Sunday, August 22, 2021

Stray Cat Blues

Well if last Sunday was a sucksation, this Sunday has been a suckamarooni of a Sunday. A suckgasm. A suckicane. A suckingsuckofasuck-a-thon. A suckasauris-sized suck of a day. 

Actually, it hasn't been that bad. I mean, it's just sort of sucked. 

My husband and I kept getting blasted awake last night because that little cat whose picture I took last Sunday has decided that she wants to live here and Maurice and Jack are not having it. I don't know if the cat is a male or a female but I'm just calling it a she because it's a little cat. Anyway, last night before I went to bed, I was walking to the kitchen to make the coffee for this morning when I saw the dang thing run out of the kitchen where she had no doubt been dining on the high-quality Publix brand cat food I offer, and head towards our room. Immediately outside our room is the laundry room and there is a cat door tucked away in a corner there which our cats use to come in and out at will. 
Obviously, Little Cat has figured that out. 
And obviously, the creature used it to come in at least twice last night and was immediately discovered by one or both of our cats resulting in hisses and screams and things being knocked off of dressers. 
NOT a good way to wake up in the darkest hours. 

This is just not going to work. As I have said over and over again, there is no way another cat could possibly fit into the already constant battle between Maurice and Jack that rages here constantly. At best there is a day or two of some sort of feline-negotiated ceasefire and then the fur literally flies again. 
I feel deeply sorry for the stray cat but I simply cannot encourage its presence. I guess it does not belong to a neighbor. And what we should do is catch it and take it to the animal shelter but I am not going to be the one to do that and Mr. Moon is leaving Tuesday morning way before the crack of dawn. 

Every time I think about him leaving I get a little sad and teary. I am worried about him being on a plane. I am worried about him being in Las Vegas. I am worried about his entire trip. I feel sad and my stomach hurts. And I have done nothing to achieve any sense of accomplishment today at all. Nothing. I feel hot and sticky and itchy and fatter than the fattest walrus who ever rolled across an ice floe into the ocean to search for another school of fish to eat.
And exactly that chic, spritely, and physically attractive. 

Oh, poor, poor me.

Here's the only picture I've taken today.


I sent the picture to my kids with the text, "Anybody missing this hat? I found it in the couch."

No one claims it. 

Sigh. 

You know it's been a waste of a day when your google search history includes, "Crocheting Granny Squares" and "Has Kevin Costner had plastic surgery?"
I was going to pick and shell some peas but after I'd picked about fifteen zinnias I realized I'd probably die if I did. The zinnias are pretty though. 


There. I took another picture.

Mr. Moon, on the other hand, has spent the day packing and making lists of things he has to do before he leaves and also getting ready to go out for a few hours of actual gator hunting. He wasn't very excited about going but he's the one with the tags without which the hunting is illegal, and his friend has done so much preparation and it's his boat and he doesn't feel like he can let his friend down. 
"I am not staying out there until three or four in the morning," he told me. 
God I hope not. 

So that's what it's been like here today. And just because I want to torture myself even more, I'll post a picture that Lis sent of a hat she made this past week at a hat-making class she drove all the way to North Carolina to participate in. 


She. Made. That. Hat. (And many more, all equally gorgeous.)
And she made the pansy too, of course.

I'd show you a picture of the orange and black potholder I'm making for Lauren (she loves Halloween) but I don't want to make the hat jealous. 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Ha.

And now I think I am going to go make a tuna casserole because I need comfort food and also because like the walrus, I might need even more insulation against the cold. (Temperature here is 86 degrees, humidity is 77%, and it feels like 99.)

One more thing- and this is in a far more serious vein than anything else I've said here this evening. Leon County's school board superintendent, Rocky Hanna has defied our criminal governor by making masks mandatory for grades K-8 with no opt-out option. 

"Hanna said: "The reason for this is because these children are not eligible to become vaccinated and remain the most vulnerable in our community."

This, of course, solves nothing but it does at least indicate that our schools here are trying to do what they can to protect children's safety despite DeSantis's apparent desire to kill them all. 

And also, in all seriousness- y'all be safe. As safe as you can. 

I love you dearly...Ms. Moon









34 comments:

  1. That cute little cat is a female. She is a calico (or tortoise shell, or whatever they're called in your region), and all calico/torties are female.

    This is for a really interesting reason: Cat coloration is carried on the x chromosome, and of course only females have two x chromosomes. So they, unlike males, can end up with a random mishmash of two competing genetically coded color patterns. That cute little thing may have, for instance, inherited orange coloration from one parent and gray and white from the other.

    ....Hey! She could be Maurice's and Jackson's secret love child!!!

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    1. Well, since Maurice and Jack are both devoid of the parts that end up with love children, I doubt it but thank you for letting me know that the little lady cat is a lady cat. She is cute, isn't she?

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  2. i'm glad to hear about the mandatory masking. that's the one thing that makes me feel okayer about being back with 30+ kids in each class i'll have (and if i have less kids i'll gladly report that too).

    i understand completely about having your mr. gone, esp in the time of covid and people acting the fool on planes.

    xxalainxx

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    1. Although Lily says that the kids don't always wear their masks properly and I would imagine that's so very true. Hell, adults don't, why would we expect kids to? But at least they are wearing them.
      I hear that airports are scarier than the planes even when it comes to exposure. Damn.

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  3. Yes the cat is a woman cat- The hat is astonishing, I mean REALLY!!! Is there anything that woman can not do? I know something- she can not grow a beard but if she could she would turn it into a marvel!
    Scares me about your sweetie flying to las Vegas of all places! I hope he stays out in the desert away from the masses of nincompoops.
    i totally loved how your sucky day sucked in so many sucks of suckdom. A black hole in Florida!

