Patrice Sikora's Blog
December 10, 2019
Thank you!
Congratulations to all who landed a giveaway of my book "The Dream King's Courier: Payback." Please review and move on to read the second in the series, "Pawn,".....and the recently released third title, "Prophet." ENJOY!
November 17, 2019
New Year, Please?
I will not whine or make excuses, but I look forward to the new calendar year 2020. I can euphemistically put a dark day behind me and welcome new times. This starts with mourning for those people and times that have passed, and moving forward with a new book and outlook.
Book Three in The Dream King's Courier series is now out and I welcome your thoughts. With the holidays coming, I offer my wishes for good times and good reads. More to come.
Book Three in The Dream King's Courier series is now out and I welcome your thoughts. With the holidays coming, I offer my wishes for good times and good reads. More to come.
March 16, 2018
Back
Sorry for the delay...but Book 3 in the Dream King's Courier is coming togther! More to come shortly.
June 28, 2017
Subway Train
You don’t always know how you will react in a situation, but today I smiled when the train pulled into the subway station because it was the Subway Library train!
I reported on the story a few weeks ago…how the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority created a 10-car subway train that looks like the inside of the Rose Reading Room in the Main Branch. The seats look like wood and the walls look like they have shelves of books. The roof of the cars even has the overlays of the room’s ceiling.
The goal is to encourage riders to read. You don’t really need the actual train because now in every subway station you can connect with the Transit Wireless WiFi network. Connect, click on the SubwayLibrary,com prompt and you can browse and download books, short stories and book excerpts.
The special train will run for six weeks on the city’s subway lines that run in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. I caught in on the E line in Manhattan and when it pulled up and I saw the outside design I knew immediately what it was and I smiled. My ride downtown was fun!
I hope it is there again tomorrow….and the day after…and the day after.
I reported on the story a few weeks ago…how the New York Public Library and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority created a 10-car subway train that looks like the inside of the Rose Reading Room in the Main Branch. The seats look like wood and the walls look like they have shelves of books. The roof of the cars even has the overlays of the room’s ceiling.
The goal is to encourage riders to read. You don’t really need the actual train because now in every subway station you can connect with the Transit Wireless WiFi network. Connect, click on the SubwayLibrary,com prompt and you can browse and download books, short stories and book excerpts.
The special train will run for six weeks on the city’s subway lines that run in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. I caught in on the E line in Manhattan and when it pulled up and I saw the outside design I knew immediately what it was and I smiled. My ride downtown was fun!
I hope it is there again tomorrow….and the day after…and the day after.
June 6, 2017
Whisker Fatigue
Whisker Fatigue…and I’m not talking about men tired of shaving. This is something that can irk a cat so much he is reluctant to eat.
You know that a cat’s whiskers gather a lot of information that is sent to his brain and nervous system. They help orient her and help her move around a dark room and even hunt because they sense air currents. And don’t forget how whiskers can tell a cat whether it can get through a tight spot.
But all the input from those hairy antennae can also overwhelm an animal with too much information and that can cause stress. True, not all vets agree this is actually a condition, but those that do point to the fact that when cats put their faces into a deep bowl to eat, their whiskers rub against the sides and that can result in constant stimulation. The stress can be so extreme the animal paws its food out of the bowl onto the floor to get at it. The anticipation and dread of the stimuli coupled with hunger can lead to an upset, frustrated animal at mealtime and that can trigger fighting.
This may be a new-ish diagnosis, but companies have noticed. How about a $40 dish that is one inch deep and several inches wide? Or, how about a plain small plate that costs considerably less?
Various sources also say another issue to watch for with plastic bowls is chin acne. Apparently, bacteria from bowls that aren’t cleaned well can cause what some call “catne.” Who knew?
You know that a cat’s whiskers gather a lot of information that is sent to his brain and nervous system. They help orient her and help her move around a dark room and even hunt because they sense air currents. And don’t forget how whiskers can tell a cat whether it can get through a tight spot.
But all the input from those hairy antennae can also overwhelm an animal with too much information and that can cause stress. True, not all vets agree this is actually a condition, but those that do point to the fact that when cats put their faces into a deep bowl to eat, their whiskers rub against the sides and that can result in constant stimulation. The stress can be so extreme the animal paws its food out of the bowl onto the floor to get at it. The anticipation and dread of the stimuli coupled with hunger can lead to an upset, frustrated animal at mealtime and that can trigger fighting.
