Tuesday, January 3, 2023

Cat Tale And More


There's my bold little tiger cat striding over the carpet of the finally-falling Bradford pear leaves. 
I had a talk with her last night. I swear- I think that cat understands English but many cats do understand human speech if not all. She looked so miserable as she often does and I told her that I understood that Jack makes her life so hard and that she would be so much happier if he didn't live here but that I can't kill him and really, he's a fine cat except to her. She gave me a rather sad and agonized sound as if she truly understood. 
And then this morning Mr. Moon asked if I'd seen Jack. I had not and he hadn't slept with us either, which he generally does for at least part of the night. Jack used to be somewhat of a come-and-go cat but in the last few years he has settled into a mostly napping cat and he was nowhere to be seen in any of his favorite spots. It was worrisome and I think that both Mr. Moon and I thought about what I'd told Maurice last night about killing Jack WHICH OF COURSE I WOULD NEVER DO but we superstitious humans sometimes feel that our words alone can do harm. 
"Oh god, have I killed him?" I thought. 
Finally Glen remembered that he'd been upstairs two days ago trying to figure out a place to put a...device...that he was trying out to get better internet without having to deal with our phone company (in Lloyd, our choices are limited) and then he remembered the time that we had inadvertently closed Jack up in one of the bedrooms upstairs for over two weeks (I am not kidding you) and somehow he survived just fine without food or water. I suppose he ate mice and lizards or something and although he was thinner when we finally figured this out, he appeared not to have suffered any other ill effects, not even of the emotional kind. 
So, upstairs my husband went and yes, he had shut Jack into a bedroom again and luckily, this time he only had to spend less than forty-eight hours up there. He ran to the food bowl and gorged himself and then promptly threw up in the hallway. 
He appears to be fine now, sleeping it off, as it were. 
I wonder if Maurice had her hopes dashed when he reappeared this morning. 
Probably. 

Jessie and the boys came out this morning. It was the last day of the kids' winter break and she needed to get them out of the house and she and I needed a nice catch-up. Work has been hard for her with the constant under-staffing and she's also had a lot of company in the last week or so. Throw in the fact that Levon had about five days of almost constant stomach pain that was keeping him up at night and which the doctor at the Urgent Care could not figure out, and she is a tired girl. But Levon is feeling better and when they got here I showed the boys how Ralph works. I had a conversation on the phone with August last week about Ralph. He wanted to know all about the robot vacuum and how it worked and did it have wheels and did it go back to its charger by itself and so on and so forth. 
Of course Ralph chose today to go a little wonky but all he really needed was for his bin to be cleaned out more thoroughly than I was cleaning it and his filter replaced along with the bag that the dirt and dust and cat hair and human hair gets sucked up into. Frankly, I can't believe that the bag didn't need changing after the first time the poor thing vacuumed the whole house. So we had a pretty good time figuring out what to do for Ralph and then we went to Monticello. We had lunch at the Mexican restaurant and then we went to Wag the Dog and both boys got toys. Levon got some sort of fidget device and August got a princess Duplo castle. I got three glasses, a spool of ribbon, a plant stand, and two vintage-y kid books. I am a sucker for those things. I almost have to bribe the boys to let me read them to them. And meanwhile, August is reading on his own now, and so is Maggie. This is, for me, the most wonderful and amazing achievement that a human being can make. Or at least one of them. Top three, maybe. 
We came home and got Ralph back on his task and the boys followed him around and then August built his castle and Levon and I read one of our favorite books which is Amos and Boris. August joined us and then wanted to hear some Richard Scarry but I made them listen to one of the books I'd bought today first which was about a penguin who loved wearing his pink pajamas although all the other penguins laughed at him. 
A koala bear cub was involved too. It was okay but it was no Amos and Boris. 
Then some Richard Scarry and then they had to go.  

And therefore it's been a fine day and I also worked a little on Maggie's name blanket, embroidering the letters. It just occurred to me this afternoon that her birthday is in FOUR DAYS and I need to push that project up to Priority One which means sitting and watching endless mindless TV while stitching. 
Someone has to do it. Might as well be me. 

If all goes as planned, I'll be driving to Metcalfe, Georgia with Liz, (not Lis) for lunch at Mary's Kitchen restaurant tomorrow. Bless my Liz and bless my Lis who do not give up on me and whom I cherish with all of my crazy heart. 

Love...Ms. Moon

27 comments:

  1. All cats binge and purge therefore all cats have emotional problems: discuss. xor

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hmmm...Interesting concept.
      I think that perhaps a cat's binging and purging may be an evolutionarily developed trait in order to...FUCK IF I KNOW! What do YOU think?

