Mornings with Olive
May. 27th, 2011 10:05 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sihayadesignsI had one of those mornings that you kind of want to preserve in amber. Olive has such a routine with us. At night, she usually snuggles into Jason-- sometimes she sandwiches herself between us both on our pillows-- and settles down to sleep. Come 5:30 or so, she's nudging me for breakfast. I get out of bed, feed her and the other munchkins, then go back to sleep.
J gets up at about 8 to take a shower. She follows him around. He leaves around 8:45 and I usually sleep until 9 or so (this is the upside to self-employment, as I am much more of a night person). Once he leaves, Olive usually curls into me and naps for a little bit. She's a pillow hog, and she likes to steal as much of my pillow as she can, so she can squish her little kitty face right up into mine. When she gets a proper face-to-face squish, she gets this special purr going where it almost sounds like she's cooing.
This morning, right after J left, I was awoken by the sound of her attempting to get in the litterbox. She's in a cone this week after biting her foot pretty good, so it's tricky. I got up to help her, then washed my hands and lay back down. A moment later, I hear the telltale scrabble-thump of her pulling herself up the pet stairs into the bed. She then spent about 20 minutes face-molesting me. Licking my nose, enthusiastically rubbing her face all over mine, purring rapturously. Some mornings, when I desperately need those last few minutes of sleep, I pull the blanket over my head, but this morning, I just let her go, and we cuddled for longer than I should have stayed in bed.
People who meet Olive for the first time tend to "awwww" over her condition. It can be really distressing to see a paralyzed cat. But most people tend to see the scaredy-cat Olive who's not so sure about people who aren't her mom or dad. She runs and hides when the doorbell rings. People don't see the Olive who is a perfectly happy cat, who bullies her 17 lb brother, who will lick you so hard you'll lose a layer of skin. There will never be another kitty like my Olivebean.
(And, as I type this, Nox is demanding to play fetch.)
Onward, onward. Working in the shop today, and then dance rehearsal with the Transcendence ladies.
Last night I had the lovely experience of attending a private party in Silo Point's SkyLounge. Oh my lord, the view! I could see the house I grew up in, the hospital I was born in, my childhood church... every major Baltimore landmark. And the weather was beautiful. Oh, if only I could be rich enough to live there. It's astounding to me, too, how much the area has changed in the last 20 years. When I was young, Locust Point was about the furthest thing you could get to ritzy. Now it's got this whole industrial-chic yuppie vibe happening. So funny to me, when I remember that my brother once got arrested for trespassing when Silo Point was just an old grain elevator.
J gets up at about 8 to take a shower. She follows him around. He leaves around 8:45 and I usually sleep until 9 or so (this is the upside to self-employment, as I am much more of a night person). Once he leaves, Olive usually curls into me and naps for a little bit. She's a pillow hog, and she likes to steal as much of my pillow as she can, so she can squish her little kitty face right up into mine. When she gets a proper face-to-face squish, she gets this special purr going where it almost sounds like she's cooing.
This morning, right after J left, I was awoken by the sound of her attempting to get in the litterbox. She's in a cone this week after biting her foot pretty good, so it's tricky. I got up to help her, then washed my hands and lay back down. A moment later, I hear the telltale scrabble-thump of her pulling herself up the pet stairs into the bed. She then spent about 20 minutes face-molesting me. Licking my nose, enthusiastically rubbing her face all over mine, purring rapturously. Some mornings, when I desperately need those last few minutes of sleep, I pull the blanket over my head, but this morning, I just let her go, and we cuddled for longer than I should have stayed in bed.
People who meet Olive for the first time tend to "awwww" over her condition. It can be really distressing to see a paralyzed cat. But most people tend to see the scaredy-cat Olive who's not so sure about people who aren't her mom or dad. She runs and hides when the doorbell rings. People don't see the Olive who is a perfectly happy cat, who bullies her 17 lb brother, who will lick you so hard you'll lose a layer of skin. There will never be another kitty like my Olivebean.
(And, as I type this, Nox is demanding to play fetch.)
Onward, onward. Working in the shop today, and then dance rehearsal with the Transcendence ladies.
Last night I had the lovely experience of attending a private party in Silo Point's SkyLounge. Oh my lord, the view! I could see the house I grew up in, the hospital I was born in, my childhood church... every major Baltimore landmark. And the weather was beautiful. Oh, if only I could be rich enough to live there. It's astounding to me, too, how much the area has changed in the last 20 years. When I was young, Locust Point was about the furthest thing you could get to ritzy. Now it's got this whole industrial-chic yuppie vibe happening. So funny to me, when I remember that my brother once got arrested for trespassing when Silo Point was just an old grain elevator.
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no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 03:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 03:34 pm (UTC)It is a joy to have a life deep with love and comfort, and a second joy to have the wisdom to recognize it.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 03:53 pm (UTC)I've always envied your Olive, because I've never had a cat who was truly affectionate... until I adopted my kitten, Ember. She will come bounding into the room, jump up onto my chest, and start licking my lips and nose in affection. And then curl up in a ball on my chest and purr so loud that Ian can hear it across the room.
Affectionate kitties are awesome.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 03:55 pm (UTC)How is she doing, in terms of mobility, these days?
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Date: 2011-05-27 04:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 05:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 07:10 pm (UTC)I do hope the doctors can find out what happened someday, maybe even fix it.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 07:18 pm (UTC)At this point, though, we'd be reluctant to do surgery. She's sort of delicate, and I'm not sure she'd deal with surgery and aftercare very well. My fear is that it would lessen her quality of life so significantly that it might shorten her life... I really do think the fact that she's happy has a significant amount to do with why she's still with us. If she didn't have a will to be here, I don't think she would be. Just a feeling I get from her energy.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 09:51 pm (UTC)Makes me wonder if she and her brother both had developmental issues...
no subject
Date: 2011-05-27 09:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-28 08:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-29 10:57 pm (UTC)