A miscellany of great cats

By great, I mean truly Great, as in very large, man-eating cats.

How I arrived at tonight's subject, however, is a bit of a tale, having to do with a soul-eroding printer/scanner problem. You see, one day a couple of months ago, my trusty Epson suddenly sat there, saying "Won't. Won't." Since ours is a throw-away society in which it costs more to repair an item than to replace it, twas time for a different printer. I thought that my b&w laser printer would do my scanning, so I bought a Cracker Jack box sort of printer-only for color. However, b&w laser printer couldn't be coaxed into doing my color scans.

Time for a new approach. Friend had inherited an HP 3-in-1, which she passed along to me. Oops, it needed printer driver, scan twain, etc. Went to HP's web site, where I located said drivers for the Mac, but couldn't connect to the site for a download. Had to order a set of driver software on CD. Popped CD into my computer, clicked on install -- and landed in an infinite loop. All consultations with HP, both in Mumbai and in the States, were totally, completely fruitless -- essentially, their experts told me to do what I had already tried. Finally, I did the intelligent thing: I went to Amazon and had them overnight me a 3-in-1. Not an Epson. Certainly not an HP. I finished putting it together and installing the software an hour ago.

In the meantime, while waiting for the printer to arrive, I cleaned the Stygian counter in my office. Lo and behold, I found a batch of pictures that I thought had gone completely missing. Which brings me back to the Great Cats.

We'll start here in town, where I would l guess that the lion craze is winding down. And rightly so. When the King of Beasts is relegated to adorning a catch-all box for magazines, knitting, etc., it is time for a change. And I don't mean parking him to guard the WalMart ice take-away, either (below). These lions are getting no respect! None. No wonder they look grumpy.

Tigers linked together as a belt? Better than decorating a doo-dad box. Actually, kind of pretty. I found it at a rummage sale last winter and couldn't resist. Reminds me of the tigers in Little Black Sambo who circled the tree so fast that they melted down into ghi (butter).

Here is a much more serious treatment of a Great Cat -- a large puma mask that was sold for a pretty penny at a Prescott College art auction two winters ago.

And now, the entire reason for this post in the first place -- the no-longer-missing picture of me and the gold (or gilded) lion in the Forbidden City in Beijing, back in the days when I had a career. That is not a cat to be trifled with.

The two-lion castle

Periodically, friend Patty takes me for a drive into corners of Prescott I'll never walk, because I didn't know they existed before the ride -- and often, figuring out just where we were is a challenge I don't have time for. That's the case with the two-lion castle among the granites to the west of town. Somewhere. I know it's up this windy road. But I don't know just where this windy road is located.

Regardless, the site features mini-ramparts, a gate and a tower, though a moat would never survive, given our city's water situation. Somehow, the modern house behind that imposing tower is hair anachronistic.

The establishment is guarded by this lion, who really doesn't look quite big enough for his responsibilities. Lion number two (below), who guards the mail box, looks to be far more dangerous to trespassers or marauders.


Just in case the lion pair fall down on the job, there's always the mini-canon up on the ramparts. Prescott! Sometimes it's hard to believe.

A Family Note: As long as I am talking lions, moats and castles, I'll play the doting grandmother as well and send you over to OmegaMom for the tale of the Printsuss Hoo Slad the Dragin. It is a book by my granddotter, just turned seven.

Your standard garden lion

I didn't realize that I needed a garden lion until the promo piece from Tuesday Morning arrived in the mail. Tuesday Morning, in case you aren't familiar with the chain, deals in upscale close-out merchandise. $200 bed sheets for only $50. $5 dark chocolate bars for $1, if the chocolate lady doesn't get there first. Imported cookies. Polka dotted luggage. Good Stuff like that. Including, it turned out, $100 lions (above, below). Note guardian angel for TM's pricey beast.

What I hadn't realized was that Tuesday Morning obviously was closing-out lions because they were passe; the mass marketers were awash in Kings of the Jungle this spring. More, I'm sure, in any single big city's suburban stores than in the entire Serengeti. At Big Lots (above, below), your standard garden lion was wedged in between your standard garden St. Francis of Assisi and your standard garden black bear.

And, my, did WalMart really get into the lion thing, with gilded lions in quantity (above), in your fountain arrangement (below)...

...and in your hothouse jungle.

Oh, yes. They had plain ungilded beasts in ranks.

After the initial excitement of possibly owning a lion of my very own, I began to compare the mass market product with other lions of my experience. For example, the creature I met in the gardens of the Ornamental Metal Museum in Memphis this spring (above). Might he be the lion who befriended Androcles?

Nor could the Standard Garden Guardian compare with the famous Chicago Art Institute lions that I recall so fondly.

I even have memories of meeting up with the Chinese version of the lion on my tour of the Middle Kingdom in 19-aught80. (I even have memories of a picture of me with this critter, tho I've looked high and low and had no luck finding it!)
But here's the lion I would really like to have in my garden (or my bedroom or kitchen or office, for that matter.) Too bad it isn't very likely to be.

Linkage: Foolsewoode had fun on a weekend visit to Seligman and the Route 66 past. If you don't already visit Photos from Prescott every day or so, why not start with this lovely picture of grasses in reflection at Lynx Lake.