Midsummer, contemplating fall
Aug. 17th, 2011 02:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer_jackelLife continues. Today is my day off; I am pedaling my bike trainer, which is what I am usually up to when I post. I just had to have the trainer serviced because use had worn the steel tube that attaches my bike's rear wheel to the trainer mechanism so that it was no longer flush and didn't hold the bike. The mechanic filed it down and added a washer, and then asked how much I rode it. I guess he isn't called upon much to repair trainers. I told him that I rode 20-30 hours a month, which is true, if less accurate and less personal than my first answer: enough to keep me centered, happy and sufficiently sane.
Comfort the Pictus cat died last night, and I am sad about it; there was perhaps a time when I felt a bit embarrassed about grieving a fish, but that's long past. I'd had him for seven years and got him as an adult; the outer observed age of the species seems to be about eight, so I think the little guy did ok with me. I got him on the way home from a really disastrous court appearance in my first year as an attorney; I'd made a bad newbie lawyer mistake and felt awful, thus "Comfort the catfish." He was a good little fish, and his active presence added a note of cheer and beauty to my home.
I'm in a place in life where a number of the animals that I obtained in my 20s are reaching their expected lifespans and passing, others who I have thought of as the babies are in their prime, and a younger generation is beginning to establish. It's a very bittersweet feeling, like thinking of who I was when I got that fish, how confused and trapped and not who I am now I was. How much happier I am now and how much more sorrowful. How much more myself I feel, how my life with these animals now feels smooth and harmonious, as the animals I used to have and don't anymore felt utterly right and perfect and different than these when I had them.
I walked my three sheepdogs this morning and then bathed Coba; I took Nikolai for a short walk and bathed him, too. Now I'm pedaling on the deck, hour 2.30, watching Tiger stalk around while Magic, 16, lounges on a cushion in what passes for midday sun around here. For Sysiphean boulders, you have to admit that they are awfully loveable and cuddly. I couldn't be happier.
Cyril remains a kitten. A very large kitten who seems to still be growing! I can't seem to feed him enough, and have begun supplementing him with cat-cal gel. He is a handsome guy, and wonderfully friendly.
Cyril's favorite thing is to stare intently at the goldfish in my water garden. If only, laments the kitten, it wasn't so full of water...
Hiking up the ridge, we find butterflies and an unusual moth (unidentified, because I am lazy) sipping pennyroyal blooms.
Redwood weather: It was a sunny day, but a bank of fog was blowing in from the coast, and for a moment this sky island was in the midst of deep fog.
You can see from this photo (taken on the same walk, not long before the last one) how bright it was if you weren't in the fog.
My tall and lovely blue collie.
And a vivid young tri has such excellent recall!
Coba is sulking because I wouldn't let him pull the burrs in his mane out with his teeth.
Coba's recall is getting really snappy, too! He has taken to recalling at top speed, which is hilarious because of how intense and serious and fluffy he is; he gets significant air at a full run. I hope he does it that enthusiastically at our next obedience trial, which is the weekend after next, because it would entertain the audience.
I found these two banana slugs, apparently in the early stages of courtship, following one another on the trail. How exciting! I snapped some photos and left them alone.
Coba has no burrs in his mane in this picture.
It's possible that I spoil him a bit.
But he's so cute and fluffy when he's clean. Like a stuffed animal, only with strong opinions and a lot of energy.
Comfort the Pictus cat died last night, and I am sad about it; there was perhaps a time when I felt a bit embarrassed about grieving a fish, but that's long past. I'd had him for seven years and got him as an adult; the outer observed age of the species seems to be about eight, so I think the little guy did ok with me. I got him on the way home from a really disastrous court appearance in my first year as an attorney; I'd made a bad newbie lawyer mistake and felt awful, thus "Comfort the catfish." He was a good little fish, and his active presence added a note of cheer and beauty to my home.
I'm in a place in life where a number of the animals that I obtained in my 20s are reaching their expected lifespans and passing, others who I have thought of as the babies are in their prime, and a younger generation is beginning to establish. It's a very bittersweet feeling, like thinking of who I was when I got that fish, how confused and trapped and not who I am now I was. How much happier I am now and how much more sorrowful. How much more myself I feel, how my life with these animals now feels smooth and harmonious, as the animals I used to have and don't anymore felt utterly right and perfect and different than these when I had them.
I walked my three sheepdogs this morning and then bathed Coba; I took Nikolai for a short walk and bathed him, too. Now I'm pedaling on the deck, hour 2.30, watching Tiger stalk around while Magic, 16, lounges on a cushion in what passes for midday sun around here. For Sysiphean boulders, you have to admit that they are awfully loveable and cuddly. I couldn't be happier.
Cyril remains a kitten. A very large kitten who seems to still be growing! I can't seem to feed him enough, and have begun supplementing him with cat-cal gel. He is a handsome guy, and wonderfully friendly.
Cyril's favorite thing is to stare intently at the goldfish in my water garden. If only, laments the kitten, it wasn't so full of water...
Hiking up the ridge, we find butterflies and an unusual moth (unidentified, because I am lazy) sipping pennyroyal blooms.
Redwood weather: It was a sunny day, but a bank of fog was blowing in from the coast, and for a moment this sky island was in the midst of deep fog.
You can see from this photo (taken on the same walk, not long before the last one) how bright it was if you weren't in the fog.
My tall and lovely blue collie.
And a vivid young tri has such excellent recall!
Coba is sulking because I wouldn't let him pull the burrs in his mane out with his teeth.
Coba's recall is getting really snappy, too! He has taken to recalling at top speed, which is hilarious because of how intense and serious and fluffy he is; he gets significant air at a full run. I hope he does it that enthusiastically at our next obedience trial, which is the weekend after next, because it would entertain the audience.
I found these two banana slugs, apparently in the early stages of courtship, following one another on the trail. How exciting! I snapped some photos and left them alone.
Coba has no burrs in his mane in this picture.
It's possible that I spoil him a bit.
But he's so cute and fluffy when he's clean. Like a stuffed animal, only with strong opinions and a lot of energy.
Tags:
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2011-08-17 11:01 pm (UTC)Did you know that pennyroyal is a natural flea and insect repellant? Plant it in your yard and put an end to any flea problems. Also good for repelling mosquitoes: crush some leaves and rub it on you. I believe it's the smell that repels them, so you may not even need to put it on your skin; just rub some crushed leaves in a neckerchief or similar.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-18 01:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-08-18 06:25 pm (UTC)And the cats, and the dog....not so fond of slugs though.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-19 02:52 am (UTC)Your bed is devouring Coba. JSYK.
no subject
Date: 2011-08-19 02:14 pm (UTC)I love how happy and peaceful your life is. :)