Picture A Day Challenge for 12/10/07

I love my kitties. Okay, love is too strong a word and should be reserved for people. I really like my kitties a lot. Jericho has taken to curling up beside me at night when the lights go out. He doesn't stay all night, but he stays 'til I'm asleep most nights. Jessica is the little princess. She has a high pitched squeaky voice that is always asking for something. Usually food. This is Jessica:
Photographing cats who just don't care isn't easy. And at close quarters with a telephoto lens makes for some tricky shots. I didn't want to use the flash, but had no choice. The room light and the cat moving (not to mention my inability to hold the lens still long enough) just wasn't working out. At least you can see how white her fur is.

There's a story behind her name. When my mother was alive, she would name each years' kittens starting with the next letter of the alphabet. She name her cats and the wild cats at the ranch that my uncle feeds when he goes to feed the goats and cows. Jericho and Jessica used to be some of those ranch cats who were born in the J-year. Mom had named them Jericho and Jezebel, but I knew when I brought them home I didn't want a cat name after a truly evil woman, so she was hastily renamed Jessica.

If you don't know the story of Jezebel, she was the wife of Ahab the king who wanted a vineyard owned by Naboth. Since it was ancestral land he didn't want to sell it, even to the king. Jezebel's response to Ahab's despondency:

1 Kings 21:8-13 (New International Version)

New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

8 So she wrote letters in Ahab's name, placed his seal on them, and sent them to the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city with him. 9 In those letters she wrote:
"Proclaim a day of fasting and seat Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 10 But seat two scoundrels opposite him and have them testify that he has cursed both God and the king. Then take him out and stone him to death."

11 So the elders and nobles who lived in Naboth's city did as Jezebel directed in the letters she had written to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast and seated Naboth in a prominent place among the people. 13 Then two scoundrels came and sat opposite him and brought charges against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth has cursed both God and the king." So they took him outside the city and stoned him to death.

Perhaps you can see why I didn't want to call her Jezebel?