Elvis, our 18 year old cat, died in his sleep last evening. He was walking around when I fed him at 1730. I did not check on him again until I went to bed. He was not breathing. I had taken him to the veterinarian at Cedar Lake Animal Hospital last week. He was off his feed and not perky. She said that he was old with some thyroid and metabolism problems. She was reluctant to give medication given his precarious condition. Now he is gone. I miss that old cat.
Goldbug
So just exactly what is the composition of Dust Bunnies? Clearly an understudied science. I believe that when the truth comes out, that Dust Bunnies will have a fabric content of insect or more likely arachnid origin. Part of some small animal’s quest for food, be it airborne, flying, or crawling. Or maybe nest for food for offspring. Somebody else’s grant to write, I’m having fun here in the exciting, dust free world of Information Technology.
I stumbled on this list while surfing the other night. While none of our cats have showed any interest in furthering their education, it is possible that one of may try to fake it. Watch out.
Kittens are too cute. These kittens are 4 cute. Two boys and two girls. Mama was torn up by some animal. Found by a greenskeeper and brought to shelter.
Four Kittens
A mockingbird lives in the neighbor’s Bradford pear. Earlier in the spring, mockingbird was defending territory. One way he did this was by attacking his reflection in the windshield of the cars parked on the cul-de-sac.
The other morning around 3:00 AM, he began his song with a new tune – the car-alarm ba-n-n, ba-n-n, ba-n-n, ba-n-n, whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop, whee-a-oom, whee-a-oom,whee-a-oom, whee-a-oom.
My wife remarked that this bird starts his multi-tune mockingbird song at midnight and indeed last night right at the stroke of midnight he began the song.
Almost 30 years ago, my wife and I had an apartment in Newton Upper Falls, MA next to a restaurant-bar. When we tried to sleep late on Saturday morning, a trash truck would back into the restaurant parking lot with the beep-beep-beep of backup warning. This would be followed by clanking chains, clunk of metal, rev-ing engine, and crash of hundreds of beer bottles into the the metal bed of the trash truck.
One morning, I heard the beep-beep-beep and waited for the crash, the beep-beep-beep again, and still no crash. I looked out the window to see a mockingbird on the fence between us and the parking log, singing the backup song.
It is the season when the leave change colors and fall. The acorns are so thick under the trees as work that they create a hazard in the parking lot. It is like trying to walk on ball-bearings.
I heard the owl sing its mournful song as I went out in the dark. The cold has made the stars stand out against the blackness of the sky. It seems that I only hear owl’s song in Fall and Winter. It could be owl sing just before dawn and I do not get out that early when the days are longer.
I had seen a large hawk perched in a tree beside the enclosed bridge that goes to the next building. This week he seems to have moved on.
Yesterday I saw a robin getting small sticks. This morning I saw one getting mud from a plant pot in one of the garden ponds. Sort of ready mix for robins nests.
Saturday was clear and warm and began to get windy. I went out in mid-morning and saw Lorenzo under the Mimosa tree. As I opened the front door, a large bird took off and flew away through the trees in a neighbor’s yard. It was the gray-brown of winter woods and was hard to tell just what it was. Probably a hawk, maybe an owl. I told Lorenzo that large birds like that loved to catch little cats like him. I don’t think that he was listening. Bullet was also watching.
Later, as I took the recycling to the collection point, I saw hawk soaring into the wind by the highway. With the strong wind, it was able to stay over the fringe of the highway and scout for tiny creatures but I did not see it dive. Returning from recycling by a different route, I saw another. I just love to watch the large birds fly.
Last night we had a rare South Carolina snow. It was the buzz at work and I mentioned it to my wife when I got home. She said “Even the birds that don’t get along were feeding together so we’re going to get something”. It snowed a couple of inches overnight. School was canceled. The roads were wet and a bit slippery on the way to work. I left at the regular time and got to work 10 minutes earlier than usual because the traffic was light.