevens, 1978
Gerard Way, 1977
Austin Peck, 1971
Jacques Villeneueve, 1971
Cynthia Nixon, 1966
Paulina Prizkova, 1965
Dennis Quaid, 1954
Michael Learned, 1939
Avery Schreiber, 1935
Jean-Paul Belmondo, 1933
Paul Krassner, 1932
Tom Lehrer, 1928
Hugh Hefner, 1926
John Presper Eckert, Jr., 1919
Ward Bond, 1903
Paul Robeson, 1898
Efrem Zimbalist, 1889
Frank King, 1883
Eadweard Muybridge, 1830
Charles Baudelaire, 1821
Tamerlane, 1336


Debuting/Premiering Today:

"Ticket to Ride"(Beatles' single), 1965
"Diamond Lil"(Play), 1928
"Shadow of a Gunman"(Play), 1923
The World, the Flesh and the Devil(Film), 1914


Today in History:

The Mongol hordes defeat the Poles and Germans in the Battle of Liegnitz, 1241
Robert Cavalier de la Salle reaches the mouth of the Mississippi River and claims all the land drained by the river and its tributaries for France, 1682
The African Methodist Episcopal church in the US is formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1816
The oldest audible sound recording of a human voice is made, 1860
Robert E. Lee surrenders the Army of Northern Virginia to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the US Civil War, 1865
Passing by a single vote, the United States Senate ratifies a treaty with Russia for the purchase of Alaska, 1967
The Hudson Bay Company cedes its territory to Canada, 1869
Jumbo the Elephant arrives in the US, 1882
The Titanic leaves Queenstown, Ireland for NYC, 1912
The first full color film, "World, The Flesh, and The Devil", premiers in London, 1914
Mae West makes her NYC debut in "Diamond Lil," 1928
The first Japanese built aircraft to fly to Europe, the Kamikaze, arrives at Croydon Airport in London, 1937
The Suez Canal is officially opened for shipping, 1957
NASA announces the selection of the United States' first seven astronauts, whom the news media quickly dub the "Mercury Seven", 1959
In the first game in the Astrodome, Houston beats the Yankees 2-1 in an exhibition game, and Mickey Mantle hits the first indoor home run, 1967
The first British built Concorde makes its first flight, 1969
Georgia declares its independence from Russia, 1991
The funeral of Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at Westminster Abbey, 2002
Facebook purchases Instagram, a photo sharing application, for $1 billion, 2012