Wednesday, November 05, 2014

Gratitude Challenge -- Day 5

"Every day for 30 days, celebrate what you're grateful for, corresponding to the theme of the day." 

Day #5 -- Transportation


Every workday I take the CTA Green Line at least once. That's when I find myself in the middle of the biggest melting pot imaginable. It's not unusual to see a woman clutching a Michael Kors bag on her lap seated next to a homeless with his belongings in a grocery bag and a half-smoked cigarette tucked behind his ear. I'm grateful for the el not only because it's convenient, but it helps me stay grounded and connected to my neighborhood.

Gratitude Challege -- Day 4

"Every day for 30 days, celebrate what you're grateful for, corresponding to the theme of the day." 

Day #3 -- Something I Do Every Day

Listen to my shower radio. Singing tunelessly with an oldie I thought I'd forgotten while I wash my hair makes me happy. I'm grateful that something so small can lift my mood. This morning it was Todd Rundgren's "I Saw the Light."

Poor Joey

My big old tomcat is feeling poorly again. He's still a big purr box with me, but he has no interest in playing with the other two cats. He's visited his water bowl (a good sign) but only wants to eat treats. He's even rejected the baby food and Feline a/d I heated (to make it extra smelly for him). Because he's not eating, he hasn't left much in the litter box for me to inspect. I can tell when I lift him that he's lost weight.

We're going to the vet together on Thursday morning. I hope that it's something easy to diagnose and simple to treat, like bad teeth. I'm fearing the worst, though. I sense him fading away from me.

He's a very good boy. He's never naughty. In our nearly two decades together, I can't recall a single moment when I've disciplined him. He has almost no temper. Throughout her long feline life here, my diva girlcat Charlotte slapped him every day, for no reason beyond not liking the cut of his gib, but he never one responded in kind. It's not in him. He wants nothing more from life than a patch of sun to sleep in.

Joey was named for Joey Tribbiani, Matt LeBlanc's character on Friends, a show that had its finale ten years ago. When I brought him home from the shelter, Bill Clinton reeling from his own mid-term elections.

As I hold him close to me, I admire his wonderful heart and hope he's not hurting.