The Beauty in Loss

One month ago, a relatively routine trip to the vet took a difficult turn. I dropped Tayo off for bloodwork and headed into the office. That same evening, I said goodbye to him. Exactly one year earlier, he’d gotten his tail kicked in what must’ve been the cat fight to end all cat fights. Ever […]

Fair Share

My neighbor dropped off a Christmas gift tonight. Unfortunately/fortunately, it’s edible. What was masquerading as your basic apricot pastry from a local, mildly famous bakery was, in reality, more like a delicious, stone fruit pizza, complete with a buttery, flaky, croissant-like crust, sweet glaze and sugary frosting swirls on top. Why can my diets never […]

Keep the Peace

I started looking online for solutions more than a month ago. Nothing seemed like it would work. The holidays are magical to me. I love putting the tree up right after Thanksgiving and coming home to it each evening. With all the lights on a timer, it would greet me through the plantation shutters when […]

Tayo’s Lesson

He’s getting up there in age. He usually doesn’t sleep with me, as he tends to prefer staying out most of the night despite his years. He’s lazy and naps during the day while I slave away. He is soft-spoken but demanding and persistent when he wants something — which is rare, except when it […]

Dog Days

When I was about ten years old, I thought it would be a great idea to take both dogs for a walk at the same time. One was a Lab mix, the other a Samoyed mix. They had been part of the family for a good five to seven years at that time, and I […]

The Squeegee Truth

I squeegeed my carpet tonight. I heard a tip recently that a squeegee works wonders at getting pet hair up and off of whatever it is that’s overly furry — with the exception of the pet itself. I’m sure they wouldn’t appreciate being accosted by a rubber-edged contraption at the end of a long handle. During […]

Towel. Thrown in.

I’m weary. It’s only hump day and I need a) a weekend, b) better yet — a vacation or c) a trust fund. Just kidding on that last one. The Lawn Surgery which I spoke of last weekend resulted in stitches which didn’t hold. A leak returned, and with it, my sanity quickly dwindled. My eyes […]

The Voiceless

I don’t actually remember this happening, as tends to be the case when something traumatic or core-shaking happens to me, but the story goes as follows. I was in fifth or sixth grade and had just started attending a Lutheran school. One day, for some reason, the topic during a class discussion turned to animals […]

Be who you are.

I have a cat that’s an odd duck. He’s a rescue that I adopted from my vet. One day, I decided that my other rescue, a young, sleek, all-black junior kitty named Jack, needed a buddy. I learned that Jack and the odd duck had been in neighboring cages and used to bat paws at one another, so Jack and […]