This may be a new-ish diagnosis, but companies have noticed. How about a $40 dish that is one inch deep and several inches wide? Or, how about a plain small plate that costs considerably less?
Various sources also say another issue to watch for with plastic bowls is chin acne. Apparently, bacteria from bowls that aren’t cleaned well can cause what some call “catne.” Who knew?
May 26, 2017
Foster cat Oliver
It never fails to astound me how many people dump an animal they have taken into their home, supposedly forever. In some cases it is a clear case of abandonment but in others it is a case of not searching for an animal that may have gotten out of the house or the yard, or slipped a collar.
We now foster a sweet boy named Oliver by the people who plucked him from a TNR (trap-neuter-release) colony. The humans supporting the colony saw him, assumed he was a newly arrived feral cat and called for help. His tail was also badly mangled.
The tail had to amputated and he was given a physical, shots and had his ear notched in preparation to being returned to the colony. The notching tells anyone seeing him from a distance that he has been vetted. Oliver then went to a person with a cage in which he could recuperate and be evaluated.
As it turned out, this boy is not feral. He had been someone's pet and begged for attention. How he came to be on his own, with a badly damaged tail, and accepted by a feral colony is a mystery. No one called any shelter looking for him. No posters for a missing cat went up. No one tried to find him.
He is with us now recuperating and getting the attention he deserves....or as much as we can give because he is very needy. He is a handsome boy despite the short tail that right now ends in a furless stump. That should grow in and he will just have a different look than most cats.
But his notched ear will always be a sign that while someone loved him once and he loved then back, the reciprocity didn't last and he almost ended up in a feral colony with no human affection.
That did not happen and when he goes to his new home we can hope it will be truly a Forever Home.
We now foster a sweet boy named Oliver by the people who plucked him from a TNR (trap-neuter-release) colony. The humans supporting the colony saw him, assumed he was a newly arrived feral cat and called for help. His tail was also badly mangled.
The tail had to amputated and he was given a physical, shots and had his ear notched in preparation to being returned to the colony. The notching tells anyone seeing him from a distance that he has been vetted. Oliver then went to a person with a cage in which he could recuperate and be evaluated.
As it turned out, this boy is not feral. He had been someone's pet and begged for attention. How he came to be on his own, with a badly damaged tail, and accepted by a feral colony is a mystery. No one called any shelter looking for him. No posters for a missing cat went up. No one tried to find him.
He is with us now recuperating and getting the attention he deserves....or as much as we can give because he is very needy. He is a handsome boy despite the short tail that right now ends in a furless stump. That should grow in and he will just have a different look than most cats.
But his notched ear will always be a sign that while someone loved him once and he loved then back, the reciprocity didn't last and he almost ended up in a feral colony with no human affection.
That did not happen and when he goes to his new home we can hope it will be truly a Forever Home.
May 17, 2017
Contrasts
Contrasts make life interesting. The calendar has been in Spring mode for some weeks now, but the weather has not kept up, until now.
The raw, blustery days of May have suddenly given way to a sunny, mild day that makes the walk to the subway a pleasure.
The warm, not oppressive, sun warms the air, but is not enough to release the smells that can mark a hot day in New York City. The tourists are out reinforcing what a great place the city can be to explore and discover.
The lady who cuts and sells mango and pineapple from a card table on the sidewalk is back from her winter hiatus. The orange and yellow slices draw your gaze as they wait in clear plastic containers. She has sauces you can add, too.
The salad shops are filled with the lunch crowd, too. In fact, the lines stretch out the door onto the sidewalk.
And then it is time to take the steps down to the dark of the subway. The heat has not penetrated here yet. So, it is still cool. That will change in the coming weeks.
The raw, blustery days of May have suddenly given way to a sunny, mild day that makes the walk to the subway a pleasure.
The warm, not oppressive, sun warms the air, but is not enough to release the smells that can mark a hot day in New York City. The tourists are out reinforcing what a great place the city can be to explore and discover.
The lady who cuts and sells mango and pineapple from a card table on the sidewalk is back from her winter hiatus. The orange and yellow slices draw your gaze as they wait in clear plastic containers. She has sauces you can add, too.
