So long and Good night...

This past week was a long one that ended in us saying good bye to an old friend.  Oddly enough, Halloween came to live with me when I lost a girl cat that looked just like her.  When I saw her, I couldn't turn her down thinking that she would fill that space up that hurt so much when Ms. Callie died unexpectedly when in quarantine in Hawaii.  That was a hard few days many moons ago.  Who knew the cat afraid of garbage trucks would become an old friend.  She managed to keep on going even at 12 and a half when her body just started to disagree with the decision.  I knew she was sick so it gave us all a chance to discuss it but when she decided she wanted to get up and walk to where I stood on Friday but couldn't make it, I felt so much guilt for letting her stick around that long.  Despite her steady weight loss over the past few months, she had a spirit that wanted to keep going.  She never complained, she was never grumpy.  If there was chicken or fish to be had, she was quick to get in the middle of where ever it was being served.  Her old age did not diminish her desire to put her foot in my cereal bowl EVERY SINGLE TIME in case she would win that tug of war and a bowl for herself.  She was vocal every morning, insisting that she was always first in line and thus should always get her treats first.  Every morning at 5:30 AM, she waited at the bedroom door because the alarm went off and in case I hit snooze, she began to meow and remind me that we have a routine, we must get up. 

Some of those things were pretty annoying coming from a cat, I am  not going to lie.  Some how each of those things became a piece and part of our lives any way.  All these years later, now no one is crying at the door, I can't bear to get up at 5:30.  No one is knocking over the trash looking for pieces of dinner.  I eat my cereal in such a quiet peace that its almost too much to bear.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are making me feel like hiding behind the dryer on impulse, every time I hear the garbage trucks.

I miss you Halloween.  A lot more than I could have imagined I would.  I appreciate all the years you took care of me when I needed it.   You were a damn fine cat.

My Urban Flock



Darby, 8 years old



We have kicked around the idea of housing

an urban flock, sometime in

the next couple of years, primarily because

we use a ridiculous amount of

eggs.  The secondary reason for that

is that the kids get some

responsibility for helping take care of the food they eat and we know what

kind of diet the chickens would have.  Of course, this will likely

only happen when we no longer house our feline urban flock. 

Halloween, 11 years old

Darby and Halloween are our oldest in the group and none too happy

when others arrived.  Despite the sudden acquisition

of the badly abused and homeless Devil Cat (Masa), some

 how everyone has figured out how to negotiate territory

and sometimes, just leave each other alone. 

When I took her in, it was interesting to discover Masa was pregnant

and subsequently she tried to kill Darby.  No, not

kidding here, threw him down a flight of stairs!  To say it took

Darby a while to adjust is an

UNDERSTATEMENT.  Enter Jack and Harvey,

twin boys to Masa that were to go to a family that later reneged, and

you have a house hold that is never short on drama. 

Yes, sometimes its crazy but its home!





Jack, 4 years old



Harvey, 4 years old

Masa, 6 years old