An email from my friend Tim in Brooklyn, had me rush outside last night to search for the moon and Venus. It was still snowing and the sky was partly but not entirely covered.
So I searched. How is it that the moon seems to move about so much! I knew I hadn’t seen it lately and we tend not to when it is in a “new” phase, so it ought to be…over there…..
It was very dark and I could hear noises in the woods, so I half expected at any minute to find myself assaulted by some furry creature, but I dismissed that as a daft idea and continued to look.
Finally I spotted it, through the still naked trees, as the wind blew them about… the slender sliver of the new moon and there, adjacent and magnificent was Venus! Not the most brilliant view and not a possible photograph, but I was excited none-the-less.
Maybe having to work at getting to view something makes it more wonderful.
Venus is almost 84 million miles away. It made me go goose bumpy all over. How I love the night sky.
Back indoors, Sasha was clamoring for “time!”
“Time” is what Grant calls treats which seem to be supplied at all sorts of times.
Sasha sits at the end of the kitchen counter staring at the cupboard where she knows treats are kept and her concept of time is very, shall we say “loose”.
She always hopes that by being cute she will persuade us that “extra time” is appropriate.
If we talk to her she will talk back, half opening her mouth with a funny little cry, and then she turns her head very deliberately in the direction of the cupboard, just in case we aren’t sure what she wants.
She now has Sikkim (who was originally Sasha also) in training so the two of them will line up and sometimes Lily joins the queue.
We are totally manipulated by these cats.
Patches, however, spends most of her time curled up by the radiator in my bedroom. She can never seem to get her nose warm enough.
Patches came to live with me 5 years ago and had to live downstairs in my foster suite until I abandoned West Coast living.
She was such a timid little cat and seemed so lonely. Just before they moved she and her buddy Sophia had lost their favourite friend Buddha and they obviously missed him a lot.
I have a soft spot for the sad and the downtrodden so I made a point of always making a fuss of Patches.
Now Patches sleeps always in my bedroom and she seems so pleased to see me. She is such a sweet girl.
She doesn’t have to ask for “extra time”. It just arrives!
Sophia who had learned to trust me after some 3 years was set back by the move cross-country.
We are now well on our way to re-establishing our friendship as she at least allows me to see her out and about.
She slept under a sofa for almost a year when we first got here.
What caused her to be so easily spooked is a mystery because when she first decided to “come in” she was a friendly kitty that liked being petted.
Poor sweetie.
When I look at the 12 cats that depend on me I can’t bear to think of losing any of them but on the other hand, I think it would be worse for them to suddenly lose me.
It worries me a lot. It isn’t that easy to make a Plan B for 12 cats. Not that I have imminent plans for my departure but things happen.
A friend recently died leaving her little dog which was all too poignant a reminder.
Some time last summer I went to see a local lawyer about updating my will, with Plan B in mind. I explained it all to him and he said he was prepared to take it on.
Weeks went by, months even, so I emailed to ask for an update and was told he had a lot of work, a lot of other wills, apparently. Now it has been 9 months or more….
We have been told that the folk hereabouts are loath to say “no” to anyone, that they use any and all avoidance techniques rather than to say the word and in the 15 or so months we’ve been here, this has definitely been our experience.
It makes getting things done a little hard to accomplish!
But I’m not complaining.
Beautiful moon . 🙂
The moon is beautiful………and so are the cats. You have a precious family!
Shame on that lawyer for not doing what he promised.
Wonderful photos of your cats. I share your feelings of worry about my cat should something happen to me. I live alone and worry she would starve to death if I suddenly died! Good luck with your plan B. There are many people in the Highlands who are shy about saying no, so I know how frustrating it is as you’re just kept dangling and waiting! Builders are the worst culprits but there’s not much we can do except live in hope.
The moon is notoriously difficult to photograph so I think you’ve done a great job.
Thank you, Nikita