Sparks and Butterflies

There’s lots’ of stuff going on right now. Frankly, I just don’t want to think about it at all, so I’m just not going to. Instead, I’d like to tell you a love story.

As a crossing guard, I spend a lot of time watching the grass grow. Literally. To remain sane, you become hyper aware of your surroundings. You begin to pick out patterns and routines around you. My “post” is across the street from a park. Many folks walk their dogs there in the mornings.

Around 8:30am, a large gold truck will park. An older, large man in his sweats will get out, hike his paints up a bit, open the back door to grab some stuff, and then will grab his dog. I have no idea what breed this dog is. She’s white (it’s totally a “she”), with curly hair, and on the large side of the small category. She’s totally perked up and ready to go. She doesn’t bark at anyone. She goes right to the grass to do a little bit of “business” and lifts her head and tosses her hair, and goes on to march around their route – which she picks. She picks the same one every time. This is one spoiled dog. On particularly cold days, she has a bright pink sweater on. On rainy days, I kid you not, she wears a yellow doggie rain slicker. (It’s absolutely adorable.) She wears her clothes with a panache that many humans cannot duplicate. I have named her Princess in my head.

On most days, another set of dog/owner come along to the park. Sometimes around 8:30am, and sometimes not. They walk there. The owner is a scruffy man with a large backpack and a visor. They vary their route, and the dog also picks the route. This dog… I don’t know what it is, but it looks like a small horse. I think it’s a “he.” He will bark at all large vehicles – not in a warning manner – more like, “Look!  A Toy!” When standing next to me (they sometimes cross to my side of the street), his head reaches my ribcage. He has very long hair. It is worn in two pigtails so he can see. His hair is so long that when you see him trot from behind, his hair swings in a very distinctive manner. Thus, I have named him Snufflupaguss in my head.

The magic happens when both Snufflupaguss and Princess arrive at the park at the same time. They will spot each other from across the park. At that moment, the music swells, both owners let them off their leashes, and they run to each other from either side. When they meet, their tails wag so hard, their entire bodies move. Snufflupaguss will lay down so Princess can actually reach him. She’ll run circles around his body while he just wriggles. I can tell from all the way across the park and crowded intersection that they are screaming, “OMG IT’S MY FRIEND! MY FRIEND IS HERE! LOOK! IT’S MY FRIEND!” After their initial greeting, Snufflupaguss and Princess will form a circle and go around and around and around greeting each other in the timeless way of dogs… Sniffing each others butts. Their owners look on like proud, indulgent parents.

When these two get together, and I’m able to witness the event – it makes my whole day. Joy. It’s everywhere if you choose to look for it.

Happy Wordless Wednesday

This is what I think goes through my Cat’s head every morning as she watches me shower from the safety of the window sill.

—–

AGAIN?  Really?  You know, I would be happy to bathe you each day!  Really!  You do not have to do this to yourself.  It smacks of sadomasochistic tendencies.  It is not necessary to get into that volcanic avalanche of water. ::shudder::  Sigh.  But I shall sit here.  I shall watch you carefully.  And at the first sign of melting or hysterical screaming, I shall run and get daddy.  Because I love you.

P.S. I So deserve a treat for guardian duty.

Pebbles in the clean laundry. Of course.

Pebbles is… well… Unique. Sassy’s half sister, we adopted her after Bandit died, because Sassy needed a buddy.

We know where we got her, and have had her since she was a kitten, but the way she acts, you’d think we adopted her as an adult cat from an abused home. This is the sketchiest kitty ever. It’s taken us two years to get her to want us to love on her. She still won’t cuddle, I don’t think she ever will. But now, she requests love, instead of just tolerating it, which is progress! Pick her up, though, and she lets out this moan of “Oh! The Humanity!” And yes, we’re evil and pick her up anyway.

She loves her sister, Sassy, and plays, and bathes, and snuggles, and cajoles her. She’s about twice the size, which makes me wonder who the different kitty daddies are. Her favorite toy is the laser pen. She can’t figure out how NOT to use her claws, so when she plays it’s like she’s stuck to the carpet like velcro. If visitors come to the house, you will NOT see her. And she will not come back out of hiding until they are gone. Don’t bother trying. And she loves to sleep on shoes. Any left out. If there’s a little piece of paper on the floor? She’ll cover it. Anything on the floor, she’ll lay on it. We play games. Put one shoe in the middle of the floor and lay bets on how long it takes before she’s asleep on it.

More photos after the jump
(more…)

Sassy

Let me introduce you to Sassy, one of our two cats. She is my baby.

When we first got her, we also had another cat, Bandit, who has passed away unfortunately. But when we got her, Bandit was quite busy intimidating the intruder to his territory. One of the ways he did so was to hover over her in the litter box. As a result she would go to the bathroom on me in bed in the middle of the night. Every.Single.Night. I wracked my brain, until I came up with a litter box that had a cover so Bandit couldn’t hover. That cat was one cover away from being given away, ’cause I couldn’t take doing laundry in the middle of the night any more. But I realized why… I was her mommy. I think she literally thought so.

When she was a kitten, she would sneak up in the middle of the night, bake biscuits, and suck on my neck. I wouldn’t wake up, so when I did wake in the morning, I had little baby hickies. I tried everything to stop her doing that, but it gave her comfort, like a baby sucking his thumb. Eventually she grew out of the sucking. Now she bakes biscuits, and well, snorgles me. I can’t put another word on it. She tucks her nose into my neck and cuddles, sniffs, and purrs.

This cat sleeps every night with me. If it’s cold, she gets under the covers, under my chin, and very much wants to be hugged. If it’s hot, she sleeps above the covers on my head.

During the day, her favorite place to sleep is on my pillow.

She the boss, even though she’s half the size of her little sister. She’s sweet, and feisty, and her favorite toy in the whole world is feathers on a stick. She greets all visitors, and whether you like it or not, you may have a cat on your lap.

More photos after the jump
(more…)

Pebbles is not a kitten really – well – more like a toddler puppy at the moment. However, I just had to share what she used to do so it’s here for posterity. She loved her food. I mean LLLLuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrved her food. So – we’d start getting the food out, and she’d start purring. We’d put the food down, and she’d start meowing. While eating. so she’s there meowing through her full mouth, and it sounded so freakin’ pitiful and ecstatic all at the same time.

It’s no big deal, but wanted to remember that later.

When she was still a wee one.