Meow, Readers!
I've had cats on the brain for the last 24 hours.
Well,
one cat in particular.
This one.
Kindhearted daughter Ellen
found Gus exactly one year and three weeks ago.
He was starving,
full of fleas,
and in need of love.
She named him Gus,
after the Taylor Swift song August.
He grew healthier living in the barn rafters.
and became known as The Grad School Cat.
He rides shotgun
when Ellen comes home.
Gus transitions from a tiny apartment
to a large home very well
and is an ace with his litter box.
No one knows for sure when he escaped.
We never found a door ajar,
but surmised it was when
I let the dogs out
so they would leave the carpet guy alone
so he could measure without getting repeatedly licked.
Over the course of the entire day
I walked nearly 13 miles in the yard and park
looking for Gus.
My search continued through the night,
only clocking a little over an hour of sleep.
Scaredy cat me
spent the night on watch in the garage.
My body finally gave into sleep around 4 am.
I awoke to Gus's squeaky sound he makes
when he's hungry and demands food.
At first I thought I was dreaming.
The memory of
shaking Ellen awake
to tell her that Gus had returned
is probably in my Top Ten Moments
of my life so far.
I'm still awake at this 11 pm writing.
I am very sensitive to rushes of adrenaline
and the hyper feeling that follows
can last almost a full day,
after a big day,
a big moment,
or an exciting game.
I won't end without giving
some recognition to my dogs
who swept the perimeter every 30 minutes.
Hazel did her job.
Penny mostly ate grass.
She did not eat my beautiful flowers!
Every time I'd tell myself it was the last lap,
Natalie would say,
I love Gus.
And back out I'd go.
She got us started on Pumpkin Spice season today.
She loves dogs and Painting By Numbers.
She called these dogs
Belle Rocky and Josie
and skipped to the checkout to pay.
Natalie cracked open her paints
and got to work.
Her work is a little abstract.
What's Gus up to this weekend?
More Gussin' around
indoors.
He's also helping me work on
building my library.
It will house all of my favorite books,
for loan and annotation.
The books you check out from
The Library of the Lamp Post
will have pocketed sign-out cards,
and come with pens and post-its
to add your thoughts!
You can see the books starting to stack.
If you build it,
they will come.
And if you clang pots together,
leave some clothes with a scent on them outside,
and spend the night in a spidery garage on watch--
your cat will come, too.
Enjoy your weekend!
Eloise
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