Dogs That Bark, Claws That Clutch*

I try to think of a word to describe my day, my mood, my ambiance. The word is irritated. I am irritated for the same reason many women all over the world are irritated once a month. I am also in pain. I have pulled a hamstring, and a leg muscle. They happen to be the same ones I pulled in Scotland, walking the Royal Mile...

I have a seven week old kitten, gawd love 'er, and a dog who runs after her, and barks and chases the other cats, to protect her, which she doesn't need. She does need to stay off the keyboard, which she can't manage. When I swat the dog on the rear, for chasing the unicorn meat eating cats and barking at them, he looks at me like I just took a pound of flesh off him with a cat o' nine tails...he is so betrayed.

One of the cats needs a steroid shot for her allergies, before she loses all her hair, and I can't lift the crate. The new foster, Dooley, is stuck in one room, although he has made himself at home; of course, he wants out. I can't vacuum or lift the laundry, without my back, down to the foot, creaking and sighing and shifting like a mast on a ship at sea. My breath sucking in when this happens sounds a lot like the sails moving in the wind.

My kindly osteopath worked on me yesterday, and I am healing well, but I am still creaky. With pain. And tiredness. And Evil on my heart, like a cat wears fur. Today is a good day not to f**k with me. The bright spots in my day are the marigolds outside my door, and the fall-drooping zinnia. My apartment isn't clean enough, the state of the world sucks, and Georgia is half bald.

Did I mention I am in pain?

The good things about today: strawberries, the love of the kitten and cats and dog, company coming later, clean laundry, and the indecision of when to get the winter clothes out. Marigolds, fall scarves, the cool in the air, and the trees slowly turning color. People love me, I mean I have real friends, who really love me and call and tell me they love me. I have a life that includes animals, and fall colors, and friends.

Just found a place, on the antique mahogany  table, where the cat barfed.


*With a nod toward Lewis Carroll