ZOOLATRY ~ 17 YEARS ~ Thanks for the memories!

And if anyone wants to see what Zoolatry has really been all about

over all these years ~ 

what has really meant the most to us with you, 

our friends and friends, letting us be part of your lives ~

JUST CLICK HERE

 

THE LETTER Z ~ ZOOLATRY, of course ~ with a visit from Angel ZOEY

Yes, we've been around awhile now, 16 years as of this coming June. We've never been a blog to carry advertising, and have no interest in any of the stats (not sure I'd believe them anyway).  But, curiosity did make me check one thing for this post today, discovering that we have posted 5,428 times.  A lot of pictures and a lot of words.  

Starting out way back when, I struggled to find a "name", only knowing I didn't want to associate the blog with anyone or any pet in particular, but wanted it to be reflect all animals in some way.  Looking up "zoo" in the dictionary, scrolling down from there led to zoolatry and that was that.  

Way back then, my husband insisted "well, you also need an identity, a brand", but I sure didn't know what!  As a pet owner for both cats and dogs, and not at all conversant at that time with the intricacies of image design ... he said, "oh just use your stripey sox that you always wear"!  How silly of him.  (but sometimes you let them win, thank you, dear)  So, he suggested I get up on the kitchen stool, turn my feet thisaway and thataway, and he took a lot of pictures.  Of course, the sox and the stripes are admittedly "generic", not having much to do with animals and pets ~ but allowing me to veer off into other directions on our blog from time to time, which I've certainly taken advantage of over the years.

Those "real" sox were reimagined into ones sleeker and slimmer, becoming our little logo and yes, here we are 16 years later and I do have quite a few pair (albeit newer ones) of stripey sox in the dresser drawer.  The sox, maybe with dog fur or cat hair have often appeared here.  And all sorts of other items-and-objects in red and white stripes have been showing up on Zoolatry now for years.  

Red and white stripes ~ beyond sox ~ then evolved as our thing (admittedly, red being a favored color of mine).  Here, there, sort of everywhere, all kinds of graphic designs ~ cartoons, costumes, Christmas ornaments and more.

Then one day not too long ago a new kitty moved in and now ~ you'll see lots of

blue and white polka dots, too!

THE LETTER Z ~ ZOOLATRY

THE LETTER Z ~ ZOEY

We could not complete the Letter Z without mention of one particular little cat who dominated our blog for many years ~ Zoey ~ ZoZo, the Zozster, our resident clown.  A blue point himmie, a forever-kitten in her behaviors, likely using up her "nine lives" on a monthly basis with her adventuresome spirit.  Famous for her little snaggle toof, she squeaked, no meows.  But don't be fooled, she'd make you love her with her brilliant blue eyes and fluffed up furs, love of the camera and show-off attitude. Zo... think of her and sing "Send In The Clowns".

 

 

ZOOLATRY ~ THROUGH THE YEARS ~ 2007-2022

We are here today to celebrate 15 years of of blogging as Zoolatry ~ 15 years of many pets, many friendships ~ years of fun and joy and laughter and occasional missteps.  Times of sadness and sorrow and coming together in an amazing and caring community.  Moments when you have been there in support of us for which we have been so grateful. We have seen too many beloved pets cross their Rainbow Bridge.  We have bowed our head as too many friends have passed on.  All missed, yet all remembered.  We are thankful to all who have visited this little blog over the years, it is a compliment to us every day.  

It is a privilege to be part of this community and I thank each and every one of you for welcoming us.   

June here ~ as your spokes-kitty today!  Although you are used to seeing me in blue and white polka dots, I've not been here for 15 years, so out of respect for mine Mommy, and all those who came before ~ I'm wearing the red-and-white stripes that say Zoolatry!

With over 5000 posts to our blog, we couldn't choose what to share.  So instead we have selected some of our headers.  They change almost every month, and they reflect the wonderful pets who have been part of our lives, and some times of transition.  

So if you have a few moments, let me tell you the stories of Zoolatry, as it was "once upon a time ..." 

Maggy and Zoey, two Himmies, beautiful and silly Florida girls owned this blog from 2007 to 2012.  Maggy was mine Mommy's "heart cat" and Zoey was definitely Poppy Vic's first love.  They were all lost and sad and heart broken when Poppy moved to heaven in the fall of 2012 and soon thereafter life brought big changes for all of them.  

As mine Mommy has shared the story with me, life and circumstances change, not always as we want them to and in the spring and early summer of 2013, the lovely home was sold and she said farewell to the sunshine and beaches of Florida.  The move North did not allow for Maggy and Zoey to join her, and her heart was sad again.  But Maggy remained a Florida girl finding a new home on the Gulf Coast with Ms Peggy of Peggy's Place and living a beautiful life there for many years to come.  Zoey too found the purrfect place, with mine Mommy's bestest friend, Auntie Dee!  She became a traveler (!) spending her winters back in Florida and her summers in Maryland and all her days to follow with her new brofur Pip, a good good and long life.  Mommy got to see Maggy from time to time and she got to visit with Zoey a lot as she visited back in Florida, and she had moved to Maryland!  So all was well and good and happy!

