Homer's Odyssey

 

A dear friend who is also a cat lover recommended Homer’s Odyssey by Gwen Cooper some time back, and I finally got around to it. It’s been on my to-be-read list for a long time. I kept picking up random books whenever I went into the library to pick up one of my books.

My friend and others who’ve read about Homer said it was inspiring. It was that and much more.  Homer’s story is nothing short of miraculous as well as inspiring. Abandoned as a tiny kitten, a caring veterinarian decided to save his life in spite of the fact that he would be blind.

Gwen Cooper was a single working professional with two cats. Both of her cats had been rescued as abandoned kittens. The veterinarian who’d saved Homer was desperately trying to find him a home. It seemed no one wanted a kitten with a disability. But Gwen decided to come to the vet’s office and meet Homer.

Homer, throughout the story, was amazing. He was able to carry out feats the other two cats wouldn’t have dreamed of trying. With a never-ending curiosity and bravado, Homer easily adapted and navigated through a sightless world. Gwen, ever protective, made accommodations to keep him safe.

Originally, I thought this would be an inspiring feel-good story, but I was mistaken. There were situations that put me on the edge of my seat, turning the pages and unable to stop until I found out what happened.  Homer’s story is more than just a light-hearted read, although there were times I found myself laughing harder than I have at comedies. It’s a story of courage, love, and the ability to overcome a seemingly insurmountable obstacle.

You don’t have to be a cat lover or animal lover to enjoy Homer’s story on so many levels.

 

Out with the Old, In with the New

 

It’s been a long year that flew by in the blink of an eye. There was a lot of wicked stuff over the years that caused me to rename my offline journal What The Actual Fuck (WTAF) 2022. Instead of rehashing all the awful stuff that’s happened over the year, I’d like to pick out an article that focuses on some actual good news from 2022. This article is from Nice News, and I have been getting it daily to preserve my sanity. The article is called WhatWent Right This Year.

We, as humans, seem to focus more on the negative things that happen. I find that definitely to be a fact for me.  I need to be reminded that along with the bad, there is always good. I happened to read a really informative article about why we do that and, having read it through, it’s one of the reasons I’m looking back at the nicer stories from 2022.

I have no idea what the New Year will bring. When I was a senior in high school, graduating 50 years ago this June, we used to say to each other: “We’ll be free in ’73!” We were so excited about that. Our whole futures lay ahead. I am hoping we’ll be free in ’23 too: free of 45, tRumpists and tRumpers, traitors, liars in Congress, Putin, Clarence Thomas, and other causes of agita. But, if we’re not, I’ll look for some brightness every day.

Oh. It’s not only New Year’s Eve, it’s also Caturday! How about some happy feline family news? It’s “if it fits, I sits” day at our house.

 

Still Celebrating

 The pre-Christmas Day season was weird. Christmas Eve night, even though we had our heat up to 70F, it felt as if it was 30 degrees colder in the house. That's because we need to have our drafty windows replaced and because of the wicked winds that came with the horrendous storm that hammered the country.  On Christmas Eve night, my hubby TB and I were bundled up like a couple of Eskimos.

I wanted to post this awesome story about a signing Santa Claus. This article really made me choke up, thinking back to stories my parents told me about their growing up years and how they'd spend Christmases. As I've written before, my parents were both Deaf and grew up during the Depression/World War II years. In those days and even up to today, Deaf children are often excluded from family holiday activities because of a lack of adequate communication. In the last 20 years or so, inclusion has been ever so much better. I am so happy to see that this Deaf Santa brings such joy to the children who visit him.

That article appeared on Friday, and my attention was diverted by what the storm did to a tree in our back yard.

I was wrapping Christmas presents for TB when I heard a ripping sound above me. I thought for sure the fierce winds were pulling shingles or even part of our roof off the house. In actuality, the ferocious winds tore our tree right out of the ground. Half of it is on our side of the fence and the other half is in our neighbor's yard. Gulp.

Luckily, it didn't damage the house but it did mess with the pool. TB and our grandson are going next door tomorrow to start cutting the tree up. We thought our insurance would cover the damage to our neighbor's pool...but NO. They don't. Our neighbor is very laid back about the whole thing. We've been neighbors for over 20 years and he knows we'll make it right. TB is very skilled with sheet metal and other crafts and plans to fix the pool too. This way, our neighbor won't have to pay a deductible to his insurance companies. Third party carriers are vultures.

Now it's Christmas Day and we had a surprise visit from our 18 year old grandson, the same little boy we went hiking with for years. He's all grown up, got himself a full-time job and a big old truck to drive around. We are so proud of him. I'd share a picture but was so surprised at the visit I forgot where I put my phone.

Other happy moments from Christmas Day:

It took all of Monday to recover from all the fun, and even now I'm not quite ready to get back into the busy swing of things.  All our Christmas decorations and ugly sweaters will stay up and be worn until TB's birthday, January 6th a.k.a. All Kings' Day

Feline Friday

 In my ongoing attempt to avoid the increasingly nasty news this season, I continue to turn my thoughts to more pleasant memories and delusions.

And here we have two different personalities practicing kindness and togetherness.

Thanks for the nice pillow, Bootsie!

Our feline family members love to help us write a blog update, pay a bill, tweet or send an email.

Thanks, guys!

But mostly, on Fridays--especially rainy yucky days, they engage in their favorite activity:

Best wishes for a super happy Fri-Yay!

My favorite holiday song of the day isn't especially a holiday song but I love it anyway. When we are troubled, don't we all really want a Mom figure?

https://youtu.be/x9uYu4R2nk8

Caturday

 I’ve always been a cat person, right from early babyhood.

 

 

 

Things I love about cats:

1.      They are independent and can take care of themselves in many ways that dogs can’t.

2.      They’re fun to play with and to watch them at play

3.      They seem to know when I’m not feeling well or I’m sad. That’s when they’ll come to me and hang out. Their company is comforting.

4.      I love the motor rumbling sound of their purrs. That’s very comforting too

5.      Stroking them is very relaxing, especially when they show how much they’re enjoying it.

An introduction to our gang now:

Gus is our most recent addition. He’s about 5 years old and was part of a trap-capture effort somewhere in the neighborhood. Because he’s friendly, Ted and I were under the impression he may have been an indoor-outdoor cat or possibly a feral who was being fed by friendly folks. He was a bit food aggressive in the beginning but now, after several months, he is not so frantic about food and gets along well with our other guys.

We adopted Bandit and Bootsie on the same day. Bandit’s original name (by the shelter) was LeRoy and that just didn’t fit. You can see why Bandit works. He’s a very gentle boy, the smallest of all the cats and frequently gets picked on. He can hold his own though.  He is my little alarm clock if I sleep past breakfast time, making muffins on my arms and legs until I wake up. Bandit is about 5 or 6.

 

 

Nugget is the baby, one of the rare kitties we didn’t rescue from a shelter or store or person not able to keep their furry friends. My good friend also loves cats, owning and fostering many.  One of her cats had kittens and when the litter was old enough to leave mama, she asked if we’d like one of the kittens. Oh, yes, we said.  Nugget is attached to me and son Bill, although he’s now warming up to Ted. He loves to snuggle with me or Bill, and he loves to play.

 And we're also blessed with two Grandkitties, tuxie Elvis and orange tabby Bouy.

I can’t imagine a time when I wouldn’t have a feline family member.

In memory of our feline family members that have crossed the Rainbow Bridge:

                                                                                Amber

                                                                                Cubby

                                                                               Indigo

                                                                             Kosmo

                                                                             Mouse

                                                                          Munchkin

                                                                             Sox

                                                                          Tigger

It was heart breaking to lose each of our feline family members to cancer, kidney failure, congestive heart failure and a rare blood clot disorder. We were blessed to have each and every one of them in our lives.