I have a cat named “Ed.” Actually, he’s been called “Edwina Scissorhands,” and “Edward Scissorhands,” but now he’s just plain “Ed.”
He’s about 10-12 years old now. One winter he adopted us. It was bitterly cold outside, and he found his way into the garage. I saw him resting on the seat of the lawn mower. Of course, I asked DH to let him into the house, and his response was to bring a heater to the garage.
Well, the temperature dropped drastically outside, and the heater had to be moved to the attic to keep the pipes from freezing upstairs. Of course, without the heater, the garage was freezing, and that’s when Ed managed to get into the house.
The rest is history.
He’s needed a lot of loving lately. You have to give it to his specifications or he’ll swipe a paw at you in irritation. He’ll also swipe a paw at you if you quit before he’s done. Right now, he’s laying next to my elbow, with his head upside down. Give it a minute or two and I’ll be able to look into his mouth when his lips flap open.
As much as I came to love Defer, I’ll always be a cat person. I like their independence. There are two things that interest me about Ed. The first is that he is a creature of habit. He wants to be let out before sunrise, and he wants to be fed (for the first time) several hours later. We expect him to return to the house by two in the afternoon, and for the most part he obliges us. He comes to me for a snack at six in the evening, and a second snack at nine. Each time he expects to be stroked and loved up. Then, if I sit to read, and pull a quilt over my legs, he’ll join me for a bit.
The second thing that interests me is how he’s become more socialized over the years. Ed must have been someone’s pet. I’m sure that he was abandonded after he had become accustomed to being touched by people because he loves to be stroked and scritched. But, when he first came to us, he was well on his way to becoming ferel. Our son worked with him, patiently offering a hand, a pat, some loving…..a bit at a time, until Ed was comfortable around him. Now, he expects us to “love him up,” and that includes from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail.
Each year he has sought us out more. If we are gathered in the living room, he’s likely to check on us before finding a spot for a comfy nap. While he’s still independent, it’s as though he needs the reassurance that we are there. He’s in and out a dozen times a day, ostensibly for a nibble, but more to make sure that we are there to do his bidding.
Right now, he’s dead to the world. I can expect the snoring to start at any moment. He makes life look easy.
Monthly Archives: August 2004
A quick stop
No, I havn’t been off introspecting all this time. I seem to need some organization in my life, and I’ve been working on it in bits here and there.
It started with some work in the gardens. During the growing season there is work needed in the gardens on a daily basis. When I’m away and miss a string of those days, I have a lot of catching up to do. I’ve made a good start, but there’s always more to do.
Summer Reading
I have a STACK of books waiting on me. More than I can read in August. I might have to save a few for this Fall, and I’m not complaining.
In the next entry, you’ll see a comment about the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. One of my on-line friends introducted me to these books, and I have gobbled them up! There are ten books at the moment. Each title has a number. The last was “Ten Big Ones.”
Steph is a crazy character. If I had stumbled onto the first book when it first came out, and had to wait for each succesive book to be written, it would have been a terrible trial. My mother has been reading the books, too. As I finish one, I hand it over, and the discussion in the house has been along the lines of….”I wish she’d make up her mind whether it’s going to be Ranger or Morelli!” (having to do with her obsession for two men) or “Don’t tell me….I’d rather read the book!”
Evanovich has created two of the funniest characters I’ve ever read, Grandma Mazur and Sally Sweet. Grandma is a very modern lady who believes that NO one should ever have a closed casket wake (and is willing to go to great lengths to see the dearly departed). She is also likely to be in the midst of a discussion at the beauty parlor about personal firepower. I learned a lot about guns in these books! *G* Sally Sweet is a male musician who also happens to wear dresses, and drive a school bus.
You’ve got to read these. Go to the library, or visit Amazon. Share the books with everyone you know who reads. That’s my summer tip for you.
Other books waiting for me:
“Kiss Me WHile I Sleep,” by Linda Howard
“Angels and Demons,” by Dan Brown
“Digital Fortress,” by Dan Brown
“Crime Schoo,l” by Carol O’Connell
“Heaven, Texas,” by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
“Nobody’s Baby but Mine”, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
and “Sick Puppy,” by Carl Hiaasen.
There are actually a couple of others, but I can’t remember the titles, and I’ll probably read these first. It’s really too bad that I have to WEED! I could spend my days eating bon bons and reading. Now, go read the next post.
Introspection
I was reading over at Broad at Bat’s blog today. Her entry for August 4th is very introspective. I had to make myself read all the way to the bottom.
I know that sounds bad, and it has nothing to do with the quality of her writing, and all to do with my ability to play “ostrich” about my own situation.
Being introspective gives me the willies. If I took the time to look into my heart, or my mind, I might actually figure out what drives me, and it that’s GOT to be scary! On the other hand…..I’m getting to a point in life where it might not be a good idea to drag my feet on this.
The power of positive mental attitude. Who used to talk about that? Was it W. Clement Stone? I can’t remember, but it seems to me that our physical health has got to start with a healthy mental attitude about life, and our place in life.
Somewhere, my healthy attitude has gotten set aside, or lost along the way. I’m willing to admit that I HATE exercising for the sake of exercise. Give me something to do that disguises the exercise, and I don’t mind so much, but exercising because I know it’s good for me sucks pond water! And yet, I know that’s just what I have to get myself to do. So….WHY have I waited so long to embrace that issue? See, what I mean about introspection? Do I really want to know if I have a death wish, or if I’m just terminallly lazy?? Gives me the willies….
