Floofatonic (floofinition) – An animal’s marked lack of movement, activity, or expression.
In use: “Sleeping in shade on a day hot enough to blister paint, the floofs were admirably floofatonic. Chris wished he could get as floofatonic as them.”
Thursday’s Theme Music
Welcome to Thursday, September 8, 2022. It’s a cool morning. Sunrise gushed over the trees and houses in a gold rimmed splash at 6:43 AM. The other end comes at 7:33 PM. Temperature is 20 C with a 90 F high in the mid-afternoon. Our air is a lime green 27 on Purple, which makes it good to moderate for breathing. Fires are all still burning but containment is growing. It’s the weather patterns saving us from smoke in our valley.
That Ziopatch is already a frustrating addition. Trimming the house Ficus yesterday drew some sweating. That Zio was instantly ready to abandon my chest. Had to stop, dry off, press it back on, again, again. Wife ended up reinforcing it with skin tape for me. I’m considering staples.
Local rumors are circulating that a bobcat is eating cats in another neighborhood about half a mile away. Wasn’t enough that a cougar was said to be going after them on the north end of town, nor that bears and their cubs are all over the place, and people are complaining about aggressive deer. Now the bobcats are getting in on the action. At least the coyotes, wolves, and foxes are staying mellow. With all this going on, the raccoons and skunks are laying low.
Mom’s condition remains bad. Not a ruptured appendix but a lacerated one. No surgery because of other issues. Abdominal pain and bloated belly from retaining fluids. How much is from COVID and other? The doctors and nurses don’t know. She’s struggling to stand, walk, and breath. Three sisters live in Pittsburgh, where Mom resides. One can’t go to the hospital because she is COVID positive, so the other two take turns staying with Mom, talking with the medical staff and providing updates to the rest of us. I’ve decided to fly there tomorrow.
Flying there tomorrow needs there are some things I’ll need to do today. The Ziopatch’s presence means I need to do these things while it’s cool, which means this morning. So, my writing day is upended. Selfish of me to think of it that way. Those who write will understand the turmoil this change causes, upending my writing routine, which has already been upended for vacations this year. Yeah, poor, poor pity poor me. But I need to drop writing down the priority ladder, reorient, and move on.
Perversely, The Neuros have “You Make Me Feel Like Dancing” by Leo Sayer from, what, 1976, going round and round and round in my morning mental music stream. Equally perversely, they immediately started “Round and Round” by Ratt (1984) in my head when I typed that last sentence.
Neurons. What are you gonna do?
Stay positive and test negative. Need to chug some coffee so I can make some decisions, finalize plans, and move into action. Here’s the music. Hope it doesn’t get stuck in a loop in your head. Blame The Neurons if it does. Cheers
Haifloof #89
The thunder rumbles
He finds me and stays close by
Looking for safety
Haifloof #88
Melding into shadows
invisible, out of sight,
they come back to eat
Floofbassador
Floofbassador (floofinition) – An animal who acts as an emissary or envoy of other animals.
In use: “A small kitty found in the backyard was fed. Little did the family knew the little one, which they called Spartacus, was an floofbassador, but the next day, a mama cat was there for food, along with three other little ones.”
Gumbyfloof
Gumbyfloof (floofinition) – Animal who stretches, curls up, or generally contorts itself in unusual positions.
In use: “Little black Crystal was a true gumbyfloof, tucking her head under in ridiculous positions when she was sleeping, and managing to twist and coil her way into weird places all over the house. Predicting where she might be found needed a true seer.”
The Writing Moment
He awoke writing in his head, picking up the story where he’d stopped the previous day. Cats were first fed because he wasn’t inexperienced. The cats would haunt home with song until they were fed, and, you know, responsibilities, right? An agreement existed which must be honored on his end.
He settled into his office chair, typing fast for fifteen minutes. Insulated in his fictional world, he heard his wife’s activities as she pursued her post-rising rituals. Mental countdown beginning, he typed faster, racing through the scene to grab it all. The cats joined him, one on the windowsill behind him, speaking to his back, the other jumping up onto his desk, heading for his right side, waiting for him to reach for the mouse, intercepting his hand with a nose mash as he tried selecting a line to copy, paste, move. Then his wife entered talking.
He didn’t know what she said. Muses still shouted words in his head, but he knew the writing moment was done, at least for the moment.
Antefloofent
Antefloofent (floofinition) – An event or action which precipitates an animal’s activity.
In use: “In many households, the antefloofent for animals interrupting their naps is the some sound, smell, sight, or thought that food is being opened, eaten, or contemplated.”
Flooftense
Flooftense (floofinition) Behavior done by a floof or to a floof to fool others.
In use: “The dog quickly learned that if he looked surprised and stared at the window, the others would look to see what he was looking at, enabling him to steal seats, blankets, pillows, and food under this flooftense.”
Floofserker
Floofserker (floofinition) – An animal who is frenzied in an activity.
In use: “Fish and Chips were both well-mannered and sweet puppies until it came to eating their kibble. When they heard it hitting their bowls, the tiny brown and white beasts became floofserkers, leaping into the bowls, spraying kibble in every direction as their little paws kicked it out and their mouths frantically chased pieces.”
Michael Seidel, writer 