Distraction

Many thanks to everyone for your kind words following the sad loss of our sweet Sophia. I know most of you have lost companion animals yourselves. It is such a very different thing to losing a person you are close to and I don’t believe comparisons should be made.

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In a multi-animal home, the loss of such a companion always hits home at meal times when you dish up the meal into a reduced number of bowls. So it was this morning at breakfast.

Sophia was our quietest, least troublesome cat, yet without her the house seems empty. When passing through the room where she was, I always used to call out “Hi, Sophia!”, even though latterly she was stone deaf.

She tended recently to curl up either on or beside my bed. Her absence is deeply felt.

This is what it means to love to an animal. The price is heavy, but the reward is vast.

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We thought to distract ourselves by going somewhere, but yesterday began heavily overcast. In a different frame of mind, we may perhaps have repeated the journey we’d done on Saturday, which was rather longer than most. Given that we lost Sophia the next morning, I might beat myself up over being away from home for so long, however it was cleaning day, so all the cats were bunkered down for the duration in any case.

(If there is a way to torment myself, I’ll do it.)

Yesterday we were not feeling energetic and settled on an extended shopping trip.

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The early overcast broke up, but heavy dark clouds lingered dramatically.

Saturday’s impromptu trip provided material for a couple of posts that I will get to soon!

(Don’t get too excited.)

In the meantime…

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Call me crazy but I like the countryside in Winter.

With or without snow.

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Especially under a threatening sky.

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With startling blue patches.

This was not a journey to anywhere in particular. It was just a meander toward home via country roads. Undertaking such a trip, you have to concentrate on the positives and persuade yourself not to see the far too numerous eye sores.

Farms are inevitably messy. It’s expected. I am not referring to those.

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It’s the endless derelict farms and businesses, and abandoned homes.

As well as occupied homes surrounded by mountains of discarded stuff, of all kinds.

A friend of mine lived for a long time in a brownstone in Brooklyn. When he had items to offload he simply placed them on the pavement/sidewalk outside whence delighted pedestrians soon carried them off to be repurposed.

On remote country lanes this is unlikely, as is the likelihood of possible repurposement of most of the junk we try hard not to see.

(“Repurposement is not widely recognised in standard dictionaries”, says AI, but you know what I mean, I’m sure.)

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It is much pleasanter to ride along with my head in the clouds.

Scary thought: how many more eyesores are there that I don’t notice?

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It is painful, I must say, to see such naturally beautiful land despoiled so carelessly.

It is such a depressing social commentary.

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Over the years, I’ve written numerous letters of protest, none of which has ever accomplished a single thing as far as I know. So now I grind my teeth and try to look the other way.

My teeth are quite rounded and I recently had to obtain a mouth guard to prevent serious overnight gnashing.

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Today’s meander took us past Carter’s Pond which was still mostly frozen over despite moderating temperatures. A Red-tailed hawk soared overhead but otherwise there was no sign of life.

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Then we carried on home.

By early afternoon the clouds had mostly retreated though, days of rain are forecast.

Still much needed, so no complaints.

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