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[waitingman]

An unsettled night, a busy morning, but a quiet afternoon

The weather has kicked up a little since yesterday afternoon, with strong gusts of wind, rain & a corresponding drop in temperature. It all started not long after I got home from work, then we raced out to get dinner, came back & battened down the hatches. Now... where has Bella gone?



Has anyone seen our cat?

She'd come in for dinner, then gone out through the kitchen window, as usual, but she would normally take one look at weather like that & go... "Screw that!!" & come leaping back inside, with no intention of leaving until the weather improved. Not this time. I looked for her outside & in, before I went to bed, then again at 2am, because I woke & she wasn't curled up at our feet in the bed. So I got cold, wet & no result... Of course, when I woke again at 6am - her usual breakfast demanding feeding time, there she was at my feet, but not yowling for food, or offering any explanation for her night out

She was a bit slow & quiet, but I only worried when she didn't go for her breakfast the way she normally does - like a bull at a gate - & complained when I picked her up to remind her the food bowl was full. She ate some food, then disappeared again. L-SP & I had eye appointments to get to, so off we went for breakfast & glasses at the local mega-maulmall, returning home in our usual misanthropic mood we're always in after any time spent at that place &, again, no sign of Bella

Anyway, she turned up from wherever, a bit later in the afternoon, still a bit groggy & more than a little clingy with me as I worked away at some photos... she's sitting on me as I type, so any typos aren't my fault! We'll see how she goes overnight - all windows are closed! - as I've been stung before by her poor me, I'm feeling sick or look at my sore paw! routines, raced her off to the Vet, where it's turned out she was FINE!!!

So here is some fruit from my afternoon's labours

Sunrise at Artists Point, Monument Valley...



Arches National Park - an overcast sunset...

Comments

[paserbyp]

Beautiful Bella!

I’m not an expert, but maybe you need bring her to doctor? Indeed, it could be just wasting money...

[waitingman]

She's a little better now... she's eating & now lying in front of the heater I took out of the cupboard today, because it's finally cold enough for it... Maybe that was all she wanted!

Bloody cat!! It's a good thing she's cute...

[paserbyp]

How old is she?

[waitingman]

She's 3... so still a young cat. We got her & her sister from a shelter in western Sydney, after seeing photos of Bella on the shelter's website. When we got there, they told us about her sister & that they were a 'bonded pair', so we'd have to take both. I was quite happy to, because I thought 2 cats would be better than 1. In fact, there was a 3rd cat there I really wanted to take as well, but my wife said no - 2 was enough! Probably a good thing, as I could easily have said "We'll take all of them thanks!!"

Bella's sister was hit by a neighbour's car last year & died, so I'm very protective of her - probably over-protective, which is why I'm always alert to changes in behaviour & have taken her to the vet a couple of times when it turned out there was nothing wrong. Yes, I'm a neurotic cat Dad

It's now Sunday morning & she's sleeping comfortably after waking me up at 6am for breakfast, so the usual routine seems to be back - which is a relief... even though it was fucking cold at 6am this morning!!!!!!

[paserbyp]

Neurotic cat Dad, how about kids? Sorry, if I asked painful question about your life...

[waitingman]

No painful questions here... no problem!

I've never wanted children, right from around the age I was capable of doing my bit to create them, to now - nearly 40 years later & I still haven't changed my mind, like everyone said I would... My wife (Long-Suffering Partner, or L-SP, as I call her here) has never wanted them either, so it's never been a source of conflict between us. It's not that we don't like children - in fact we're pretty good baby-sitters when we have to be, but we've never felt that biological urge to reproduce...

So the cats & dogs we've had over the years have been our dependents instead. I wouldn't call them substitute kids... we don't treat them like they're children, but they do help to fill up the house a bit!

[paserbyp]

I see... indeed, I don’t understand your and your wife decision, but it’s your life and you’ll know better what do you want... thank you for answer and sorry again if I asked and touched very private and delicate Issues about your life...

[waitingman]

That's okay - it's not really a painful thing to talk about & I know a lot of people don't understand... we are definitely in the minority, in a world where everyone thinks it's perfectly normal to have children. And it is - I'm not saying nobody else should have them. I have absolutely no problem with people having as many children as they want - it's just that we don't want to...