Heavy Sloppy Rain

Rain, sheets of it, huge globs of it pelting us, on the attack. Forget the idea of a drizzle. There was nothing misty and beautiful about it. No, this rain was fierce, wind-driven, the stuff of novels on English heaths, the stuff of homeless wandering with a thin layer of clothing that always makes us happy we have a place to go inside. This was a cold rain, and on Monday night everyone came flying into the meeting space soaked, hair splatted down, with water dripping down our faces, eye makeup drooling down cheeks, sodden books and papers. This was the rain of a Hollywood machine. This rain left made swimming holes out of parking lots and roads.

Now, the keeper told me all of this. I stayed in and watched it slam against the house and the bird feeders. I listened as it cascaded down the gutters. I waited for her to come home. I didn't want to float away without her. How would she find me? She was out a long time. I was hungry and ready to tear at the plastic bags. But at 10:30 she arrived and I displayed my displeasure.

She told me to be grateful that the roof wasn't leaking, and that we would get a new roof soon.
She gave me food. We turned on the heat, and had a gentle, warm night.

Rainy Palm Sunday

We started the day in the sun. I took a long walk exploring all of the places which Stassi marked over these past years. He sure got around. Oh, yes. I heard the keeper calling over and over again, then banging the spoon against the food dish, jingling her keys. I have all of her cues down, but the morning was so fresh, and I hadn't finished. It was me and the birds. I finally sensed that she was really going to leave, and it started to rain so I tore back home, panting, but happy to have had the chance to travel. I knew I would be locked up the rest of the day. I was almost right. But she came home in the late afternoon, sopping wet. She dripped. She said that she had gotten caught in the rain while shopping for my cat food. She brought me a sisal mouse with a feather on it. It looks interesting, but I only wanted to go out for a bit to sit on the cushion in the side yard. She let me do that, and built a fire, warming herself up while I breathed some good air outside. She showed me her palms before she hung them up on the wall.

We are starting Holy Week and moving into the Great Triduum. This means she will be going lots of places this week. She said she wants to be able to live it more fully since she really doesn't have to work during this time. She said she saw parts of The Passion yesterday preparing for a Monday evening retreat and said it was the goriest most sadistic thing she had seen, yet, the images are staying with her. She also said she had a grand time at St. B's today with so many parishioners. Next Sunday we will be having company for dinner and I will be eating in the den.

Green,Delicious Spring

On Monday, the keeper went walking through the neighborhood and just savored and smelled the incredible spring. She was intoxicated with the daphne and the sweet fragrances wafting from yards, so much in bloom. She said if she was an animal she would want to roll in it over and over. In particular, the willows' profusion of delicate spring green shoots is heart stoppingly awesome, and she said she just wanted to wrap herself in it and dance. The cherry trees are still producing pink petals that are covering the street and are filling the air--pink blizzards. Such sweetness.

In Anaheim

The keeper spent 4 days in California with 35,000 people. It was a riot of color and sound and ideas, she said. I got to stay home in an empty house, but the nice neighbor Ann fed me and gave me treats twice each day. She understands animals. The keeper never even called. I should have torn things up a bit. But I was good, because I wasn't sure if she was going to take me back to the shelter or something. I was a little nervous, and I didn't have Stassi there to walk me through it.

Cabrini Graduation and a Kindle

The keeper went one evening to the cathedral to celebrate the graduation of the Hispanic Pastoral care ministers from the Cabrini Ministry Training Program. She really likes them all and thought the graduation was wonderfully bilingual. That night she also got to borrow a Kindle and started downloading some books. She is quite taken by Barbara Brown Taylor's An Altar in the World. She really likes the Kindle. I imagine that we will get a Kindle before we get a new kitten.

The Lonely Elegance of Being an Only Pet

Here I am, trying to emulate Prince Anastassi's snooty prep school pose. I think it looks pretty good. But March was lonely. The keeper never was home and I had no one to play with except all of my toy mice. She took away all the plastic bags from the waste baskets so I couldn't eat them any more. I spend a lot of time watching birds. But there was no one to talk with. Sigh.

Floral Cupcakes

The flowers are back on our front porch. The clematis is climbing the posts and the primroses stand like tidy little cupcakes waiting to be devoured. The keeper spent her days after the Novena of Grace, rushing around, finishing up details on the trip to Anaheim with delegates from her group, so didn't really have much time to appreciate the flowers. She even forgot that it was St. Patrick's Day. It was clear she needed a little break.

What Happened to March?

Well, friends, we are back! It's not that I didn't want to write, but the Keeper was never home. So we are going to try to catch up with some photos from what happened to the keeper in March. She spent 9 days in St. Ignatius Chapel and St. Joseph's as part of a team giving the Novena of Grace. She said it was intense and wonderful and she felt bonded to the people who came. She also said she is now fascinated with the wild Francis Xavier. She said it was a good experience to preach again and feel the panic and the surge of energy in the creative process. She returned home each day very tired. But had to keep writing.

March

It's a new month, and we are glad for it. February was not an easy month here, and we are moving on with our lives. We have been living without our friend Stassi now for almost three weeks, and I am getting used to be the only cat. It's a good life. Is it worth being lonely? I am not sure. The keeper has been gone a great deal and has weird hours. She is talking about getting me another cat, but I hope she waits a little longer. I like my independence. I don't have to guard my food or compete for attention, and it's really relaxing.

The keeper has gotten back to walking again. The flowers are all out so early, and colors are exploding all over the neighborhood. The keeper is getting us a new roof, and so we are interviewing roofers. The roof is an expensive item, according to the keeper, and some companies invest a lot more in advertising than others, so the keeper is trying to sort out the ad hype from the cost and the real product. She says the costs are all over the place. She has also been concerned since her bank failed last week but was purchased y someone else. It seems her checks are still good. She might change banks anyway. She knows hers got too greedy.

She says we are going to live more simply. Fine with me, as long as she feeds me. She cut the NYT. She said she resented it and the fact she HAD to read it. She told the company that she would reorder it when she started missing it again. We have been watching MAD MEN on Netflix DVD's, and the keeper is hooked. That's a good relief from all of her meaningful work.