Category Archives: Pets

Earthquake

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Washington, DC and several other locales got a wakeup call yesterday in the form of an earthquake.  There has been a lot of chaos in Washington lately over some major, and some very minor, things.  I was out-of-town during the quake.  CCL in another major city.  The cats, Roxie and Jean Claude, at my house this week, had to fend for themselves.  Still, when I arrived home, they seemed calm.  For them the chaos and excitement was but a moment.

The Wikipedia description starts as follows “An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time. Earthquakes are measured using observations from seismometers. The moment magnitude is the most common scale on which earthquakes larger than approximately 5 are reported for the entire globe.”

So the moment magnitude of an earthquake impacts structures and people’s lives within seconds. There are other things that cause such phenomena: a smile,  that  quick wink between friends, a touch from a loved one –  all things done in  a moment that leave a lasting and powerful impression.  Also there’s  love, the moment we feel it for a romantic partner, that first blissful peaceful moment in the morning – or the morning after.

Love Me Hard…All Night Long

For those that are regular readers of this blog, you’ve probably noticed two things. First, yes, it has been a long long time since I, CCL, have blogged. This is a direct result of too much work, too much travel (for work, which stopped being cool after year two. I’m now on year five) and not enough rest.
The second is that when the cats come back to my house Ms. Roxie often keeps me up all night long. She meows with such sorrow and melancholy and runs across me every hour. Then, once she gets tired around 6 or 6:30, she stretches out on the edge of the bed and falls asleep. Well, due to a congruence of events, the cats were alone for a period of week and I brought them back to my house.

That first night, Roxie didn’t meow at all night. Instead she bit me – hard. On my nose, on my chin. Now if you don’t have cats, these are actually called love bites and not all cats do it. Roxie has done it before but never with such frequency and never so hard. She loved me hard all night long. It was her way of showing how happy she was to see me and that she was snuggling with me.
Jean-Claude just rubbed against me and slept on the porch. He was happy to see me, but in true JC fashion was just cool about it.

With Roxie I’ve learned that in order for me to get a good night’s sleep two things have to happen. Since she’s a light sleeper, during the day she can’t go into those deep sleeps that cats get. Also, she needs good solid play. I have to make her run up and down the stairs for about ½ hr for her to get worn out. Even with this, it’s a 50/50 shot if I’m going to make it through the night.
I might have to start keeping her up even more during the day. Anyone have any other suggestions?

Roxie’s Prissy, Pissy ,Protest

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Don’t read this is you have qualms about cats…ah..habits. Tuesday morning, Miss Roxie, the Japanese bobtail, peed on my comforter. Then she peed on my spread. Naturally, I became quite angry and then I was concerned. Another urinary tract infection?? Naw… She was clearly just pissed. The solution …another litter box…there are now two litter boxes in my basement. Roxie is again content. There is peace.

A Drink From A Certain Fountain

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There is an old “Twilight Zone” episode, “A Drink From A Certain Fountain” in which a man wishing to impress his younger wife takes a youth enhancing drug to most interesting consequences. Recently I had the opportunity to visit with friends, there was wine but also afterwards it felt like I had been slipped a mental “Mickey.” Dizzy and a bit disoriented I went to CCL’s house where I took a quick nap. Still, today trying to regain my composure. I guess the lesson is to always be careful from whose cup you drink. Encouragement, mental support and love are served up by friends but not always As humans we sometimes serve up confusion, discouragement, complaint and maybe envy. Always forgivenss is the answer – then it is also up to us to whether we want to take what someone suggests or infers about us with a grain of salt.

Cats & Kids

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As I write this, the voices of Elizabeth Taylor and Katherine Hepburn yelling in the background in a key scene from “Suddenly Last Summer”  from my television  along with the chirping of birds outside. Jean Claude is resting on top of an arm chair downstairs watching the world. Roxie is watching the movie.

It’s been a long rough week,  work is real work and also  just finished  up a project with some young people and a close friend.  Last night some chaos as some young men who were not part of the team project showed up with swagger, brash and foul mouths.  The leaders of the team including one young woman calmed things down.   Afterwards I spoke with the young woman, so unsure, feeling the need to apologize because she is a leader, a star.  It saddened me and we discussed the incident and her need to apologize when I drove her home.    She felt a little better and I hope better about herself and her right to celebrate her achievements.

In another old favorite “All About Eve”   in that beautiful script by Jospeh Mankiewich script George Saunders tells  Ann Baxter “The Eve” character “We are all equipped with little horns to blow on about our triumphs.”   Just ask Roxie