Okay, so I saw “The Hobbit” last weekend,
and maybe I’ve got the idea of “adventure” on my mind, but it seemed like as
good a headline as any. And, by the way, I should probably let everyone know up
front that I suck at writing titles and headlines, so don’t give up reading
simply because the title isn’t very interesting. Headline writing was not my
forte in journalism school.
So, this is my first attempt at having my
own blog. It’s one of the things I promised my dissertation advisor — and
myself — that I would do to keep me motivated as a writer. And I don’t mean
that to sound pretentious. I am and have been a writer for a long time, mostly
as a journalist, but also writing short stories and most recently a collection
of creative
nonfiction essays which comprise my dissertation. In the process,
I’ve discovered a passion for writing essays and making observations about life
in general and sometimes my life in particular.
For example, this morning I looked out one
of my back windows and there was a cat sitting in the
heated water bowl I use as a substitute birdbath during the winter months. The
cat’s name is Pixie Bob, and he’s been living in my backyard and sometimes in
my garage since he was a kitten two summers ago. His mother, Portia, and a few
other members of his family also come and go from the premises, which keeps down
on undesirable critters like possums and raccoons, but does make me worry about
the bird population. So far, however, so good. I’ve never seen any of them go
for one of the birds that frequent my feeders, probably because they’re so well
fed already between the constant supply of kibble and the daily canned food
they get from me.
But back to Pixie Bob . . . I have
neglected the water bowl the past few days because I’ve had a series of all-day
migraines — nothing like the giant all-day suckers they used to sell at fairs
and carnivals, believe me — and hadn’t gotten around to filling it up. But I
have left it plugged into the outlet on the side of my house, so I expect it’s
warm-ish on the bottom, and apparently this cat is smarter than the rest of
them because he figured out that sitting in the empty bowl would keep his
backside and his feet nice and toasty. And he stayed there for a long time,
looking a lot like one of those Kliban tabby cats that used to be all over
greeting cards and calendars and cartoons – a furry, striped pyramid with a
cat’s head on top. And Pixie isn’t fat, but he is very fuzzy because he’s
wearing his winter fur right now. If the bowl were big enough, he’d probably
curl up inside and only come out when he heard me open the back door because
that would mean more food was coming to the garage.
So far, none of the other cats has figured
out the secret of the empty water bowl and I’m not going to tell them. Let
Pixie Bob know what he knows. There’s a heat lamp set up in the garage where
the rest of them can get warm if they want to.
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