The salad shops are filled with the lunch crowd, too. In fact, the lines stretch out the door onto the sidewalk.
And then it is time to take the steps down to the dark of the subway. The heat has not penetrated here yet. So, it is still cool. That will change in the coming weeks.
April 19, 2017
Politics
Several weekends of time to work on tai chi and meditation can be so quickly wiped away by the real world. I'm sure you have also noticed the stress that engulfs us today, sapping energy and optimism if you are not careful.
The current powers in Washington continue to make me cringe with their rhetoric and embarrass me with their statements. Are they not aware that what they say will be fact checked and parsed to the extreme? They seem to believe we are sheep who cannot think and who will be led hither and yon with bluster and bravado.
No. The Reuters tweet "As Trump warned North Korea, his 'armada' was headed toward Australia" says it all. We are watching, and we must also think and make our voices heard. Read. Read. Read.
The current powers in Washington continue to make me cringe with their rhetoric and embarrass me with their statements. Are they not aware that what they say will be fact checked and parsed to the extreme? They seem to believe we are sheep who cannot think and who will be led hither and yon with bluster and bravado.
No. The Reuters tweet "As Trump warned North Korea, his 'armada' was headed toward Australia" says it all. We are watching, and we must also think and make our voices heard. Read. Read. Read.
March 23, 2017
The Language of Flowers
The warmer weather is coming...at least it should be coming to the Northeast...and that makes me think of flowers.
The Victorians often used flowers to send messages of affection and, in some cases, intrigue. The more I read about the language of flowers the more fascinated I become.
I'm sure you know red roses mean love, but what about yellow or pink ones? Yellow means friendship and depending on the depth of color, pink can mean anything from thankfulness to grace and joy.
I put a wide range of flowers and colors in the garden patch outside the Boathouse where Dob waits to ferry travelers across the river to the Prince of Death's realm.
Chrysanthemums, marigolds, roses, sweet pea and zinnia are there in various colors. Here's how Gwen explains their meanings to Claire:
"The white and yellow chrysanthemums mean loyalty and honesty, and sorrow and love. The marigolds are creativity and remembering the dead. The roses love, longing and because these are so deeply red, they also mean farewell. The purple sweet pea is also a departure flower but it is more like goodby and thanks for a good time. And the different zinnia colors means slightly different things but they echo the others: affection, thinking of an absent friend, remembrance."
I love flowers.
The Victorians often used flowers to send messages of affection and, in some cases, intrigue. The more I read about the language of flowers the more fascinated I become.
I'm sure you know red roses mean love, but what about yellow or pink ones? Yellow means friendship and depending on the depth of color, pink can mean anything from thankfulness to grace and joy.
I put a wide range of flowers and colors in the garden patch outside the Boathouse where Dob waits to ferry travelers across the river to the Prince of Death's realm.
Chrysanthemums, marigolds, roses, sweet pea and zinnia are there in various colors. Here's how Gwen explains their meanings to Claire:
"The white and yellow chrysanthemums mean loyalty and honesty, and sorrow and love. The marigolds are creativity and remembering the dead. The roses love, longing and because these are so deeply red, they also mean farewell. The purple sweet pea is also a departure flower but it is more like goodby and thanks for a good time. And the different zinnia colors means slightly different things but they echo the others: affection, thinking of an absent friend, remembrance."
I love flowers.
March 19, 2017
Sick Time
It took two weeks to finally get out from under the effects of some wicked bug that raced through the newsroom. Two weeks and there are times I still want to just sleep. That hits the writing schedule hard and makes finding the energy to get started again tough.
When your routine is shredded how do you get back on track?
Do you try to re-create exactly what you did before? Do you craft a new pattern that refreshes?
Do you feel anxious about lost time and ideas?
I feel ready to sit and flesh out Book Three. In fact, the break from the manuscript gives me a fresh perspective. I'll let you know how that goes.....
When your routine is shredded how do you get back on track?
Do you try to re-create exactly what you did before? Do you craft a new pattern that refreshes?
Do you feel anxious about lost time and ideas?
I feel ready to sit and flesh out Book Three. In fact, the break from the manuscript gives me a fresh perspective. I'll let you know how that goes.....