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    1. NO! There is nothing that Lis cannot do. Write award winning songs?
      Check.
      Play many instruments very, very well?
      Check.
      Do needlework that would make your grandmother cry?
      Check. (You should see her crochet.)
      Cook?
      Like a chef.
      Sing?
      Like an angel.
      Etc.
      She kills me.
      Yeah. Well, Glen is going and that is that so I need to just pull up my big girl panties and face it. I seriously doubt he'll be hanging out in the desert but he does promise to wear masks everywhere.
      Yep. A black hole in North Florida. My fault.

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  4. You just caused me to stop and Google Where do all the babies on Call the Midwife come from!
    I wonder what you will do about your stray cat. Back when we had a cat door, more than one animal found it. I woke in the middle of the night to raccoons and groundhogs. Thank god, never a skunk. Stray cats, too, but they never let themselves be discovered, except by spraying all over the downstairs of "their" new house. I rehomed one cat to a new neighborhood, on the theory that if he could make it in my neighborhood, he'd find a sucker in that one. My other attempt ended at animal control, and we all know what happens to extra cats there.

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    1. I've read articles about where those babies come from. Some of them are disturbingly not real but quite realistic but many are indeed real. Covid has made that whole situation even more complex, as I am sure you discovered.
      It's a damn problem as to what to do with stray cats. Even if you do adopt them, you then have to get their shots and get them spayed or neutered. And they all come with their own sets of problems. And if you take them in for adoption, that's not what generally happens, as you point out.

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  5. Oh ugg to humidity and cat fights and swamps and gators. Take a lil trip to the mountains and cool down. Or not. I think Pigeon Forge is still flooded. Honestly bad news is everywhere. No wonder you have the mullygrubs. Hugs, woman!

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    1. Oh, we just got back from the mountains about a month ago. This is just the way it is here this time of year and we shall survive. Personally, I do bitch about it though. Of course.
      I love that word- "mollygrubs."

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  6. I don't understand your governor. Does he want more sick people? I'm glad somebody is standing up to him and trying to keep kids safe.

    Do you have an SPCA or some other rescue society that takes in stray animals?

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    1. I think he does want more sick people. Plus, his wife owns stock in some covid treatment company. No shit.
      Yes. We do certainly have animal shelters but there are SO many strays brought in. Ugh.

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  7. The saga of the cats. One problem is that even nonfighting cats can't handle an odd number. So if you can't rehome the new one, better get another...;)

    And I hear your anxiety about Mr Moon. You've become very interdependent since he's been home more. It's harder.

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    1. Oh my god, Liz! I cannot get TWO more cats! I would never get any sleep! No, no, NO!
      You're exactly right about us being more interdependent. Also- just plain used to having each other around.

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  8. cat wars. Know it well. Ridiculous. Except Lola would pee from fright so eventually Lupin had to go. She had a good 7 year run, I figured. And she was sheer feline lunacy.

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    1. Do you realize I've already had Maurice for over seven years? Hard to believe. She's not completely crazy and despite all our scars, we still somehow hold a deep affection for her. We're the lunatics in this equation, I think.

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  9. Maybe the hat belongs to the cat!

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  10. I forgot to say I'm beyond impressed at that fine hat. She's very good.

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    1. Isn't she? She's an artist in so many different ways.

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  11. poor little stray cat. they all came to my house when I lived in the city. well, I hope you are feeling better today. we're heading into our hottest temps so far this summer. ugh. good for your school superintendent. DeSantis is an ass, same as our governor who is begging for health care workers from other states to come here and has ordered 4 morgue trucks but does NOTHING to mitigate the spread of the virus, in fact, he puts up roadblocks to prevent anyone else from doing anything.

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    1. I am feeling better today. Thanks, Ellen.
      Yeah. De Santis needs to be arrested. I swear. So does your governor. They are truly guilty of murder.

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  12. I am sorry you are feeling down. Hope you get better sleep and the heat lets up so you feel better. Can you shut the cat door at night?
    Treat yourself to something you enjoy while he is gone?
    You have to change Sunday suckday to Sunday funday!

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    1. If we shut the cat door, our cats can't get out and we have no litter box. I do not want one, either. But yes, I had thought of that.
      I will definitely treat myself when Glen is gone. I've already told him I'm going to eat steak and lobster every night for dinner. He knows that's not going to happen.

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  13. It's a shame about that stray cat but you're probably right, you can't adopt any more with the ongoing war between the two you already have. My ex used to encourage stray cats but when they started dropping in through the top bedroom window I put my foot down and made him stop. And Lis's hat is just beautiful, she is so talented. It makes my wonky baby crib sheets look pathetic!

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    1. Stray cats that come in uninvited are NOT COOL! Your ex was a piece of work, wasn't he?
      As to Lis- you know she must be the best and most loving friend if I can still love her so much when she is so much better than I am at everything. In fact, I love her FOR those things but it's mostly her heart and sense of humor.

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  14. That is a beautiful hat Lis made, as only Lis could I expect. I so understand the ache you feel at Mr. Moon traveling across the country at this time, but planes have turned out to be fairly safe environments so breathe easier there. The rest, I do understand. It's called love, and alas, we must endure the angst that comes with it as we contemplate the safety and comfort of our beloveds. Hugs.

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    1. Absolutely we have to endure that angst. But how can I take care of him when he's not with me? I'm being silly but I'm sort of serious, too. I know you know.
      Isn't Lis's hat beautiful?

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  15. There heart is amazing!! Wow, Lis.

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  16. That hat is something. Last night on the Antique Roadshow, someone brought in a hat made of pine needles. What an amazing work of art. Evidently that was a gullah craft. I'd never seen such a thing.

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  17. I love the pansy hat! It's very 1920s.

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.