New cats

Since I posted last, the worm thing in the building where I work has been resolved. I still don't have a t-shirt that says "I told you so", or even "Fay is right". Either would be nice.

So there was this terrible void when Mikko, the psychotic black cat, died on me. Yeah, the salamander is neat and all but you can't really touch them. It's kinda like buying a painting to replace a dead loved one. Not quite the same feeling about it. I started looking at the humane society for a kitten. No luck. I suppose that's good, that people in Boulder are responsible and spay/neuter their cats. Good for cats, bad for my breaking heart.

J, the girl I split the reception position with, shows up the day before my birthday with a cat in hand. Pansy. Abyssinian show cat. She's beautiful, and sweet in that kinda twitchy way that all purebreds tend to be. She's affectionate, but not a lap cat, and as she's already 5, will likely never be a lap cat. She's a character though, playing fetch with me, being unbearably cute. I fell instantly in love with her.

Now, snowboard season is coming up. I won't be home a lot soon. Especially on weekends. Pansy comes from a house of 10 cats, 3 dogs and someone always present. So I started the search for a second cat, to keep her company. Someone she can play with, because she is a perpetual kitten, bouncing around even at 3am as if she was 3 months old.

Enter Odin. I wandered into a pet store, one of the ONLY places in Boulder you can still buy a kitten, and saw him. 11 weeks old and already the size of Pansy at home. Huge paws. Stubby little tail. Part maine coon, part who-knows-what. He was so charming I took him home. The more I'm around this lil guy, the more I love him. Named him Odin cause well, he looks like an Odin. And it comforts me somewhat to call out the name of a Norse god my ancestors once worshipped.

So that's what's new. I've been skateboarding every day again, to and from work. Actually am getting better at it, travelling faster, over more trecherous sidewalks. Soon I wanna drop into the skate park, likely a midnight session so those skater boys aren't drooling over me and breaking my consentration. I love it so much. Skating is my zen. Gives me peace, to be so singlemindedly consentrating on something so complex. It's definately improved my balance, my reflex time, my ability to assess and react to a situation faster than I did before.

Mostly, it's just my zen. The rest of the world goes away when I skateboard. It's as close to something spiritual as a Christian walking into a church. Only my church is everything outside, the trees, the sidewalk, the feel of the board beneath my feet, the sun on my shoulders, and my god is movement. Nothing short of snowboarding makes me feel so absolutely....free.

One more hour, and I'll be on the pavement again. Can't wait.