      Delete
  2. I really, truly believe that if you read to babes in the womb, they will excel in reading as a young person which will, of course, allow them to excel in everything else in life!

    ReplyDelete
  3. reading to children all time favorite thing to do- Erik when a wee barn, tried to climb into the books saying,"I go der."
    Poor Jack, no wonder he is a bit scrappy, he has had some hard living. Maurice, such a pretty little tiger thing in the leaves. had a little vaca. Hilarious that you thought "I have killed him!"- wtih your thoughts...hahahah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh- "I go der." Too precious.
      Jack has had some hard living. Also, he never learned to meow. Or howl. He makes, sometimes, hardly ever, the tiniest peeps you ever heard.
      I am so glad that my powerful words did not kill him.

      Delete
  4. I expect Jack got his hopes up there! What a hectic life you do lead, lunching out of state, indeed! Enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, well, out of state here means about fifteen miles down the road. It is honestly true that this part of Florida looks far more like south Georgia than what most people think of Florida as looking like. That was a tortured sentence. Sorry.

      Delete
  5. That's what happened to my nearly prototype "Ralph". I simply could no resuscitate its little lungs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am going to think of your Ralph as giving his life for research to ensure the good health of my Ralph.

      Delete
  6. A Princess Duplo Castle! I just wrote that on my list after reading it here, something for the twins next Christmas. I'm glad Ralph is cleaned up and feeling better and I'm VERY glad Jack got found.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes! A Princess Duplo Castle! It is fabulous! I love that August can enjoy that while at the same time love putting together the most tedious of Lego projects.
      Ralph seems to be fine and so does Jack.

      Delete
  7. I didn't realize how close you were to Georgia until I googled it. Have a lovely visit tomorrow.

    When my brother and his girlfriend lived in Edmonton, not far from us, they went on a week long holiday. They asked my husband to watch the cat for them, to check in on the cat and feed it. My husband never told me. When my brother got back from his holiday, he said, "How's the cat?" and I said, "I don't know, how's the cat?", which is when I found out that I was supposed to be feeding the cat. Fortunately the cat had ripped open a bag of kibble and drank out of the toilet. Poor Jack. Our cat gets stuck in the pantry sometimes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We are literally right down the road from Georgia.
      Your story about the untended cat made me feel a little better. Any cat that has access to a bag of food and a toilet will be fine.

      Delete
  8. Oh dear, poor Jack. I routinely shut one or the other somewhere but they either meow loudly or the outside one will sit at the door until I realise there must be something on the other side. I guess Maurice wasn't going to let you know anytime soon!
    How lovely to spend time with Jessie and the boys. We have another 3 weeks before our kids start their new school year. We go Jan - Dec rather than Sept - June.
    It is lovely that you read to the boys but a quiet word in your ear - koalas aren't bears and their babies are joeys.
    Now you can amaze the boys with this knowledge!
    That photo of Maurice would make an outstanding jigsaw puzzle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maurice would die before she'd tell me that Jack was trapped. She is no Lassie! Timmy would drown in that well, especially if he reminded her of Jack.
      So if your kids go to school Jan.-Dec. when do they have time off?
      If I had ever known that koalas were not bears, I had forgotten it! We call them Koala Bears. And the babies are joeys like kangaroos? Dang.
      You are so right about the jigsaw puzzle thing. It would!

      Delete
    2. They start school at the very end of Jan and finish up mid December. They then have 3 other breaks of about 2 weeks each through the year.

      Delete
  9. I can imagine the boys would be fascinated by Ralph. I know I would be!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's like a remote-controlled toy for grown-ups.

      Delete
  10. Your Maurice looks a lot like our Houdini.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Poor Jack! I suppose there's a reason for that expression, "Curiosity killed the cat." And also the ones about them having nine lives.

    Sounds like a fun day with the boys. Our winter break ends next Monday. I am ready to get back to routines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't believe that after Jack's first imprisonment upstairs he'd ever go back up there again to nap. I mean...really! How smart can he be?
      The boys told me that they were ready to go back to school too.

      Delete
  12. Sounds like a lovely day in all respects, for you, if not for Jack and Maurice. August and Maggie are reading! What a rite of passage that it in every child's life. So exciting. Looks like you're having a social day today as well. Friends with whom we feel easy in our skin are a true gift. Enjoy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I tell you what- Liz is a true gift indeed. She is one in a million.

      Delete
  13. You always have fun with August and Levon!
    Hope your lunch was fabulous today!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I do have fun with August and Levon. All of my grands amuse me immensely.

      Delete

Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.