Got up to see the full moon a few times last night but clouds obscured it.
It’s a rainy Saturday this March 19, 2022. Sunrise kicked in at 7:16 AM and the other end will take place at 7:20 PM. Meanwhile, it’s gonna be raining, not a bad thing at all, with a high of 48 F, a few degrees above our present 44. My wife has declared it’s gonna be a cleanin’ day. I’m gonna stealth my way out of the house, you feel me?
Sick cat is declining. After my report to her about his eating, drinking, and sleeping habits in response to her question, my wife says, “Maybe his organs are starting to shut down.” Yes, I know. Later, she says, “Maybe his kidneys are shutting down.” Yes, I know. She has a parttime gig as Captain Obvious.
Today’s morning mental music stream song is a Robb Thomas song from 2005 called “This Is How A Heart Breaks”. After tiring of “Head & Heart” and “Fireball” as an exercise song, she’s shifted to the Thomas song. She’s always been a big RT fan.
Anyway, that’s the music. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, and get the shots when you can. I’m off for coffee because it’s needed. Cheers
Welcome to Catday, Cat 18, 2022. Oh, wait, scratch it and start again. It’s Friday, March 18, 2022. Just feels like cat day because. Cats.
This was the night of three cats. It started, of course, with Papi. Two weeks ago, the young ginger was seriously sick. Well, he’s baa-aack. Got me up to let him in and out, in and out, throughout the night. That prompted sick cat to ask for food and attention, which was given, per the Foofneva Convention on the Treatment of Floofs. Through it all, head cat, Tucker, was a constant presence, monitoring it all so that he could report back to the FBI (Floof Bureau of Investigations) on what I did. Each time that I returned to bed, he joined me, rubbing his nose against my chin, nose, and fingers, ticking my cheeks with his whiskers.
Tucker also performed some impressive performance art this morning. Called ‘The Missing Bowl’, he sat between two bowls of food before the space where a third bowl should be and stared straight down at the empty space caused by the missing bowl. It was so moving that I moved one of the other bowls to the empty space. Satisfied that his art had delivered his message, he ate.
The sequence of waking, rising, and returning to bed multiple times did provide opportunity to notice the moon. It was like a spotlight was shining against the blinds. At 5:45, I opened one to ensure that the police weren’t spotting the house with a bright light (be like the cats to call the cops as a prank). Lo, an almost full moon blazed in the southwestern indigo sky. Just a small slice off the bottom stalled its right to be called a full moon. Its clarity was sharp. I could see seas and plains, and so stayed a few minutes to admire it before closing my eyes and falling asleep standing there. I awoke with Tucker rubbing his face on my toes.
Sunrise came at 7:18 later that morning, and sunset is expected at 7:21 PM. Temperatures were cold during the night. We’re up to 37 F now and a high of 65 is forecast. Clouds are milling like people waiting for the doors to open and the sun is struggling to shine.
The neurons have dug out a 1996 song by Better Than Ezra called “Desperately Wanting”. The moon inspired the neurons. Or, the scene really, because I thought the grass looked damp out there, and then remembered, “running through the wet grass” as a child. A neuron jumped up and shouted, “I know that song,” and here we are.
I was going to go to a coffee house this morning to write, the first time in a while that I have, but I’m tired. We’ll see after I have a cuppa coffee. Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, when needed, and get the vax and boosters. Here’s the music. Cheese. I mean, Cheers
Flooftortion(floofinition) – The skill of bending and twisting one’s limbs body into strange and unnatural positions to accommodate actions or functions associated with an animal.
In use: “Once he opened a can, the floofs were right there, waiting to be fed, underfoot, forcing him into flooftortions to avoid stepping on them or tripping over them as their meal was delivered.”
7:20 and 7:20 is when the sun will rise and set. We’ve achieved an equal number of hours on either side of sunrise and sunset. Guess it’s the vernal equinox in our valley, though the calendar says that today is Thursday, March 17, 2022. Spring doesn’t ‘arrive’ until this Sunday. But here we are, 44 F, with a projected high of 60, everything coming up green, blossomy, and flowery.
It was a dreamorama night but I awoke with Jerry Orbach singing “Try to Remember” in the morning mental music stream. That only lasted for about ten minutes before the neurons got up and changed the music to Billy Joel and “Only the Good Die Young” from 1977.
“Why’d you put that on?” I asked the neurons.
They shrugged.
“What’s that mean?” I asked.
They shrugged again. “I don’t know.”
Guess I’d run into some teenaged neurons.
Anyway, that’s the theme music. I believe my convo with sick cat inspired the neurons. Cancer is turning his demise into the long goodbye. Many folks say, end his misery, but he comes to me for purrs, demands food and gamely eats, sleeps against my leg, and generally gets around with too much life in the tank for me to drain it. He’s probably in pain but I don’t think he’s ready to go. I think he’ll let me know when he’s done.
Stay positive, test negative, wear a mask as needed, if needed, when needed, and get the shots. I’m getting the coffee. I would offer to get you some but you’re on the other side of this screen. Have a better one.
Floofarm(floofinition) – Medical condition where an arm becomes stiff, sore, or numb because of the unwillingness to move it because of an animal. Related: Floorleg, flooffoot, floofbutt
In use: “Despite a serious case of floofarm setting in (and getting ravenous and having a bladder screaming for sweet release), Rikki refused to move because she didn’t want to disturb the puppy napping in her arms.”
Unemfloofed(floofinition) – A place absent of animals.
In use: “As humane treatment of and respect for animals and their rights rise, there are fewer unemfloofed homes around the world, a victory for both animals seeking safety and security, and people who enjoy animals’ company and beauty.” – from The Floof Street Journal, August 17, 2014, “What Do the New Unemfloofment Numbers Mean?”
Dipfloofmat(floofinition) – 1. Animal adept in the art of conducting negotiations and settlements between other animals, or with humans.
In use: “The little gray shorthair tabby with the loud meow was the difloofmat who kept the dogs and other cats quiet with a sharply issued meow. Karla didn’t know what the little cat said, but the others all abided her decision when she spoke.”
2. Human capable of bringing peaceful coexistence between animals.
In use: “Some called Marty a pet whisperer, but he thought of himself as a dipfloofmat, talking out disagreements between different pets, achieving flooftente between individuals and factions regardless of species.
Michael Seidel, writer 