Tag Archives: cats

it’s the little things

January 7, 2010

2007crocus3

December, as each year ends, and January, as another year starts, bring out a lot of talk about goals and plans, and hopes, dreams, and aspirations, for hearth and home, for work, for family life, for spirit, for health, for, well, everything. This has started me thinking, not about major life changing goals, although that would probably be a good idea, too, but about simpler things.

Such as….

I want to pay more attention to the pleasant small things in my life. I tend to rush around or run on autopilot a lot. I run through chores while dwelling on the next thing I need to do or maybe thinking of some larger issue. That’s a good thing sometimes; I need to work that way through some of my morning routine, to get a lot done at home before leaving for work; I’d rather it go quickly as opposed to having to wake up earlier (I rise at 6am as it is). And it helps make morning chores more palatable, at least for me. I know there’s honor in honest work, really, I do, but that doesn’t mean I want to dwell over cleaning out cat bowls and litter pans, or even brushing teeth.

But I don’t need to ignore things around me all the time. I know I don’t really do that — who can? — but sometimes it feels that way.

So here’s to some of the glossed over pleasures…things that I want to notice and then stop a moment to savor…

    The aroma of a freshly opened package of tea
    The first sip from a steaming mug of tea
    Juliet’s soft purr and her sweet furry belly
    Channel surfing on the radio and catching an old favorite
    Figuring out the catch/theme in the crossword puzzle
    The delightful taste of a bit of dark chocolate
    The satisfaction of a good hair day
    The warmth of the sun on my hands
    The ahhh of reading a good book
    The beauty of a particularly clear night with a low moon
    The song and the excitement of birds piping in the bushes just outside my window
    Breezes in the spring and summer

And one more thing: noticing the myriad of other wonderful bits of life I haven’t listed.

What are the sweet little things in your life? There’s likely more than you realize.

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best of 2009: moment of wonder

December 8, 2009

I’m trying something new for me this month, a web community challenge: Gwen Bell’s The Best of 2009 Blog Challenge. Find the best the year has offered me, and review, remember, contemplate, reflect, and celebrate it. There’s a question/topic each day.

Today’s prompt is December 8 — Moment of peace. An hour or a day or a week of solitude…The state of your mind? How did you get there?

There are a few deer who frequent my backyard off and on during the year. They live in the woods that are around the houses here. One is a lame doe (she manages very nicely on her three good legs, thank you). who brings her offspring around each year. I Iike to watch from the kitchen window, and sometimes I try to photograph them, though I generally can’t get very close or they run off. They seem more tolerant of Juliet-kitty, so I also have to watch out that she doesn’t wander too close. Juliet is getting very brave with the visitors and has started moving slowly towards them a few times, especially when there is only one in the yard.

One afternoon in October, a young deer was in the yard along with Juliet and I was watching from the side stoop, trying not to startle it. But Juliet was curious about the visitor and edging closer. I moved out slowly and spoke softly, trying to entice Juliet to come back to me and also hoping not to run off the deer. Juliet ignored me, but the deer looked up and watched me. And it remained in place. I never got right up to it, but I did get fairly close. Then afraid to spook it, I stopped and we looked at each other for a few seconds. My moment of wonder…this was not a tame tenant of a petting zoo, but an animal of the wild. And I’m a city-raised kid and kind of clunky and clutzy…I never get near to the wildlife in my yard. I felt a bit of awe getting closer to its sphere. Then I retreated carefully, slowly, gently so that it would stay, which it did a while more, before it moved off back to the woods and wandered on.


This is Juliet and one of the deer, not that day. I was nearer to the deer for our encounter, probably as close as Juliet is here.

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two cats

October 24, 2009

two cats are sleeping.
one stirs and rustles a bit,
the other lies still

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thinking about loss

October 20, 2009

sepiafleur I haven’t posted in a while. Par for the course. I’ve been thinking about loss a lot lately.

This is a post about losing loved ones. In the past year, I’ve had (too many) losses and seen family and friends through even more losses.

In March, I lost the other half of my best buds/roomies, my sweet cat Jesse. We lost his brother Toby nine months prior, almost to the day, in June, 2008. While Jesse was still around, it was easier to handle Toby being gone, partly because I had to keep taking care of Jesse; both cats were ill before they went, and of course, because I still had Jesse to keep me company and share my homelife. As an adult, Toby had been the attention grabber and a bit of the leader between the two. When we lost him, I had more time to dote on Jesse and that was good for both of us. When he died, I felt the loss doubly hard. By that time, there was a new cat at home, Juliet, who has blossomed now as a solo cat. I took Juliet in hoping she’d be company for Jesse, but they never really clicked. Still, Juliet badly needed a home and I’m glad to have her with me. She’s affectionate to me, but my loss is still very deep. Jesse had been with me almost 16 years and I will always miss him and Toby. They were truly my soulmate cats.

I also lost two aunts this year, one my uncle’s companion and later my mom’s kid sister. Both were dynamic, smart, and interesting women. Both were elderly and I know we all expect the losses, but it still hurts when it comes.

Then recently came a huge loss. One month ago today, my mom passed on. She was one of the most important people ever in my life, not just because she gave me life. We lived on opposite coasts, but her presence was significant every day; it still is. I spoke to her twice a week usually, sometimes more, and as much as I disagreed with her about a lot of things, I value all her knowledge, common sense, advice, opinions, and ideas. I knew I would lose my mom someday, she would have been 93 less than a month after she died. But it’s made harder due to her suffering, lingering on with complications and in pain after what should have been an easy surgery (though no surgery is easy at 92). Mom spent the last 3 months of her life in the hospital with a couple of week stays in a rehab care facility. She had severe pain for much of that time. She begged for death some of the time. It was hard to see but I know it was harder to endure. Mom was a loving woman, with strong feelings about family and a lot of love for us all. It was a bad ending to a great life.

Anyway, there’s no point to this post. It’s just venting, I guess. Not a celebration (maybe that will be next), not a lesson, not really even an observation. I guess it’s a lot like death: it just is.

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