Good Day, Sunshine in Packrat

Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine,
Good day sunshine.
I need to laugh, and when the sun is out
I’ve got something I can laugh about,
I feel good, in a special way.
I’m in love and it’s a sunny day.
- from Good Day, Sunshine by the Beatles

I’m not in love (yet?!), but it is a sunny day.

…I still miss my girl. I washed all the blankets she used the day after she died because I have other cats who use them as well, and I cleaned the room they sleep in so all is fresh for them, but she had food dishes, a mat, and a litterbox in my office for the days she took her shots at the vet’s. She didn’t use them (except the mat, which I just now took out), but I haven’t touched them yet, fearful that removing them will open a raw wound that is still in the process of healing.

I had also made a sign for my office door that I kept shut the days she was in my office that said, “I’m here. Please knock - I have a cat!” I haven’t been able to throw that away yet, either.

I called the vet’s office to let everybody there know she passed and to thank them for taking care of her. They made time for her when I first found the growths on her stomach and always treated her kindly and gently. They and my regular vet all commented on her sweet demeanor.

She was a nurturing cat who took care of all kittens as if they were her own. One little feral’s mother left him in a shelter he fell out of during a thunderstorm, so I brought him in, thinking I’d take him back out when his mother returned. She didn’t. I bottle fed him, and my sweet girl did the rest. I even found him nursing on her. He has been jumping in my lap since she died - he was never adverse to being held before, but I’d have to pick him up and he had a time limit - and we cuddle, missing her.

The sunny part of that is, despite the things I’ve yet to do, the sharp edges of my pain have softened. It doesn’t hurt to breathe.

…S called with good news yesterday. I’ll be able to announce it soon; right now he wants to keep it just among those who “need to know”. I’m really excited about it - the exciting proposal came to me first, and I got the agency in touch with the people it needed to talk to, then there was a glitch with others who were included whose greed would have stopped the process, but S worked it out so that only the original people had a say, and the project is going forward on a fast track. That’ll make more sense when I can say who and what.

…Today is Thursday, and we get Friday off. Since today is our Friday, we also get paid. :)

…A tribal member will be portraying one of our national heroes (and that of America as well) in a Chautauqua this month in Maryland. I love Chautauquas. I had never met him, but I knew his name from his earlier work and know he’s an historian who has done living history before. I knew, too, from his name that we were related, which my mother confirmed.

He knew who I was, too, but didn’t know we were related.

I contacted him so we can do a story on him for the tribal newspaper and found that he scheduled two performances in Oklahoma, so my liaison and I went to see him and talked afterward. I shared the book titles recommended by the famous man’s son and other things he told me to help my cousin expand what he knows, as he will likely have to do more in our media campaign; while I didn’t portray the famous man, he was the one of my daytime program topics.

My cousin and I are a lot alike. He’s retired now but he has great ideas for projects.

This is his first Chautauqua, and it took me back to when I was in one. I really enjoyed my experience, and I really wish I could see him on stage.

My liaison said it was a good day; “We got to see a good show and talk to interesting people [his wife was there, too]!”

…That’s why I love my job. I get to do different things that I find fun and exciting!