Soul Thumping

Cats Are Like Wives...or Not

A few years ago I was on a project for work that required me to travel every week from my home in Nashville to Seattle for 8 months straight (in other words, Seattle was my home for 8 months).

Every Sunday night I had a car pick me up from the SEA-TAC airport to drive me to my hotel in downtown Seattle.  I got to know the driver fairly well, and we always chit-chatted about my life in Nashville or his new plans for his family.  One evening we got on the subject of my cats.  Cabbie Joe (I will call him that to protect his identity), who was from Nigeria, had a hard time understanding why people (and by "people," I believe he meant "Americans") wanted to own pets.  In his country, he explained, animals are not pets.  He started rattling off numbers on how much money "people"  could save if they didn't have pets.  He had apparently researched this topic well, unless the statistics he spewed at me were made up on the fly.

I had to agree with him (the figures were staggering when I heard them), but asked, "What about companionship?  Pets provide companionship."  He replied, "I have a wife and children for companionship."  I was tired, and didn't feel like getting into a huge philosophical debate with him.  He also believed that I, as a woman, should be married and not traveling around the country for work (this was a discussion we had had on a previous week).

Later that evening while checking emails from my hotel room, I started to give the pet conversation some thought.  Not because I necessarily agreed with him, but because he was extremely firm in his belief about not owning pets and he was very aggressive in getting his point across.  Perhaps he had a strong dislike of animals.  I don't know.

I mention this now because my poor Kwinn has been to the vet 3 times in the last week and a half.  I love this cat with every fiber of my being (I'm not exaggerating this time), but I'm beginning to detest going to the vet as much as he is.  Not just because of the cost, but because he is a rude little bastard when we arrive (understandably...I'll give him that), he pukes in my car each trip, and gives me the cold shoulder for days afterwards.

Last night, after cleaning the cat vomit from the cat carrier (after returning home from our 3rd vet  visit), for a split second I believed that perhaps Cabbie Joe was right after all.  For a nano second.  Then I went through the house looking for Kwinn to apologize for thinking such terrible thoughts.  I found him, hiding under the bed in the guest room.  I lifted the bedskirt and reached out to pet my beloved little companion.  On cue, he growled at me, turned his head the other way, thinking he should have just had a wife and some kids.

 

 

 

 

--Fortuitous Observer

Graveyard of the Atlantic? Ha! I call it Paradise.

Yesterday we arrived in Avon, NC for our week of glorious baking in the sun (yup, I'm a sun bunny alright and not ashamed...I love it, and I use sunscreen...those anti-sun folks might want to read up on the latest medical news...a growing number of folks being diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency), listening to the waves, feeling the warm breezes of the Outer Banks in North Carolina.

This morning I'm blogging (obviously) and getting ready to go for a run before the weather turns sweltering.  I love that word and we use it quite a bit here in Carolina.  So, I don't really have much to snark about yet.  It's too gorgeous here to care!  The house we rented this year is absurdly awesome so I'll be spending the week in a state of crazy euphoric bliss here in the "Graveyard of the Atlantic."  Come and get me pirates, I triple-dog dare ya!

-- Fortuitous Observer

Prosperity: The Family Reunion - Part II

As I mentioned in my previous post, my family had a reunion during the July 4th holiday weekend at my aunt and uncle's home in Prosperity, SC.  As I'm unemployed, I felt it couldn't hurt to spend some time in a town called "Prosperity."  It's a quaint little place not far from Columbia, and my aunt and uncle have a house on Lake Murray, which isn't too shabby in itself.  Anyway, back to the reunion story.  Some background on my family:  my grandparents live in West Virginia, and my mother and her 3 siblings were all born and raised there.  My siblings and I were also born in West Virginia, but we lived in Georgia and North Carolina at various times during our childhood.  What this means, is that most of those who attended the family reunion are West Virginia hillbillies, however; most of them do have all of their teeth, or at least a full set of dentures (and no one wore overalls).

Oddly enough, I don't have much family fodder to spout off about.  I know, I know, it is most unusual.  Most of my observations during this trip were outside of my family.  For instance, the hotel we stayed in during the weekend in Prosperity.  I am used to traveling for work (ok, when I was working), in fact, I was a road warrior and 90% of my job involved travel.  I say this because it makes me an expert on business travel, maybe even a bit of a snob, and as I have almost zero patience for just about anything and everything, I tend to be easily annoyed with vacation travelers who don't understand travel etiquette.

For example:  The free continental breakfast in the morning at the hotel doesn't mean that your misbehaved, loud brats can run in and out of the line and between other guests in the line, grabbing bagels with their snotty little fingers while you go back for your 3rd helping of biscuits.  The fitness center is for those of us who exercise routinely and want to keep the momentum going during our vacation.  It isn't for your 10 year old kids (the kids who you let run like wild antelopes in a game preserve throughout the hotel because you don't want to be bothered watching them) who think the exercise bike is a toy.  It's just not.  My brother made the comment, and I think it seems fairly accurate, "It's as if people lose all sense of social etiquette when they check into a hotel."  Ok, for those of you who do watch your kids and don't let them run around like they've been caged in the garage for 6 months, I salute you and I don't mean to lump you in with the above.  Thank you.  I sincerely mean that.

I have to say that the most memorable part of the family reunion trip to Prosperity, SC would be the subtle reminders that we were indeed in the "Bible Belt."  These reminders came in the form of signs posted throughout the area.  Here are my two favorite:        

This was a large sign outside of what appeared to be a thrift or antique store:
                 We are Open
          We take credit cards
          Jesus is Coming!

This one was on a sign outside of a Baptist church:
           Dusty Bible, Dirty Soul

But of course, the coolest thing about Prosperity, SC is that they have a Piggly Wiggly grocery store.  You don't see many of those around anymore, so I bought a Piggly Wiggly T-shirt to remember the trip.  "I'm Big on the Pig!"

 

--Fortuitous Observer

A Shameless Plug:  Pat's band, Polynya, just released their new CD, Crop Rotation.  Listen to the "People In Pictures" track!