It just takes a glance at my last post to know that I had a lot of aspirations for this week and month.
Insert whatever cliche you want, but things came up.
Some of these incursions were great!
Impromptu pumpkin picking with the kids on Sunday. We were doing a quick trip to a nearby church to pick up pumpkins for sale, but they were shut down for the day so we made a proper run to a local family friendly farm. The boys and our pup, Freya, got to hang out with donkeys and cows, and quite literally sprawl in a sea of pumpkins. We brought seven home. They adorn our front step. Little Shef loves them.
Then the raucous wild card game between the Red Sox and Yankees on Tuesday night. Each season I buy a new Red Sox hat. By September the blue dye has faded to gray, and the sweat and sun stains mark the retirement of ball caps for the end of the next year. I’m excited to get more mileage out of this hat and hope they can win against the odds in Tampa, though last night was a poor start.
Putting together little Luke’s balance bike and having both boys cruise around in the parking lot. These kids are growing fast and moving quick.
Other things were less good.
Luke got the inevitable cold from the wedding and/or pumpkin picking excursions from the weekend. So there have been fevers, long nights, doctor and pharmacy visits. He seems to have mostly kicked it, and as of this writing is back up to maximum levels of mischievousness.
Then there is the cat. Kratos. While getting the boys up for a bath on Wednesday night I found him sprawled and howling in Luke’s bedroom. His rear legs weren’t working and he was practically barking in pain. We rushed him to an animal hospital and he has some serious urinary blocking issues. The long and short of it is that he still should make it through, and could return home as early as tonight.
Kratos means a lot to us. He is the first creature that Laura and I have cared for, and we adopted him, skinny, scraggly, a recent amputee, from the MSPCA in Boston. That first night he slept between the two of us, and he has been with us at every life milestone since.
Kratos is a great cat. Shockingly tolerant of the kids, less tolerant of the dog, and always up for a good ear scratch. Of all the pets he is best in tune with the moods and emotions of the house. Whenever someone is upset, he’ll deign to stop by for a cuddle. When our security alarm goes off in the middle of the night, he races down the stairs with me to see what’s going on, while Freya cowers in bed.
I’m tremendously glad that he’ll be coming home. But it was another reminder about the fragility of our day-to-day.
Currently reading: Heroes Reborn (Marvel Comic Limited Series) Several short sentences about writing, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry, Project Hail Mary, and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.