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I’ve come to think of this post as one where you come for the music and stay for the conversation—so feel free to drop a note. The diarist gets to sleep in if he/she so desires and can show up long after the post is published. So you know, it's a feature, not a bug.
Join us, please.
Mornin’ y’all —
I’ll begin with the sad news. We lost our Sophie of 20 years Monday last. Very hard days…
I wouldn’t necessarily say she was a “good kitty”. Actually, quite the contrary. Sophie was, as the kids used to say, a “pill”. First time I met her, 13 years ago, was at my wife’s apartment. I was sitting at her computer desk (it was a huge, multi-tiered monstrosity, packed with pictures in frames, Duran Duran relics, pens, paper, various office stuff, etc.) when Sophie jumped up. She crawled up to a level above eye-height, looking down at me, somewhat disapprovingly. She nestled between a container of paper clips and a coffee cup full of pens, not taking her eyes offa me. Suddenly, she reach out with one, huge, hamhocked paw and swatted the cup onto the floor, shattering it, pens flying everywhere. She never looked away from me. Pretty sure that was the moment I knew what I was up against.
It didn’t take too long to fall in love with her constant complaining and exceedingly odd behavior. She had a penchant for screaming (or sneezing) at you at the most inopportune moment. She loved to caterwaul at 3:00am (especially when you needed to get up at 4:00am), walking around the house with a devil horn headband in her mouth. She liked to play enforcer, slapping the other cats around… I honestly think she thought she was some sort of kapo, some extension of authority inherent in the human/feline relationship (perceived or otherwise...)
The last month or so wasn’t very kind to her. Her body and mind seemed to descend quickly into an untenable position. She wobbled severely when she walked, her voice mutating into a sullen croak. There were whispers of “taking her in” to the vets, knowing painful glances exchanged. In the end, she went peacefully, in her sleep, on her pillow on the bed.
Like a good kitty.
Rest in peace, sweetheart.
For every loss, there is a gain. Every door that is closed reveals a window that opens when you look around the room. With that, meet Rudi.
I’ve got nothing much to say about her as she’s only been in our lives for a couple of days now. I’ll let the photos do the talking…
Be good humans…