HAPPY VALENTINES DAY TO HEIDI, THE LOVE OF MY LIFE

FROM THE CATS WE TAKE CARE OF & CAT DADDY STEVE

We are the cats and other fur babies protected by your monthly donations to the ASPCA. Some of us have very sad stories to tell, but life is getting better because of your love and support.

We are a colony of cats that lives near the seafront ramparts called the Skala de la Kasbah on the Atlantic cost of Essaouira. The fishermen with the famous blue boats give us lots of fish scraps and chin rubs, but the Moroccan Dirhams Uncle Steve donated helps a team of volunteers to build us shelters.

We are the Kedi of Istanbul. You saw us in an award-winning documentary. Turkey may be the best place on earth for a street cat to get the love of every passerby. But still, there are countless numbers of us, so Uncle Steve’s donation of several hundred Turkish Lira helps volunteers in our ancient city to build clusters of homes for us.

We are the felines of the Cat Café outside Orlando. While Disney, Sea World, Universal and water parks get all the attention – we’d like to think we are the most wonderful location in the land of theme parks. We loved the hugs you gave us, the money you donated and we look forward to safer times when you can visit again.

CELEBRATING MORE THAN 110,000 READERS

THANKS FOR READING AND SHARING MY CONTENT

During the weekend, this blog passed 110,000 total readers.

This blog grew slowly, launching more than six yeas ago.

It has featured more than 1,300 posts.

A few dozen have been guest posts from my wife, Heidi Johnson-Wright, from her award-winning EarthBound TomBoy blog.

In the past year, they have been more political -- because the bigotry and anger in America has made it impossible to not use the written word to come to the defense of women, people with disabilities, Muslims, Hispanics, the LGBT community and others singled out by the frighteningly large amount of America that still views diversity through KKK tinted glasses.

We have shared 250,000 words and more than 2,500 images -- almost all my originals shot with my beloved Nikon -- in this blog.

Stay tuned, we have more great things to share through the years.

By the way, the image is NOT one of our cats.

It's a Kedi that greeted me every morning on the bench at the Beyazit Tram station near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

WHY CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG?

A MESSAGE OF LOVE FROM ISTANBUL

It's a Moslem woman. Donald Trump and other right wing reactionary crazies have told me all I need to know. She's up to no good. She hates America, Christianity and small animals. She probably has a suicide bomb under that hijab.

This can't end well. Poor little cat. This Moslem monster will probably twist its head off and drink its blood in some kind of Godless ritual.

But wait. She seems to be gently petting the little creature. Like the millions of strays on the streets of Istanbul, this sweet purring kedi is getting affection. The locals, an overwhelming majority of whom are Moslem, are famous for being kind to animals. A recent award-winning film documented the uncommon kindness shown to stray cats in Istanbul.

So maybe Trump and the bigoted people who would ban Moslems from entering our nation of immigrants and otherwise demonize followers of one of the major religions of the world are out of their mind. Or maybe they simply cannot do math. Maybe they never learned that a tiny fraction of evil people who kill and maim in the name of Islam are just that -- a tiny fraction who are not emblematic of the peaceful overwhelming majority.

Let's face it. If a small fraction of monsters automatically tainted everyone from the much larger group, then Oklahoma City bomber terrorist (and bronze star-awarded military veteran) Timothy McVeigh's actions would mean we should ban all military vets from air travel and perhaps round them up in internment camps. But that would be insane. Just as insane as broadly defining all observant, loving, family-oriented Moslems as evil simply because a small fraction who allegedly share their core religion have misused it as an excuse for bombings.

So maybe this gentle woman, giving unconditional love to a little cat wandering the marbled and magnificent grounds of the Eyup Sultan Mosque, is more typical of Moslems. Maybe, if we worked daily to remove hate from the world, we could appreciate others. Maybe should try harder to teach our fellow Americans that someone whose religious garb is different is NOT a terrorist, evil doer or person to fear.

Sorry bigots, fanners of the flame and embracers of hate. I reject your venom. I respect all peaceful people. I thank the heavens above that I have a brain capable of recognizing statistical outliers -- so I don't brand every person of an identifiable group because of the malicious actions of a tiny few.

I see this Moslem woman for what she is: a loving fellow human being, taking time out of her busy day to give nurturing kindness to a cuddly critter. Maybe we could all try a little harder to coexist.