It's all about naming

I mentioned yesterday at the chapter meeting of our quilt guild that I was a "Martha." I remember from Sunday school that Martha did the preparation for Jesus coming into her home while Mary, on the other hand, made sure she heard His every word and enjoyed His presence. Martha then felt put-upon for making her choice.

I don't feel put-upon when I say "I'd rather do it myself." When I do things myself, well, I really can't blame others when good plans run amuck. (Or can I?)

Anyway, this started me thinking about names. Our parents did the best (???) they could with the list of names then available. A good strong name is meant to give us a leg up in life. We name our children with good, strong names. Our spouses have good, strong names. Even when we don't call them by their given name, we exchange that for an endearing term - honey, sweetie...you get the picture. OK, sometimes it becomes hey you...when you get a minute, I could use your help in here!!

We think long and hard to name our household pets. We dubbed one of our cats "Stretch". He was already just about as large as a stretch limo when he wandered up. And when he did the stretched out kitty thing they do, he was really long. "Stretch" just fit. Big strong name for a big, growing cat.

And then, not to let the outside cats down, we have a name for them. Never mind that none of those cats are ours! I still make sure they have a nibble of cat food on my potting bench to enjoy when passing through. I'm sure their true owners have given them a fitting name. So as not to confuse them, I just call the yellow cat "yellow cat" and the yellow cat with the blue collar, "yellow cat with blue collar" and young yellow cat that runs from me "yellow cat that runs from me". They know who they are and now I know who they are and I thought husband dear knew who they were too! All three are really those wonderful orange short hair tabby cats.

We were all doing fine with such good, strong names until yesterday when the truth came out. Dearest doesn't know the three cat's names. Where has he been?? In conversation, he made mention of "yellow cat" and it was clear to me that this was not "yellow cat" he was talking about, but "yellow cat with blue collar". Why was he trying to confuse us? So, I corrected him. And he retorted, well, the cat is yellow. I think he felt I was poking fun at his color blindness issue. So I dutifully agreed with him that yes, the cat was yellow in color, but this was not "yellow cat" he was speaking of, but rather, "yellow cat with blue collar" . And further, the yellow cats that are welcomed into our garden should be shown the respect they deserve by being called by their correct names!! Now there...

He just shook his head and muttered something incoherent....I really didn't want to know.

I clearly need to get back to quilting to clear my head.