the secret life of pets...

in the middle of another bout of vet visits for our poor cat, Donut...almost 15 years old...many years of IBD (yes, don't laugh, cats can have this)...3 years of diabetes...and all the illness that comes from both...and despite all of it...he is as regal and beautiful as ever...I find myself searching his eyes lately...looking for guidance...blinking back at him...oh, my little pookie, are you in pain?...these are the ugly times for pet owners...and it got me thinking about all those pets that dotted my life's journey...goldfish...birds...frogs...and then, my first cat, Sonny Boy...sweet with a fearless personality...much loved by our new Staten Island neighbors...then, just two years old...disappeared one summer night...never to be seen again...heartbroken, we sulked for a while...and then cat #2...Blackie...sleek and gorgeous...loving to us...others...eh...a hunter at heart...so many "presents" for my mom neatly placed on our porch...passing away peacefully in his favorite chair a day before his 13th birthday...at the time, I was on my own in Queens and not home to say good bye...the loss was strange in that sense...there was a dog, Lucky...my brother's...with us a short time...there was a kitten that Mike and I adopted early in our marriage...but shelter life left her too traumatized and sadly she was returned...a large fish tank in our foyer came next...two fish, Fred and Bob, lived over ten years!...and then in the fall of 2002, we adopted Donut...5 months old, he was shy...yet, took the fourth seat at our kitchen table the first night...he was with us only four weeks when my Dad suddenly passed away...Donut never left my side...and now as we hope for the best, I will return the favor...at his side...slipping him his favorite foods...hoping for a little divine intervention...and the answer in his eyes...

hope springs eternal

and winter marches on...through purim...this year's special - queen esther in a large down coat looking less regal...more like hodel kvetching to tevye at the anatevka train station...on to the ides on the 15th...post snowstorm...you know...the latest late winter special...with brando screaming in the background of the 24 hour a day coverage...stella!!!!...which for some brought mounds of snow...others...parking lots doubling as skating rinks...and for the truly unfortunate...a snow day home with kids and not enough booze...but, alas, for me...a miserable cold...oh, how i wanted to stab my nose 23 times and breathe again...ay, caesar!...then st. paddy's...people deliriously downing green beer...which really looks like colonoscopy prep...but as i lifted a nice pale ale to my lips...sniffling and sneezing...ugh...no taste...and now...spring beckons this monday...calls you with your winter pallor...and the green you dream of is a coat of leaves for that poor naked tree outside your bedroom window...it whispers behind more snowflakes...and cold rain...and snain...(you know...snow and rain)...and you think as you put on your ugly, heavy boots...yucky colored winter socks with a hole in a toe...no, you, yell...please, mother nature...let winter be done...let me toss these boots out of my window...but only if there is the receiver of nassau county taxes walking below...please...i've got spring fever...and i'm running out of socks...