Crossing the River Styx

I received a letter from the University of Guelph a few days ago telling me

that my veterinarian had donated a sum of money to the School of

Veterinary Science  at U of G in memory of my little cat Claude.  I was

very touched by this but it set me thinking about death and the two cats

I lost in 2013. 

I think it would be very arrogant to assume that we will only encounter

other human souls when we leave 'this vale of tears'.  I also suspect that 

it is wrong to think that our life force is of greater importance to the

universe than the life force of any other creature.

 

From that thought came this image of the deer, the cat, the bird and the

person sitting on the edge of eternity together as equals.

 

Note:

Because I borrow so heavily from medieval art and nursery rhyme illustrators I figured the picture had to impart a moral so along the top I supplied one.  It says:

DON'T TRY TO CROSS THE RIVER STYX WITH A DEER, A CAT AND A BIRD ON THE BACK OF A SEA MONSTER OR IT WILL START TO SNOW AND YOU WILL FALL OFF THE EDGE OF THE WORLD.

Which is always good advice but actually has nothing to do with the picture.

And besides sketchbooks should always have mysterious musings that no one understands.