I think my favorite things in life all revolve around my pets. Every night, Lily sleeps with her but in my armpit so I can scritch her ears as she lies in between my arm and torso, and Rosie sleeps up against my hip. When I wake up in the morning when the sun comes in, and I know I don’t have to be up yet, just lying their with the critters next to me while being all comfortable and cool in bed, just basically meditating for an hour or so before the day starts. Man, that is awesome.
Another favorite is just sitting out on the back porch at night watching the stars and listening to the infrequent sounds around town, watching the bats and the fireflies, and my buddy always comes up and sits next to me on his chair. We can spend a half hour just sitting in our chairs, with me petting him and and giving him underchins:
And for those of you who like to call Steve fat, that is the arm of a man who is 6’1″ and whose weight is somewhere near Div. I nosetackle. In about two weeks it will be the one year anniversary of Tunch’s death, and I do not want to phrase this wrong, because I miss him, but Steve is such a character that it was super easy to go through the grieving process.
I’m telling you. If you need a starter cat, get a Maine Coon. They’re just the fucking best.
Johannes
Glad for you, Cole. We just lost one of ours, Elvis, about a month ago, and the rest of the cats have been a great comfort, even as we miss the Comfort Kitty (as our big tuxedo boy was called).
BillinGlendaleCA
No cats here, my girls(they the k9 variety) would drive any feline bat crap crazy.
ulee
Yes, I’ve got my Joplin and Cassidy making damn sure every squirrel and cricket is being patrolled on this road goddamnit–fences be damned.
Diana
all hail the cute Steve. Cat pics always welcome.
BGinCHI
Why is there a turkey leg resting against your cat?
Emerald
I am a great believer in, if you lose a beloved pet and you’re a pet person and you’re gonna get another pet someday anyway, that you should go right out and get the new pet as soon as possible after the beloved pet dies.
Because the new pet will never replace the beloved pet, but the new pet is gonna be a damned awesome pet in its own right, and certainly will help in the grieving process.
That’s my theory. I’ve followed that (by accident, really) in my own pet life and it was the right thing to do–with the awesome new pet sitting right here interfering with my typing right now.
SuperHrefna
Somewhere, Tunch is purring in approval at you having such a stalwart feline buddy to keep you company now that he’s gone.
Jewish Steel
My wife says the cattening of the household will begin as soon as the stone-killer basenji, 15yo Shiva, takes her leave.* I believe I will urge her to follow your advice.
*She’s in no rush. Still dominates the boys, plays like a puppy, runs the household.
Ford Powers
Awwww look at u.. Being all #100happydays and shit
Adorbs.
kindness
Pets are kids that don’t live as long. You can go through 6 or 7 different generations in a life. It’s terrible to see one go. But sure is nice fun to see ’em while they’re here. Good Zen.
Suzanne
@Emerald: I agree. The newbie doesn’t replace the dearly departed, or eliminate the grieving, but they do make you smile through the tears, which can be the release your heart needs.
Plus, if you are the adopt-from-the-shelter type, it feels good to spring someone from jail.
SuperHrefna
@Jewish Steel: When you are ready to be assimilated by your Maine Coon Overlord I highly recommend the breeder I got my fuzzy overlord from: http://www.dracoonfly.com She has been everything I could ask of a breeder, conscientious, ethical and her cats are just glorious.
? Martin
California credit rating was improved. Hurray for less taxpayer money going to bankers!
PhoenixRising
…You can get a CAT from a breeder?
Well, who knew.
I’ve never met a cat that was made on purpose, but I guess there must be such a thing.
If a person can be rude, what does a deliberately bred cat cost? I’m fascinated by this concept, as I’m 43 and have been living with a cat from the shelter (5 different cats in that time, including the ones we found in the barn & recycled independently) since I was a toddler.
TaMara (BHF)
@JohnCole – yup. I was so glad you found Steve when you did, because just a few months later I was in the same spot and it was how healing Steve was for you that allowed me to grab the Z-Man from the shelter only a week later. Haven’t regretted a day of it. He’s a hoot and yes I still miss my handsome Harley, Z-Man eases the hurt.
srv
Nipsters on the rise
In other news, I wonder how man Tea Partiers are on this list:
SuperHrefna
@PhoenixRising: I’ve always had rescue cats before too, but when I decided I wanted a specific breed I researched breeders until I found one that met all my requirements. She doesn’t breed too much, her first priority is the health of her cats ( for example she regularly ultrasounds her breeding cats’ hearts to make sure they don’t have a heart defect common to Maine Coons), etc. I was actually pretty open about which breed I’d get but I had a long list of requirements for a breeder :-) A lot of this was caused by my heart being broken by my darling black rescue catboy who spent his whole short life suffering from one illness after another until colon cancer took him away at only four. I really, really wanted a healthy kitten. And I got one! My kitten just had his first birthday and he is a constant source of delight. The cost? $1,200. I think it was worth it, others might disagree. He is much more aggressively social than any cat I’ve had before, and leads me around the house warbling away in contentment. He is huge, big boned and fluffy with massive dinner plate paws. He looks twice as big as my rescue tuxedo catgirl, but really he only weighs five pounds more than her. The one thing I would warn any potential Maine Coon minions out there is that you had better learn to love combing your cat. You have to do it every day.
Anne Laurie
They are, indeed, excellent for that purpose (as for so many others). Most cats are, by human standards, philosophers or solitaries; Maine Coons are pirates. They take an interest in human lives, and are not unwilling to show it. Of course, that’s because they intend to take full advantage (“your” meals will never be safe from predation) but it’s comforting for us thumbed monkeys to have a small predator find us so entertaining.