 

In her new Maryland home, mine Mommy fell in love with wonderful Dougie Dog.  

He became the new feature for Zoolatry (oh my dog, who'd thought a dog would take over!!!)  

But Maggy and Zoey continued to visit-and-appear virtually, 

through photos shared often from their new homes!  And Dougie Dog, mine

Mommy was living with her young family and they were off to work and school

every day, so she and DD were best pals and she loved him so!  This young

chocolate Lab was the best boy, friendly, smart and oh so loving.

And ever so handsome!

(though in my opinion, sorry, dogs cannot be as handsome as cats!,

remember, I, June, am writing this ...)

Then, the time came when life interfered again ~ 

Maggy took off to heaven, and a year later, Zoey followed her.  

Mine Mommy was so sad,

even though she knew both her beautiful girls had lived good and long lives.

Now, they would be angels, forever young when shown on Zoolatry.

A header later on showed the "family" of pets as by then she would

often featuring her grand pups on the blog.

It's summer into fall 2020!

I have learned that mine Mommy was a "crazy lady",

there's a world wide pandemic going on and yet

she up and decides it is time to move!  To live on her own again!  And the

next thing that happens is she's living in a studio apartment in a high rise

building in a new city she's never lived in before and doesn't know her way

around and doesn't know any peoples there and a couple weeks later she

adopts me after years of not having a kitty-cat and MEOW ... is she "crazy"?

Yes.  But guess what?  It's worked out just fine!

And now Zoolatry is mine.

Now it's June 2022.  

June in June!

The polka dot kitty has taken over Zoolatry.  I'm happy, she is happy.  As it should be.

Most of the time I dominate (as it should be) this blog.

Sometimes we share it with our friends.  Sometimes we have special headers.

Sometimes we show our family.

As it should be.

We love being here ~ and we love all of you.

Though today we're celebrating 15 years of Zoolatry,

it is also a special day to remember our Dads ...

mine Mommy had a really great Daddy and Poppy Vic was a special Dad!

She loved them both, she misses them both.

And she remembers many "other Dads" who filled her life as well.

WE'RE ABOUT TO CELEBRATE ~

 

DONA NOBIS PACEM 2021

 

WWWTP WEDNESDAY

... because it went back!  went back where you might ask?  to the repair shop!  again!

for what we are hoping, fingers and toes crossed, is it's final visit there ... 

and fingers and toes crossed a short visit as the parts are already there, this time pre-ordered!

Zoey said maybe if she hadn't napped on the keyboard it wouldn't-a gotten all that

cat fur inside that had to be taken out ... mmm, wondering 'bout that.

Dougie said (and he's blaming it all on Wilson) if'n he hadn't been tossing Wilson back and forth

against the monitor, well maybe it wouldn't have blacked out and the audio wouldn't-a disappeared?

Maybe.
The Zoolatry Human just calls it planned obsolescence.  But, by the time all is said and done and the
month of January is over, it feels like she'll have a brand new 'puter with all new insides.  Not bad.  Maybe.  

YESTERDAY HELLO ... TODAY ... BYE, BYE

Ye olde computer returns to the ICU today, sad to say.

So, we'll see you when we see you.

Comments are off as we wouldn't be able to see them, or post them anyway!  Sigh.

Dougie Doug says woof, Zoey says meow.

ZOOLATRY FOR YOU

Click Here to view Holiday Graphics

ONCE UPON A YEAR ~

Reflections ~ in pictures, as Zoolatry is always more about images than words ~ a look back through the year about to end.  Forgive me while I reflect through many years that have ended, it is something I always seem to do.  Retired now, many years and sadly a widow.  Much lost, gone ~ much gained, easy to see now, though not at the time of happening.  And it was such a long time ago I also said good-bye to my heart cat Maggy, and silly little Zoey (Poppy Vic's Number One). It seems only yesterday they all left, each to their own place ~ apart from me ~ yet they thrive in their new homes, and are often thought of, and appear, here ~ their first home.  

Apart from me.  Is it only in the movies that you hear an actor say, "I cannot see him anymore," the face of the love lost, now fading into memory.  I am blessed, as Poppy Vic and my kitty girls have never faded from my sight.  All sit on my shoulder, each walks beside me, with every coming day. 

And this place is my journal, my diary ... where I can visit, refreshing memories as my own mind muddies with age.  This has become a place of friendship, warm words, caring thoughts, a simple "hello", left by those I have not met, will never meet but who have become an important part of my life ... every  day.   

