Otis

Here we go again...80 degrees yesterday, two inches of snow this afternoon. In a day or two it'll be back in the 60s again. Spring is here...she's just taking her time getting established.


We met a little four week old buff tabby over the weekend named Otis. We were hoping he might be our Peter.

He is such a sweet little being with lots and lots of love and one of the best kitten bellies I've snuggled in a LONG time.

He was the only baby in a large litter of kittens to survive. The owner brought his mom in for spaying and soon after she began to give birth.


She's a beautiful buff tabby herself, with piercing blue eyes. A barn cat with skills so accomplished, her owners want her back as soon as possible.

Lillie has been much more clingy than usual and has been losing weight. According to our wonderful home vet, Dr. Jeanne, she is fine from the outside. We're holding our breath 'til test results return at the end of the week.

 Lillie misses Peter.

I ran into a former colleague last week and the first thing he said was how happy I looked. In fact he must've said it five or six times. So many folks have told me this lately that I wonder what I must've looked like in the months/years leading up to my exit from the ivory tower. I can only imagine. Since leaving I have experienced a kind of relief and gratitude like never before. One of these days I'll be able to write about it in more detail. For now I will just sit with it.

Waiting for Peter

My mood is as gloomy as a snow sky in late March and I so wish I could just shake it off but I doubt that's possible. I desperately need Spring to get here. I need sun and warmth on my face. I need the optimism that comes with the turning of this particular season. I need to smell things greening and get wet dirt underneath my fingernails. I need my Peter back.

Our kitties Peter and Lillie were fostered in a farm about half a mile down the road from where we now live. I remember noticing our house back then, thinking it was the sweetest, most idyllic farmhouse I'd ever seen. I wondered what it would be like to live there and now I do.

The kittens were eight weeks old when I brought them home. Barely weened, full of curiosity and bad manners, they immediately took over the house and declared Franklin to be their adoptive mom even though he was male.

Franklin took on the role with gusto, letting them nurse on his fur and sleep on his belly. He snuggled them as long as they liked and taught them to be sweet. Eventually they learned better table manners.



Like so many kitties, Peter masked any hint of pain or illness. We had no idea he was dying, only that he didn't seem his usual self and that one day he just didn't seem interested in eating. 

He was such a gentle, kind and considerate soul. I miss our snuggily bedtime routine with his affectionate head butts that were so enthusiastic they sometimes knocked my glasses off. How he would lay on Ken's pillow and look up at him as though he had no intention of leaving. I miss his soft pink nose and his one rogue black whisker. He purred 'til he took his last breath.

Spring is kitten season. Perhaps Pee will have decided it's time to return to us by then.

We are waiting for you Pee.

Pretty Please

Welcome Spring. We're ready for you. In case you didn't notice, we're getting tired of this stuff.

We'd like a little more sun

and a whole lot more green.

 Oh and, while you're at it, would you mind closing the door? You're letting in more of that cold, frigid air. 

There that's better, thank you. 

Now would you please make it stop snowing? Pretty please?

In the air

Spring is on the way. I can smell it. As a Florida gal, I never saw spring flowers growing out of the ground. Nope, never. Spring wasn't something you saw in Florida, it was something you smelled.
When I stepped outside this morning I got a BIG whiff of it for the first time. That delicious smell of decay and thawing ice and dirt. That raw, almost moldy smell. The smell of spring. I also heard my first redwing blackbird and I saw an enormous "V" of geese heading in our direction. Spring is coming and it'll be here soon. Please hurry just a little bit.

There's been much sadness in our little corner of the world this week. The husband of an auction friend committed suicide on Saturday. Like most deaths by suicide, no one saw it coming. Not even his wife. I wish it didn't take tragedy to put things back in perspective.

On Sunday afternoon we spent time pouring through the CD collection of our dear friend Dave who died suddenly last July. Dave was that music fan who sat in the front row at every concert. He cheered loudly and sang even louder, and at intermission he'd buy one of every CD the band had for sale.

 We miss you every day, Dave.

Florida Girl

We've seen rain, sleet, ice and snow today. A brisk wind is tracking straight out of the west and the snow is thick, heavy and blowing like mad. We're ready for it. We've got hot soup, "storm chocolate"  and a full wine rack. It is serene and fierce all at once. I never tire of it. 

Must be the Florida girl in me.

Gypsies

Questions for a sunny, cold March Day...

Who are these damn gypsies I keep hearing about and why should I be afraid of them?

For the second time in as many weeks, I had someone tell me that I needed to watch out for "the gypsies". I didn't know we had any gypsies around here. In fact, I'm not sure I'd know a gypsy if one fell on me.

 Why do I seem to be asking myself the same questions today as I did when I was in my twenties?

This is a much more interesting thing to ponder...

Delight

For the first time in nearly a week I have my sense of smell and taste back. I'm just a little sad that the first thing I smelled was the mouse Pippa killed and left for us behind the frig...Thank you Pippa.

Our kitties some how never developed a taste for mouse. They just play with them 'til they expire and then leave them at the foot of the stairs for us to discover with "delight".  Must be all those years of playing with the red dot.

It was another sub-zero night in our neck of the woods. Lillie has already put in her request that I stay put for the day and make her a lap. Please, mom. Just sit down for a minute.

But the sun is shining bright today

and it seems like a perfect day to go picking. Not sure which route I'll take today but am hoping it results in another car full of treasures!