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Mid August 2020
I thought the wedding would be the highlight of my year until my cousin, Cameron, mentioned that they had found a kitten in one of his vineyards. Auntie Wendy, and Uncle Stu aren’t really cat people, but they know how much I love them. I assumed that I wouldn’t have a cat again until staying in one place became a higher priority for me than traveling, but it turned out that this pandemic (and Wendy and Stu) gave me a blessing that I wouldn’t give back for the world. I was totally surprised when they suggested that Cameron bring the tiny ball of fur home for me. It would be my cat, and it would always have a home on the farm when I returned to the ship. My job was to train it to be a friendly cat. The thing about cats is that they’re only kittens for a relatively short amount of time. And it’s THE BEST. If I was given a choice between having a brand new car or a kitten, I would chose the kitten any day. And the best part was that I was home pretty much all the time so I could soak in every moment!
For those of you who are cat people, enjoy! For those of you who aren’t, you should probably just skip this one.
Cameron was harvesting the grapes on his ranches so he was working nights. Once the plan was made to bring the tiny kitten home, it disappeared for a couple of days. I was trying to not to be disappointed. Uncle Stu said I should check out the animal shelters to see if they had any kittens. We went to visit a foster mom with some kittens (they tried to foster as many animals as possible during the pandemic), but the one with the most personality was already spoken for. None of the others really leaped out and said, “I’m your cat!” (this is how we went home with three kittens from the humane society while on vacation when I was growing up). We decided to visit some more fosters, but on the way home, Cameron called– the kitten was back! He’d bring it home in the morning. I had him send me pictures with his hand in it so I could see how tiny it was (he sent videos that are too big to post on here, but I couldn’t stop replaying it. I hardly slept that night
In the morning I called the vet to set up baby’s first visit, and the girl who answered the phone kindly let me send butt pictures so she could determine the sex.
It’s a girl!
It took forever to figure out what to name her. I took polls on Facebook, but nothing seemed right. My favorite suggestion was “Who, Me?” because she looked like a trouble maker. She is.
I finally settled on Riesling. She was found in a vineyard, so we wanted her to have a wine-themed name. She’s light colored so I thought it should be a white wine. Plus, Riesling is my favorite white wine- it’s sweet and a little bubbly. Then Ruth Bader Ginsberg passed away. Now that was a lady I really admired. So she became Riesling Bader Ginsberg. We could call her Reese for short. But we don’t. I mostly call her kitty. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t know her name. I’m also pretty sure she doesn’t care.
I immediately went out to buy her kitten food and a bunch of toys. To this day, she prefers to play with things I didn’t buy, like shoe laces and empty boxes.
Eat, poop, play sleep. That was our routine every two hours.
I loved to watch her check out the other kitty in the mirror
And find new places to hang out
But mostly, she sleeps…
Her favorite toys are still trash…
But there are still so many places to explore…
Her claws got sharper, so she learned how to play nicer. Her two hour routine has expanded to more like 24 hours. Now, in real time, she’s just about a year old, so I’m guessing she’s fully grown. She hunts at night and sleeps most of the day. She likes playing with the puzzle pieces that I seem to be so interested in. She’s brought me some baby mice and baby birds, but no big ones yet. She’s become more affectionate, and I’m trying to teach her to love everyone else in the house so it won’t be too jarring when I’m on a boat. Still, I’ve had plenty of dreams that I bring her with me. That would be my preference, of course.
Thank you for indulging me and letting me go on and on about my cat. If you ever need the favor returned, I’m an interested audience.