To 2018 I say not just goodbye, but good riddance, glad you're gone, don't need you, don't want you around.  I am a political animal, and living where I do, local news is national news is international news, and it is my addiction.  Hooked on it.  News was dinner table talk in rural Indiana, growing up in the 1950s.  I blame my parents for my addiction ... my daily papers of choice, the Washington Post and the New York Times.  Read the old fashioned way, on paper, coffee cup to the side.  No online news here, tech is leaving me behind.  I am tired of the real world of 2018.
Will 2019 be different, can it be?  In my alternate world of Zoolatry, it will be a wonderful, amazing and fullsome year.  I'd rather live here in the Zoolatry world.   Someone once reminded me, January ... Janus, the Roman god of beginnings and endings, and the god of gateways and doors.  So we begin, anew.  Hoping much, praying more.  Opening a door each day, the door perhaps to Fibber McGee's closet not knowing what will fall out from an avalanche of stuff: good, bad, happy, sad, and in-between stuff.  Come along for the ride. 

TUESDAY TALK [and WORDY WEDNESDAY, too!]

We're talking on Tuesday ...

and we're wordy on Wednesday.

PLEASE CLICK HERE

GIVING THANKS

Enjoy your time with family and friends, remember your blessings.  Commenting is off today.

A-Z CHALLENGE, The Letter Z ~ Of course, it's for Zoolatry!

April 30

The Letter Z

Just the right way to end the month and the A-Z Challenge ... with Z for ZOOLATRY.  I don't know if you've ever wondered how we came to be Zoolatry, or how we came to have a stripey-sox logo, or for that matter if it is even of interest!  If yes, read on ...

ZOOLATRY. It all began in late June 2007, and so in just a few more weeks we'll celebrate ten years of blogging!  Hard to believe ...  So many years ago, these blogs were not as user-friendly as they are now, and it was a struggle to publish a post and have it look reasonably decent, especially if you have some OCD about design.  Often I thought I'd give up ~ but what kept me going, were friends.  I kept meeting more and more pet bloggers over time, and quite a number became really good friends over these years, people I treasure and am blessed to know.  They are what keep me here today.  But I have digressed ... Zoolatry ... what it means is below ... I just sat down one day, probably watching CNN to which I am sadly addicted (being a news junkie).  A dictionary on my lap.  Hours of randomly scrolling through, giving up, then going back.  An upside: learning some new words.  Downside: getting bored.  Started with the letter "A".  Scanned each page, each letter of the alphabet, just looking for that word that caught my attention, reading what it meant.  And then to the letter "Z", and thinking, "well, this didn't work ... what will I name my blog?".  But then, nearly through all the Z's, suddenly up popped this one word ~ and that was that!  Eureka!

ZOOLATRY, PART II.  Unlike some blogs, we don't do giveaways or contests, or promote products nor have we ever paid attention to statistics (which we don't think are all that believable).  Our blog is for fun, for us, for you.  For us, a place to look back through from time to time like an album of memories and times over the years.  But doing this post, I thought for this one time I'd go ahead and take a look at the google-stats, just out of curiosity.   They are telling me that as of today we have done 3,559 posts ... we've had over 382,000 pages views (surely some of those are my own!) ... and just under 55,000 comments, not including any who may be inclined to comment today! A bit more than some blogs perhaps, far far less than many other bloggers I'm sure!   On the sidebar it says I have 383 followers, but I think many of those don't even blog anymore, they're from days-of-old, but some small part of me, really wants 17 more followers (YOU?) just to reach that nice rounded-off number of 400!  (though today you can now follow by email) But as I said, stats don't mean much now, do they ...

STRIPEY-SOX. My favorite color is red and I love red-and-white stripes the most and a peek in my closet will prove that (too much red, way too many stripes) ... often wearing stripey-sox around the house, even some sleep sox that are striped.  One day my husband casually said, "those should be your blog logo!", to which I laughed, and only replied, "ha!".  But he persisted to the point of another day, insisting I get on a step stool and pose (my feet in those sox) so he could take a bunch of photos!  It was only to appease him at the time that I did so.  But later, looking through the photos, I was a bit amused by them, and in some small way, they did say "me".  Over time I played around in photoshop with those images, reworking them time and again, until one day I was satisfied enough with an art-rendering that emerged to become my logo ... it, too, has gone through a few evolutions ... from palm trees and beach, when the sox lived in Florida, to a simple circle after moving north.  But stripey-sox it is, and so it shall be.

Thank you for bearing with me to read of the life of Zoolatry. 

DEFINITION OF ZOOLATRY

THE EVOLUTION OF THE SOX

Upper left: a montage of the many "feet" photos my husband took!  Upper right: the pose I liked the most, though flipped upside down!  Middle two images: the initial art renderings of my fave pose.  Bottom left: the logo as it emerged finally.  And bottom right: as it is today, with text.  Not shown: the original "Florida" version, with palm trees, beach and sometimes ~ cat's paws ~ which sometimes still shows up on a blog here or there!