The Chosen One in New Immigrant

That’s precisely how I feel as a cool breeze flows through my place. Earlier I was in the nearby town where it rained briefly, leaving the
air swamp-like with humidity. We are to have the same. I am grateful for every moment’s reprieve. It may be so hot (88 plus humidity as high) that I have to pack up the four cats here and head home to air
conditioning.

This morning Jack had his walk in this cool breeze. He doesn’t do well
in the heat and I douse him with a gallon of water on bad days to help
some.

One person asked about The Cats and that’s all the prompting I need.
Nothing has changed on that score. They are the love of our lives.

Currently I have roly-poly black and white Willow here. At sixteen she
remains high IQ and in charge of her domain, able to growl and scare
all the others. She will tolerate Una and Zipper sleeping on “her” bed. That took awhile and I am proud (amazed) of her tolerance. What is it about cats adoring beds?

Zipper has been up here with me the longest. A few months ago he had a serious bladder blockage which required a week at the vets. He endured
real pain. After it was over, unfortunately, he urinated on some of Tom’s papers which put him in exile on the porch. Although we gave him lots of attention there, he was mystified by his exclusion. I brought him up here
alone, at first, to see how he would do on neutral ground. Seemed okay.
We added Willow and allowed them both free reign (Willow has been exiled for some years). It worked out well.

Now we’ve added Nisa and Spot (with Willow returning to the bedroom). There has been some swatting or power plays between Zipper, Nisa and Spot, but no real battles. They require watching but we keep our fingers crossed that they’ll continue to calm down with each other.

That leaves Zipper’s Mom Daisy and Sister Kabuki in the upstairs of the
Cedar Falls house. They do not travel.

Pyewackett and the Kittens (turning two at the end of the month) remain
in the downstairs at Cedar Falls. None of them are big fans of Zipper. He is enormous and has tried to attack them in the past. We’ll work on that
hurdle if and when we get past the Nisa/Spot integration.

Nine cats is a whole lot. They definitely contribute to my longer absences here because I vowed that each will get all the attention he/she wants and I have been true to that vow.

Then there are the enormous number of litter boxes and endless dishes to wash. That is not a complaint, simply a reality of “cat herding.” In fact, my major concern, as I turn 70 next month, is being able to live their lives out with them!