BRAINPAN LEAKAGE

There are times when it seriously sucks to be the Dad.

I suppose I should back up just a bit and give you some background as to why I make that statement, because I suspect most of you know I am all about my kid. So, let me fill you in…

Some of you may or may not be aware that the animals in my novels – those being the two dogs and the three cats who share the abode with the main characters, Rowan and Felicity – are actually based on my own four-legged cohabitators. The dogs, as I have mentioned in the past, have since gone on to the other side, but they still live on in my books. So too, do the felines in many senses, as they are composites of the numerous cats we have rescued over the years. Emily – the cats in the novels are named Emily (Dickinson), Dickens (Charles), and Salinger (J.D.), go figure – is based on the real life felines, Data and Buffer, both calicos like their fictional composite. Data left us last year, peacefully, in her sleep. She was something on the order of a million years old… Well, around 18+ years to be a little more exact, but for a cat, that’s a fair piece of time. Buffer, however, was still around – until this weekend.

Buffer was only 14, but that is still a good lifetime for a feline. To be honest, where I come from, farm cats rarely made it past 5 or 6 years, but I digress as usual. The especially bad part about losing Buffer this weekend is that she went outside and got into an altercation with a vehicle.

The vehicle won.

EK and the Spawn were out shopping, which was fortunate, because I was the one who found her instead of them. As you can guess, when you are talking Feline vs. Auto, the results aren’t very pretty.

So, I found her… And, I got to be the one who cleaned up the remains, dug the hole, tried to convince my wife that the animal hadn’t suffered – though I really couldn’t know that for sure – and help console an 8 year old who misses her friend. Then, I got to toss and turn that night because the image of the aftermath played back for me each time I closed my eyes. And, you know, as it happens I miss the cat too. But, I have to be the strong one.

Hence, why it sometimes sucks to be the Dad, especially when a shovel an a shoebox are involved…

(sigh)

I suppose I should try to end this on a slightly cheerier note, so here goes…

Speaking of pets, I’m sure most everyone is aware of the latest Myspace rage, that being purchasing and selling your friends as “human pets”. Well, it seems I was purchased by an old friend, and she has since sold me… Since then I have been gifted, traded, and sold all over the place. But, just so all the bases are covered, I’ll mention here that if you purchase me, unlike Morrison, I am housebroken and fairly low maintenance.

BTW, I really like Pizza and beer, but I don’t do tricks. Well, I do, but that’s a whole ‘nother story…

More to come…

Murv

Okay, I’ll stop there, because we all know what comes next…

So anyway, a comment on my last blog begged not only a response, but its own blog entry as well. Paula wanted to know if we got Puck into a warm, dry place. Obviously, she remembers the pics from the ice storm of late 2006 where the little beggar got turned into a snow capped Puckcicle.

For those of you unfamiliar with Puck, he is a mischievous nature spirit who takes many forms. One of the most common manifestations you will see represented within the Pagan community is that of a small Roman Satyr. To put it in more conventional terms, he’s half goat.

The Puck in question here, however, is a wonderful piece of garden statuary representing the little beggar…It is something we picked up several years ago and has graced our home ever since, albeit in various locations throughout (both inside and outside) over those years. Below is a picture from a website where one can be purchased, just to give you an idea of what he looks like without the ice and snow…

Quite obviously, you can get one at The Magick Moon…(very cool store, BTW… I have one of their “babe on a broomstick” T-shirts)…

But, anyway, here is the picture Paula remembers, and it will show you what Puck looked like back in 2006, when he was making his home on our back deck and the ice storm rolled in…

And finally, here is how he looked this morning…Well, kinda. I had to point him out in the picture. Just follow the arrow to the circle…

You see, Puck now resides in the rock garden at the back of our yard… Why? Well, it’s a long story, but let’s just say he likes it back there with the spirits of the many mischievous felines we’ve rescued over the years who have since grown old and gone on to the great yarn basket in the sky.

Oh, and before I forget. In the previous blog I mentioned something about the neighbors being too damn close. Well, that’s true (even though we actually have great neighbors) but I wanted to clarify something – that grey building off to the upper right of the picture is our shed, not one of our neighbors. We actually have a pretty sizeable back yard.

Okay, so there you go, Paula. Puck chose to remain out in the elements yet again. It’s probably for the best. When he lived inside the house he used to steal my socks… But never a pair… just singles. I wonder what that’s all about.

More to come…

Murv