Hey you,
Today’s challenge? Free-writing. Blahity blah until I run out. It’s intended to get us comfortable with writing off the top of our heads without scratching for that perfect word or passage that holds up progress and/or process. I think that’s already basically what I do, but nothing like some good practice to keep the words flowing.
I’m trying not to cover any topics that I will be coming up later under other prompts, so I think I’ll write about cats, because internet. And because I really could go on and on about them, so I’ll try to keep this short.
The Cat Past
Growing up I lived on a farm from about age 7 through moving out at 19ish. I don’t really know of anyone who lives out in the country and doesn’t have a cat nearby. I remember getting kittens from the neighbour next door. Two tabbies – one for me, one for my brother. Mine was orange and looked kinda like Garfield, and grew into a tough husky tom cat. I liked him, but unfortunately don’t have any pics.
In my twenties my parents somehow ended up with more cats, kind of randomly. It all mostly started with this one particular grey beauty that had a few litters over the years (pic is of one of the toms). I remember sitting with my mom and watching the kittens play for ages. There was a new litter around every year. These days I strongly advocate for spaying and neutering your pets!!
Once, a kitten somehow ended up in my mom’s car (or rather, under it), and rode with her to work one day!! It was fine, and someone saw it roaming the parking lot. She gave it away to a co-worker, so all’s well that ends well.
The Cat Present
I now have two cats. Kitty, my love, is 13 years old, and I’ve had her since she was a little kitten. I fell in love with her kitten polka-dot belly, and most people fall for her gigantic eyes (which aren’t really given justice in this pic). I adopted her from Animal Aide of St. Thomas-Elgin. She carried me through most of my 20s, early 30s, a couple of ex-boyfriends, and an ex-husband, and even moved to California from Canada with me. On the drive here (which was about 4 days at 8-10 hours a day) she’d meow when she’d had enough and it was time to stop for the night. hah
She’s shy, sweet, and beautiful, and I wouldn’t trade her for anything; human, feline, or otherwise. She’s basically been the only consistent thing in my life for 13 years. I’ve already preemptively cried about the thought that, in theory, I will out-live her. My bf and her are adorable together too, which is good… because that’s a deal breaker. 😉
The other cat currently in my life is Finnegan. Well, Sir Finnegan Walter O’Malley, to be precise. Oh, this guy. EVERYONE loves Finnegan. No exaggeration. Even if you don’t like cats, or you’re allergic, or prefer dogs… I have not witnessed anyone who doesn’t end up loving this guy. He’s handsome, fluffy, talkative, playful, chill, and an attention seeker. He chirps goodbye when we leave, and runs to the door when we get home. He even plays fetch (no, really). He is SUCH a character.
I adopted Finnegan 6 years ago from Animal Shelter Assistance Program, not long after moving to California. Not long ago he got unexpectedly pretty sick. We had to rush him to the vet, and 3 days at the vet, several medications, and over $2000 later (ugh…), we still weren’t really sure what happened, but he’s ok now… Weird! It was some sort of infection in his bladder or kidneys. Could’ve been a lot worse, so having faced the thought of him not in my life, I’m grateful even more that he is. His presence is a big one, and when he’s not around it leaves a big hole.
The Cat Future
Easter weekend we found out that a cat that my bf’s parents had rescued turned out to be pregnant. Oh my. Soooo… naaaaturally…. We’re getting a kitten!!!!! *squeeeeeal* This weekend we’re going to meet the litter and pick one out, and will return there (they live a few hours away) to bring it home in May when it’s old enough. We already know that its name will be Senator Purrington. hehehe… I’ll be sure to share pics, don’t worry! More on that later.
Anyway, I love to hear about people’s furry family members, so share them if you’ve got them! And check out Finnegan’s Facebook page (yes, that is a real thing that I just typed).
♥ Daphne
Same Old Daph 