Raksha, Non-Clumping Litter and How to Pick a Cat

Who would guess that on October 3rd it would be 25C outside?  What a gorgeous weekend! 

Today I wasn't sure what I would do.  My daughter likes to visit the animal shelter just outside our city, so I decided to make a donation of items they need right now.  On their website's "urgent wish list" was non-clumping cat litter.  My daughter and I drove to a pet store to get the litter to take.  And, of course, we HAD to buy a dog toy for one of the dogs.  We have a dog ourselves and it's impossible to leave a pet store without buying her a new toy to rip to shreds.  So, with our litter and a cool toy, we headed toward the animal shelter.  It was such a beautiful day so we decided to stop for slurpees.  At the counter there was a man working who had on some kind of homemade bracelet.  I was curious about it.  It looked torn and ragged and was made of string, so I knew there had to be some type of meaning behind it.  Normally I wouldn't ask, but besides this being 365 days of kindness, it's just as much about pushing myself out of my shell and try and get more comfortable just opening up conversation.  So, I asked him simply "Is that some kind of friendship bracelet you have on?"  He smiled and told me that it had to do with his spiritual belief and that it was called a Raksha.  He told me that it's a tradition in his religion in which his sister wraps string called rakhi, which is a sacred thread, around his wrist.   He said that it symbolizes his vow to watch over her and protect her.  Later at home I looked it up found that it also symbolizes the sister's love and prayers for her brother's well being and is performed during "Raksha Bandhan" festival.  What a beautiful tradition. 

Back on the road, we headed to the animal shelter and dropped off the treats.  I asked the guy at the counter why the shelter would want "non-clumping" cat litter since I thought the clumping kind would be easier to clean up.  He said it was easier to clean but "clumping" litter messes up the drainage system.  Makes sense. We looked at the cats for awhile and there were two young women trying to pick out a cat.  One friend was obviously helping the other pick one to adopt.  Knowing nothing about cats, I asked one of them how you pick out a good cat.  She said "If you don't want a cat that's going to completely destroy your furniture, then you pick out a docile kitten, since they usually turn into calmer adults."  Cool.  I wonder what the success rate with that observation is lol  

I learned a lot today. I'm finding that, only 3 days in,  I am getting a lot more that I bargained for.  It was the unexpected things along the way that made today special.  I learned all about Raksha, clumping versus non-clumping cat litter, how to pick out a good cat and, maybe most importantly, that when you start asking people questions they are pretty open to conversation.  It's getting easier every day and I love it!