I’ve been reading a series of books by Janet Evanovich. The main character is Stephanie Plum, who has lost a job as a lingerie buyer and had to turn to her cousin for a job. Unfortunately, Cousin Vinnie is in bail bonds, and he hires Steph as bounty hunter. She’s totally unprepared for the job in every way. She’s bailed out by a cop and a fellow bounty hunter again and again. Between having her cars blown up, and loosing her man repeatedly, she shops for Tastykakes……in every flavor…..by the pound. As I read about her eating junk food, or going to her mother’s for dinner (read: comfort food), one part of me nods in agreement. I can understand exactly how she feels. Another part of me is going…..”DON’T EAT THAT!” I feel really schizophrenic, and Evanovich must have read my mind before she wrote several of the scenes.
Okay….you just saw a prime example of my ability to play ostrich. I neatly detoured off the subject of introspection, and put the focus on a fictional character, moving it away from myself. I’ve been doing that for too many years to count, and I think I’ve just hit the wall. Pardon me while I bang my head against it for a bit.
Do I want to be healthy? YES
Do I want to be healthy enough to eat appropriately? Well….yes….sorta.
WHY am I not running to embrace a healthy lifestyle. Okay….ya got me there.
I really don’t know why, and I need to find out.
It’s time to quit pretending that I’m Peter Pan, and accept that I am an adult. And….it’s time to make adult choices. The question is…..where do I start?
Taps
If you’ve been reading my blog, you will know that my only cousin has passed away recently. Family and friends gathered for his wake and funeral, and it was a good send off. But, there’s just one little thing that has bothered me.
My cousin was in the Navy, so when it came time for his burial, the Navy sent two men to do the flag ceremony. The ceremony is very touching, with the solemn attention to the folding of the flag, and the slow-motion salutes. At one point, one of the men bent over, hit a switch, and we heard a recorded performance of “Taps.”
I suppose that no one else in the gathering gave it any thought, but I minded that Taps was not a live performance. I was a band director for eleven years. In my opnion, there are some places where a taped recording is inappropriate, and a funeral is one of them.
I’ve been pondering just how many trained musicians would be needed to play Taps in all the cemeteries where former members of our Armed Forces are being laid to rest. Although the Armed Forces have 500 buglers available, last year an average of 1800 veterans were buried each day. Arlington Cemetery is the only burial ground where taps is played live for every burial.
The Armed Forces felt that recorded music was inappropriate, and rather than supply trained musicians, they chose to purchase 4,000 “ceremonial bugles.” The bugles have a computerized chip imbedded in the bell which plays Taps. Unfortunately, some of the men responsible for the use of the ceremonial bugles need to be instructed in how to hold a bugle.
In my surfing, I discovered that Tom Day, of Berwyn, Illinois, has founded “Bugles Across America” to recruit civilian musicians to play taps at funerals. Day has gathered 3,000 volunteers, who have performed at 36,000 funerals in the past three years.
This seems like a much better way to deal with the increased need for buglers. I’m sure the military has prioritzed their expenses and that some may see a bugler as an inappropriate use of their funds, but I think we need to honor those who served on our behalf. Surely the presence of a trained bugler to play their final Taps is not too much to ask.
Way to GO!
I will be barbequed by an angry dragon
How will you die? Take the Exotic Cause of Death Test
Stolen from billy…..who stole it from bogie…..etc.
I have to tell you….this sounds better than being impaled by a rod of frozen urine expelled from a jet liner….
Saturday’s chores
We made it to the Farmer’s Market! YEAH!!!!
It was wonderful to be back. I really missed the crowds and the great veggies and fruits for sale. The one thing I mind is that they have banned dogs from the area. It used to be a lot of fun to see all the dogs parading through the people.
Usually I go early in the morning. I’d rather get there before the crowd is quite so large, and have first pick of the veggies. It’s also easier to get a place to part at 7:30 in the morning, and then you can go on to breakfast, or to the rest of your day. This time, we had to make a stop at the pharmacy, and it doesn’t open until 9:30, so we compromised and went about 9:00. MAN, was it busy!
Mother had her sewing scissors sharpened. I bought bi-color sweet corn for dinner tonight. Big, red, ripe tomatoes, green beans, a red pepper and a green pepper, pickle size cucumbers, four HUGE garlic bulbs (roasted garlic with feta on toasted French bread, anyone??), two egg plants, four bunches of flowers (asters, creamy yellow lilies and blue salvia), peaches, crimini mushrooms, wild Alaskan salmon and a cedar plank!
Yummmmmmmm…….gonna have some GOOD MEALS this week!
Paying attention
I really need to pay closer attention to conversations.
Yesterday, DH’s son and his wife came to visit, before she returns to Japan to teach English as a second language. In his hand was a very large Swedish Ivy plant.
It seems I must have volunteered to babysit the plant while she is away, but for the life of me, I don’t remember the conversation!
DIL tells me that Son#3 has killed off several plants in the past few years. He waters once a week whether the plant needs it or not.
THIS was where I started paying attention. You see, by the time the plant got to me, it was wilting, so as she is talking to me, I have filled a large container with water and DOUSED the plant. Right…..I’m supposed to take care of this plant, and see to it that its in condition to return to her.
I could be in trouble.
Butlers in the Buff
I’ve never felt the need for a hen party, until now. I just discovered a company in England (and another in Midwestern USA) that provides a butler in the buff for your hen parties.
Wouldn’t it be lovely to have someone to open the door for you, and to see to it that your friends had something to drink?? And the clean up…..what a deal! You wouldn’t have to go around after the party picking up glasses and dessert plates!
Where did the week go?
I got a fair amount accomplished this week, and had some downtime, too, but I couldn’t seem to make it to the computer…..