David Hidalgo, Los Lobos Guitarist — Photo-Artistry by kenne
Cortez the Killer
He came dancing across the water With his galleons and guns Looking for a new world A palace in the sun On the shore lay Montezuma With his cocoa leaves and pearls In his halls he often wondered The secrets of the worlds Oh, and his subjects gathered round him Like leaves around a tree In their clothes of many colors For the angry gods to see And the women all were beautiful And the men stood straight and strong They offered life in sacrifice So that others could go on
Hate was just a legend And war was never known The people worked together And they lifted many stones They carried them to the flat-lands And they died along the way They built up with their bare hands What we still can’t build today And I know she’s living there And she loves me to this day I can still remember when Or how I lost my way
Cortez, Cortez He came dancing across the water Cortez, Cortez
Came dancing across the water
Came dancing across the water Cortez, Cortez Dancing across the water Dancing across the water Dancing across the water Came dancing across the water Cortez, Cortez Dancing across the water Dancing across the water Dancing across the water
A few days ago, I learned that the blogger, Shaun D. Mullen, which I have followed for 15 years,
passed away on December 12th. It was our cats, each named Kiko that brought us together as bloggers — you see, Shaun’s blog is Kiko’s House. And, like us, he called his cat Kiko from the Los Lobos song, “Kiko and the Lavender Moon.” Having never met Shaun, only sharing a few emails around the time of our Kiko’s death in December of 2008, I continued to feel a connection through his blog, “Kiko’s House.”
Shaun’s last post was December 20th, eight days after his death. That was not unusual since we bloggers will sometimes schedule postings days ahead of time.
Shaun, 72, an author whose journalism career included two decades at the Philadelphia Daily News. He died of natural causes.
“Over a long career with newspapers, this award-winning editor and reporter received five Pulitzer Prize nominations. He covered the Vietnam War, O.J. Simpson trials, Clinton impeachment circus and coming of Osama bin Laden, among many other big stories.”
In recent years he also wrote for the blog, The Moderate Voice, which the managing editor wrote in Memoriam:
“I just cannot hardly yet come to terms. I feel I cannot in this moment in tears, write aptly enough about Shaun. I am sorry. I just wanted you to know.
An old story my father told me:
When we were made, Creator placed the number of years we would live atop our heads. We cannot see it. But we are to live the fullness of our lives as though we had forever –and also as if we had only one more day left.”
Through our cats, each named Kiko, I was first introduced to Shaun Mullen.
You see, like us, Shaun also had a lovable cat named Kiko. And, like us, he named his Kiko from the Los Lobos song, “Kiko and the Lavender Moon.” Having never met Shaun, only sharing a few emails around the time of our Kiko’s death in December of 2008, I continue to feel a connection through his blog, “Kiko’s House.” This morning’s Kiko’s House blog entry is “Chin Chin (ca. 1998-2011).”
“Most rescue cats come into the lives of their new owners in cat carriers or by meowing outside of doors until they are fed. However, chin Chin or Chin has she came to be known, arrived in a pillowcase.”
We, too, now have a rescue cat, Kika. Although unlike Chin, we know little of her earlier life, other than frightened and skittish, she was not an abused cat. Having “. . . lived unhappily in a house dominated by thuggish owners and a big dog, and I would see her tiny black-and-white self peering at me through a lace-curtained window when I would pedal by the house on my mountain bike during morning rides.”
Chin was nurtured back to health, living with Shaun and his family for three and a half years.
“People ascribe great virtues to their pets and can be forgiven the hyperbole that usually accompanies their oohs and aahs.
But Chin did have a special virtue. She had been abused and neglected and then abandoned, yet she had great sense in her tiny head and great love in her big heart in adopting us. Believe me; it was not the other way around. And for a few short years, she gave us a joy that we gladly reciprocated.”
Our animal friends always bless us with love and attention when most needed. (Click here to read Shaun’s complete posting.)
I wrote the following poem about Kiko, two years ago:
He was in my shadow network Stopping when I stopped Playing when I played Sleeping when I slept Always by my side. When he danced, I would dance But never in lock-step, Only to the rhythm of shared music. With each step, he took my heart Building a crescendo of love. Now the music is silent As I move in darkness No shadow at my feet Only fallen tears of memories Keeping me close to his ways. But, darkness will not last For his name is the password To the ways of love And the light of the lavender moon That will always spawn his shadow.
Shaun D. Mullen — Photo-Artistry by kenne
