Sept. 05, 2002 ~ Both cats
are not eating much. Why? But this means no insulin for Misha. He's only had it one day this past week, and there are signs that he needs it. But he can't have it unless he eats. Maybe I'll chop a little roast beef for him. Definitely not on his diet, but at this point, does it matter? He's so alert and perky. After months of him acting sluggish and ill, it's a treat to see him acting more like his old self. Perhaps this is the Indian Summer of his life, one last burst of feeling good.
Well, he didn't eat much of the beef, maybe just a few bites. Mostly he just licked it. I wish he could talk.
Pepper still has his respiratory bug and is taking pills. This place is looking more and more like a cat hospital. I did a head count the other day... seems like we have about 16 kitties, including the barn cats and the permanent strays. They live here, the wild ones, even if I can't touch them. A couple of new ones have shown up in recent months and seem to have adopted us. Sure do hope they aren't female! In the past I've managed to trap most of the wild ones (humanely, don't worry) and take them to the vets to be spayed or neutered. If the two newest ones stick around, we may have to do that again. But pity the poor vet who has to deal with them.
This morning, I heard the faraway sound of Canada geese. Can that be possible? Isn't it too early for them to be here? And when did they start calling them "Canada Geese," anyway? I'd always thought they were Canadian geese, but now, most people seem to say it the other way. And what do they call them in Canada, I wonder. Geese? But I heard them, I thought, months earlier than usual. Couldn't see them, but it sure sounded like them. Does some distant neighbor have a flock of geese? Who could it be? Sound carries here, sometimes for a couple of miles. The lonely whistle of the train, the boom-boom, toot-toot practicing of the high school band... those things are a mile or two away, but we hear them clearly, at times.
Maybe the geese are here early, or perhaps they're always here at this time and I just never noticed before. One Autumn night, a few years back, their persistent honking drew me outside. Looking up at the darkness, listening to them call, I could see the geese silhouetted against the harvest moon. The stars glistened and winked in the sky, the night air had just the right hint of chill... perfection. I took a deep breath, wanting to inhale it all, every detail and nuance, and keep that memory with me forever.
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