loss of a dear friend

This past Saturday when I arrived at my parent's home for the day my mom came out to greet me as usual. What she said first wasn't usual, though. "We think Pumpkin's died," she told me. She then went on to explain that a few days before when my brother was feeding our horses he had seen her go under the tack shed where she had been living for the last few years, that she hadn't sounded good, and that they hadn't seen her or heard her since.

Pumpkin was thirteen years old and overweight, despite carefully rationing her food for years, so this wasn't necessarily a surprise. However, we'd had her since she was a tiny kitten and I was a little girl. My mom found her and her sister in a hollow in a brush pile on our property where their mother had abandoned them. They were so young I don't think their eyes were even open yet. After trying to get their mother to take them back we decided we would raise them as pets and my mom called our vet to find out what to feed them at such a young age. We had to hand feed them with little syringes for a while, even taking them on a trip to my Aunt's house five hours away because we needed to feed them every little while. Sadly Pumpkin's sister died when she was only a couple months old, as did all the other completly tailless kittens from their litter (their mother was a manx). After that Pumpkin was a dearly loved part of our family, with her meows that always sounded like her tail had been stepped on, her turbo engine purr that could be heard all the way across the house, and her complete lack of mouse radar.

When my mom told me that Pumpkin might be gone I was shocked and it didn't seem quite real. She couldn't be gone after being there everyday for thirteen years. That night when my brother and I went to feed the horses I got a flashlight and was determined to look for her, which probably wasn't the smartest decision on my part. My brother helped me look for her, taking the flashlight and showing me where he'd seen her last. I spotted her shortly after, confirming everyone's beliefs about what had happened to her.

She is definitely going to be missed around my parent's place. It won't be the same without her in the tack shed to meow at me and flop on the floor with a thud and a rumbling purr wanting attention.

Meridian's Mischief : Tasty Pumpkins

Since the Pagan Society pumpking carving meeting was at my apartment, of course Meridian was in the middle of everything once she was brave enough to venture into the kitchen with all the strange people. She proceeded to wander around eating bits of pumpkin guts, attacking the newspaper we'd laid out, playing with the tools we weren't using, and climbing on people. Eating bits of pumpkin was probably what she did most, though. Meridian definitely enjoyed the meeting and made it more interesting for us humans.

More Halloween Countdown

This time around it's mostly autumny things that I'd rather not have to deal with, but alas they're here and I do. On Tuesday I came down with a cold so I've been dealing with that ever since. Since it's been mostly a racking cough I made up some natural cough relief (pictured). It contains a half pint of boiling water poured over a sliced lemon and a Tbsp of organic honey. Added to that is a spoonful of a cold busting herb (thyme, sage, and/or ginger in this case). Then you take half a tsp three times a day. I've been sleeping alot, too.

Also on Tuesday I adopted a 6 month old kitten to keep me company. Well, she came down with a cold a couple days later and now I have to give her antibiotics twice a day. Other than that she's been an absolute joy to have and has helped me feel less lonely.

Something autumny that is easy for me to do is take note of the shortening of the days and lengthening of the nights. I work a paper route so I'm up and running around well before the sun comes up. When I first started the job it was late summer and I'd get done after the sun had come over the horizon fully. Now sometimes the eastern sky has barely lightened by the time I get home and crawl back into bed. It's also made me more aware of the phases of the moon.

Hopefully everyone is faring better than my cat and I. Next post I will hopefully be healthier and have more exciting things to post about.