Articulating why the ones we have lost mean so much to us is always difficult, but perhaps even more so when they are of different species — there are the ones who get it, and the ones who really, really don’t.
The empty cup
Tag: Mr Bell
Cat People
They say there are cat people and dog people, and those handful of people who like both. I’m always suspicious of binaristic dichotomies, but I will say that I’ve spent my entire life with cats. And if you were to classify me with a dichotomous key, I’d come down firmly on the ‘cats’ side of […]
Grief is a Razor
Let me tell you a little something about grief, and mourning: lots of people are going to tell you things about grief and mourning. They’re going to make all sorts of noises at you, and most of those noises will be designed to make you feel like you should move quickly through the mourning process, […]
The Years Do Not Wither Your Memory
Two years ago, I saw your face for the last time, thinned and drawn with illness. I remember how you painfully hauled yourself into bed to curl up with me that morning, after spending the last few nights restless, roaming the house, settling on the end of the bed briefly before wandering off again, and […]
Mr. Bell, One Year Later
A lifetime ago, my father and I went to the Humane Society, back when it was still in crowded, dark conditions right off Highway One. I wanted a cat, an official house cat, and we went back and forth through the cages for hours, my father demonstrating remarkable patience as we met all the cats […]
Mr. Bell
1993-2011 What can I tell you about Mr. Bell? He was one of my oldest friends. I adopted him because out of all the cats at the shelter, he was the one who seemed to have the most hope, determination, and conviction that no way in hell was he getting stuck in there. No how. […]
On the Cats
I used to write about the cats a fair amount, and then I realized that it was probably kind of boring to hear about them all the time, so I haven’t written about them much lately. But, I have a fair number of new readers, so I feel justified in writing a fluff post about […]
Romping in Bragg
While I was lounging on the porch reading a cheesy novel today, the phone rang, and it turned out to be one of my friends from the East Bay, so I answered it. “Hey,” I said. “What’s up?” “I’m in Fort Bragg,” she announced gleefully. As indeed she was. I really like being surprised by […]