A Maine Coon will run to the door to greet you. But, unlike a dog, the MC will convey that they just happened to be napping in the vicinity, were you gone? Our late beloved Figaro, a tuxedo’ed gentlecat whose previous life must’ve involved being a professional butler, was a particular master at this — it took us a while to discover how quickly he could scurry from wherever on the four levels of our house he’d been napping to “just happen” to be at the door, between the time the car pulled up & the time we unlocked the door, all without turning a hair.
Higgs Boson's Mate
@srv:
Although I do wear a Zoot Suit to surfing contests, I cannot understand dressing as a Brooklyn hipster (Brooklyn? Hipster?) at a Nazi event.
Jewish Steel
@SuperHrefna: Bookmarked and sent to my wife. Merci!
Jewish Steel
@Anne Laurie: On the pet spectrum, it sounds like the basenji and MC are practically neighbors.
Tokyokie
Pffffft. You want a cat starter kit? Get a Siamese! They’re the best breed, as long as you prefer your cats loud, looney and affectionate, which I do.
Wally Ballou
This is all kinds of awesome: the Obamas have made a video tribute to the movie they went to see on their first date 25 years ago: Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing.
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/28/watch-barack-and-michelle-obama-s-video-dedication-to-spike-lee-s-do-the-right-thing.html
The best part of all, of course, is looking forward to watching the wingnut commentariat lose their collective shit over this. Buy your shares in popcorn futures now.
Omnes Omnibus (the first of his name)
@Wally Ballou: Jesus, that was their first date? Wingnut hair is starting to catch fire.
BillinGlendaleCA
@? Martin: Amazing what happens when you elect a governor who actually knows how to do his job, and a leg than does theirs.
? Martin
@BillinGlendaleCA: It also helped immensely to allow the legislature to tell the GOP minority to STFU on the budget. But Brown deserves tremendous credit for holding the line.
Anne Laurie
@Jewish Steel: Yup! They can also be most determined escape artists, just like (I’ve heard) a certain breed of dogs…
But you’ll need to get used to brushing a Maine Coon, and frequently. Basenjis may self-groom, but MCs need help from their people on a regular, even daily, basis. The upside is, unlike a lot of cats, MCs usually enjoy the attention!
John Revolta
“Hey, G.W., how come you ain’t got no brothers up on the wall here?”
Linkmeister
Hardware question for the geeks:
I’m currently using a Netgear WNR2000 wireless router. It’s several years old and runs the 802.11n standard. I’m discovering that its signal is fading when I get to the kitchen to try to use the tablet, and using Mom’s Mac out in the family room is becoming hopeless.
Has anyone bought an 802.11ac wireless router in the last year or so? Who recommends what?
? Martin
@Linkmeister: I’ve got a Netgear R6300 and I’m quite happy with it. I’ve had to reboot it about 3 times in the last year+. I’m not crazy about the Netgear software and am thinking of installing DD-WRT on it. It’s a bit of a nuisance getting proper security working across a spanned network (2 routers) but if you’re sticking with a single router it’s pretty nice. The range is better than the Buffalo .n router it replaced. I get about another 20 feet or so out of it.
Ash Can
Thank heaven for Steve. :)
sm*t cl*de
@Tokyokie: Pffffft. You want a cat starter kit? Get a Siamese!
Compromise. A Siamese and a MC.
gbear
I’ll put in a plug for a Russian Blue as a good starter cat. Friendly, playful and devoted.
Linkmeister
@? Martin: Thank you, sir! I’ll check it out.
Miss Bianca
Hey, John –
I mostly lurk on this site, but I just wanted to say that I’ve been getting a big, wistful kick out of your attachment to Steve. I lost my Angel, a Maine Coon, a couple years ago now – and when I say “lost”, I mean just that – she disappeared when I was living in Crested Butte – so I prefer to live in the hope that she is living the high life with whomever else she decided to steamroll into being her minion, as opposed to the more grisly and likely prospect that she was ambushed and eaten by a coyote/fox/bear/other varmint roaming the alleys.
She came into my life a few months after my old cat died at 18; and, for a variety of reasons, I was not looking for another cat at the time. However, one rainy day as I was leaving the supermarket, I noticed a tiny, wet fuzzball making her determined, wobbly, and pathetically screamy way across the carpark toward me – looking sure to be trampled or run over. There was no conscious thought in the procedure – I just noticed, in a detached sort of way, that I had scooped her up and plopped her into my lap as I was starting the car, whereupon she stopped screaming and started staring up into my face with her huge hazel eyes, purring. She must only have been around six weeks old.
So, I dealt with the respiratory infection, and fed her formula with an eyedropper, and stopped my Siberian Husky from eating her head, and she lived, and she became “my cat” – or, rather, she became my feline overlord – imperious, demanding, and bratty as any teenage princeling. I think she was feral, and that I got her just after the tipping point where she would have been truly domesticated. Except when she was in distress, she never purred. She tolerated affection to a point, then she’d bite or scratch when she’d had enough. (She did like to sleep by my side at night, but I had to be careful not to celebrate the fact with too much attention). Affectionate? Hardly. A character? Definitely. A pain in my ass? Oh, my, yes.
Do I miss her to this day, wish for her spectacularly unlikely return, and stop to swivel my head whenever I see a bushy, stripey cat dart across my path? Oh, yeah.