01-05-2019, 10:06 AM
Shiva is gone. Tara has taken her to UCSD. There was a brief period after the passing of our previous cat, Redbell, and Tara's acquisition of Dawn, where we were free of cats. But otherwise, as long as I've lived with Stacy, some 32 years now, we've always had pets, mostly cats, but for a short period between Redbell & Shiva when it was only the Pom. I'm allergic to cats which is just as well because if I wasn't, I'd have a lot of cats. I've learned to work around my allergies, mostly through qigong, and also by maintaining a clean room, my man cave, as a cat-free zone where I could retreat if need be.
I just dropped my family, my three ladies, wife, daughter & cat, off at the airport. Shiva is an 'emotional support' animal, so Tara can have her in her private room in her shared dorm space in the International House. Shiva has been an indoor/outdoor cat all her life and now must adjust to living in a small dorm room. Fortunately, it has a large window that looks out on to a dead-end corridor of greenery where rodents live.
I will miss Shiva a lot. But fortunately, there's a new cat in my life. We took a huge gamble on xmas this year and got my mom a cat. She's always wanted one. She had them as a child, but my grandfather hated cats and used to hunt them when he was young. He sold his kills to labs. Cat cadavers were really expensive to import into Hawaii. My mom hasn't had a cat in maybe 60 years, always using my allergies as an excuse, even though I moved out decades ago and have managed living with cats for the last three decades.
My mom's new cat is about 7 years old - Mr. Skittles - a handsome grey and white cat that's quite shy. He lived with a friend of a friend, but she's on the move and can no longer care for her. Now Skittles has free reign of my mom's huge house, and my mom has a lap cat for her TV watching. So far, my mom shays he's been mostly in the living room, either burrowed under the sofa or watching from the front window sill. I'll report more upon my next check-in visit with my mom next week.
I just dropped my family, my three ladies, wife, daughter & cat, off at the airport. Shiva is an 'emotional support' animal, so Tara can have her in her private room in her shared dorm space in the International House. Shiva has been an indoor/outdoor cat all her life and now must adjust to living in a small dorm room. Fortunately, it has a large window that looks out on to a dead-end corridor of greenery where rodents live.
I will miss Shiva a lot. But fortunately, there's a new cat in my life. We took a huge gamble on xmas this year and got my mom a cat. She's always wanted one. She had them as a child, but my grandfather hated cats and used to hunt them when he was young. He sold his kills to labs. Cat cadavers were really expensive to import into Hawaii. My mom hasn't had a cat in maybe 60 years, always using my allergies as an excuse, even though I moved out decades ago and have managed living with cats for the last three decades.
My mom's new cat is about 7 years old - Mr. Skittles - a handsome grey and white cat that's quite shy. He lived with a friend of a friend, but she's on the move and can no longer care for her. Now Skittles has free reign of my mom's huge house, and my mom has a lap cat for her TV watching. So far, my mom shays he's been mostly in the living room, either burrowed under the sofa or watching from the front window sill. I'll report more upon my next check-in visit with my mom next week.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse