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Camera Roll
A roundup of photos from the last month. Pictures telling 1000 words and mark memories for me. It’s been a slow couple of weeks mostly hiding from the hottest summer on record with art, cats, craft, flowers, and activities at Oyama Senmaida Come back next month for more photos I might have shared on Instagram.
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The silent quack
Ducks are resilient and this story has a happy ending. This morning around 5:45, Maura suddenly sprung off my lap, alerted by a heavy double thump. Beryl had come through the cat door but not alone. Before I could get downstairs to stop her, she was trundling some rather large prey up into the studio.…
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Fledgling, a tragedy
I was at my desk late this afternoon working when I heard the cat door thunk, followed by loud, distressed squeaks. I ran downstairs to find Beryl skulking back outside with a bird in her mouth. It looked limp and lifeless. I tried to encourage her to drop it but she kept running away. When…
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Feather protocol
It’s very clear to me that I am not a squeamish person. Last night one of the cats brought a bird into the house. It was consumed except for the wings and the feathers, which were spread all along the triangle where floor meets roof next to my desk. It was too much after a…
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Ending Birthday Week
It’s the cats’ birthdays today. Mine was yesterday. Birthday week is now over. Fritter and Maura were born five years ago. Facebook shared a memory with me today – a 25 second video of Three licking infant Maura clean. Little did she know she’d be doing that thrice more for Futatsuyama, Calico #3 (later Isabella…
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Flea Season
Forget spring, what we really have is flea and tick season. After yesterday’s tick bite on my leg, I went on alert and sure enough, I caught a little tiny tickling wandering on Maura’s fur in the evening. I combed him carefully and found two fleas as well. Great… Flea combing the cats is a…
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Two Mice & a Tick
Here in Japan, spring has several heralds: Here at 555, I have additional metrics based in nature. MOUSE #1I was doing a crossword puzzle after dinner when I heard the cadence of a cat with a mission. There’s a certain pattern to Maura’s movement when he has caught a snack. Fast and steady steps, low…
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More Maura Walks
Maura’s visit to the vet yesterday did not include taking his stitches out. We have to wait another week. I almost cried; I am sleep deprived from adventuring. You know how in fantasy novels, the author glosses over the long arduous journey: “They made fast for Thoradil, changing horses and riding through the night, arriving…
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Moonlight walks with cats
Maura’s wearing an Elizabeth collar since his Christmas day vet visit and can’t safely go outside by himself. The doctor prefers him not to go out at all, but that’s not practical; his litterbox is the big wide world. And he gets salty and destructive when his freedom is impinged. Fortunately (and unexpectedly) Maura seems…
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Timeline of a rescue
2:30 am. I wake to strange sounds. A bird in distress? A really large cicada? I don’t recognise the noise. I’m half asleep but can tell something’s wrong. Sounds like it’s coming from outside. I get up and pierce the dark with a flashlight. Maura and Beryl come running towards me from the fishtern. Do…
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