Category Archives: Kokoro

Stitchery

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The other day, I peeked into the library, aka “Kokoro’s Room”, to see how she was doing.

As is often the case, she was snoozing in her heated nest. I wanted a picture.

Taking a photo with a cellphone through a door that’s only slightly ajar is tough. I tried again.

Well…

I didn’t want to open the door further. That usually wakes her up, and I didn’t want to disturb her sleep.

Fortunately, we have tools we can use in these situations. A few minutes shoving things around in GIMP, and voilà!

Meezers look much better as (nearly) complete entities, rather than a collection of parts.

The Damp Isn’t the Worst of It

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You may have heard that it’s been wet in California lately. I’m here to confirm that the rumors are true.

We’ve had rainfall of biblical proportions*.

* Overstatement. It hasn’t rained continuously for forty days and forty nights (though it does feel like it). But there have been record-setting quantities of precipitation, and I suspect that more than a few residents of the Bay Area wish they had built arks.

Yesterday was the worst so far. Not in the quantity so much as in the special effects department. There was just a tiny bit of thunder and lightning* to go along with the rain and hail.

* Understatement. Multiple thunderstorms with massive, multi-second, literally house-shaking rolls of thunder.

We’ve been fortunate (picture me knocking on wood at this point). No flooding (other than a leak in the garage roof, directly over the spot where our phone line comes in), the foundations are still solid, the storm drains in our area are keeping up with the precipitation, and we haven’t lost power.

But I can say with no fear of contradiction that Bay Area felines aren’t used to thunder and don’t have a clue what to do about it.

Hiding seems to be a popular choice. Sachiko and Lefty disappeared into the master bedroom closet the first time the house shook and didn’t reappear until nearly dinnertime. Emeraldas vanished into an undisclosed location and wasn’t seen until this morning.

G’aw curled up in the Rose Cottage in the back yard, tucked his ears under his stomach and appeared to sleep through the afternoon storm.

‘Nuki, self-proclaimed master of the universe, slunk into my office making pitiful meepling noises and required a good fifteen minutes of snuggles before he calmed down enough to sink a couple of claws into my leg.

Kokoro’s been around long enough to have seen and heard it all; she woke up when the thunder hit, looked around, and went back to napping. Smart lady.

To be fair, Bay Area humans aren’t all that great with thunder either. My reaction has been to hold my breath, waiting for the lights to go out. Hypoxia was a real risk.

Reports say we’ve got at least another week of rain. Here’s hoping it doesn’t include thunder.

A Life Lesson

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Kokoro may be a lady of a certain age, but that doesn’t mean she’s lost her sense of fun.

She’s not about to let Kaja hog the toys when there’s a chance to play with her hoomins.

A certain, carefully measured, application of the “I’m still the boss of you” stare, and the toy was hers.

Of course, being the intelligent lady she is, and possessing the wisdom that comes of applying that intellect over the course of her life, Kokoro knows that victory, however tasty…

…never lasts. Sometimes you catch the toy, true. But it’s equally true that the toy sometimes catches you.

(She’s got that look of martyred patience down, doesn’t she?)

And those rumors that Kaja, lacking said wisdom, had a not-so-quiet chuckle?

Regrettably true.

Practice, Practice, Practice

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One rule for living right I didn’t mention, mostly because I couldn’t find an appropriately illustrative song: recognize you’ll never be perfect, but never give up trying.

Kokoro is a case in point.

One could certainly forgive her if she stopped her pursuit of the perfect body curl. She is, after all, a lady of a certain age–arguably a certain age and a half–and her curl has been developed with daily practice.

And yet, it’s still not quite perfect.

Note the tail: it’s neither aligned with the feet or crossed over them to parallel the upper ear. Any judge would agree it’s a quarter-point deduction.

So, she continues to practice. This particular practice session lasted a good three hours.

One can only admire her dedication to her craft. And give her pettings when she wakes up.

Too Much of a Good Thing

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A couple of weeks ago, I was commending Kokoro for her generosity.

Let it be noted that one can be too generous.

Case in point:

Sure, it was a friendly gesture to share her heat pad with Rhubarb. But when Watanuki got involved…

Let’s just say that ‘Nuki hasn’t internalized the meaning of the word “share”.

No heat for Rhubarb, and Kokoro is so far away, she’s teetering on the brink of falling off the futon.

But at least the crew is being amicable about the whole thing. The futon has, it seems, been unanimously declared “neutral territory: open to all” in the same way our bed has.

Still, Kokoro needs the heat on her joints more than anyone else.

All Scrooging Aside…

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Or is that “Grinching”?

I did, just yesterday, hear a Christmas song I enjoyed: Jethro Tull’s interpretation of “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”.

Why did I enjoy it? Partly because it was instrumental, so I didn’t have to deal with the lyrics and partly because it was a heavily jazz-influenced interpretation–remember what I was saying about doing something different?

Mostly, though, it was because I’d never heard it. At all, much less seventy-‘leven times this week.

Anyway, as the post title has it, you’re not here today to listen to me rant about music. I know what you really want.

A rare moment of amity, no doubt seasonally inspired.

Kokoro isn’t exactly known for sharing, but lately she has been allowing Rhubarb to join her on the heat pad. The weather has been chilly, and nobody wants cold toe beans, so kudos to Ms. Kokopoof for her contribution to familial harmony.

A Rare Sight

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This was originally going to be titled “Birds of a Feather” but second thoughts prevailed.

I’ve long held the opinion that every home requires a meezer.

We are currently blessed–if that’s the word–with two. Kokoro is, naturally, the undisputed* empress of the household and queen of all she surveys.

* In her own mind, at least

Emeraldas, on the other forepaw, is the most recent addition to the clowder, and by far the least integrated. She spars vigorously with Lefty, stares at Sachiko with deep suspicion, and retreats precipitously from humans. (Contrarily, of course, she snuggles vigorously with Yuki, and..um…nevermind.)

So the Meezer Ladies don’t spend much time together. Kokoro stays in Maggie’s office, with occasional forays to the bedroom to hang out on my lap, and the kitchen to raid the empty gooshie fud cans. Emeraldas has recently relocated herself from the library upstairs to the living room downstairs–physically a journey of a mere couple of dozen stairs, but far more distant psychologically.

And yet, the twain do meet. And even pose for an occasional photo op.