Author:
Boyd Percy
[ Edit | View ]
|
Date Posted: 23:35:42 12/31/13 Tue
>Tonight's post marks an end and beginning. While the
>post is dated January 1, it actually goes up on
>December 31, so it's either the first or the last post
>and PhotoPost of the year.
>
>PhotoPost has been fun, and I'm going to keep it up.
>However, I'm going to do things a little differently
>this year -- I may post more than one photo of the
>same subject, and there will be a few times,
>especially with the next book, where I may post
>archive and out of season photos of interest that are
>vaguely related to the story. On top of that, I may
>miss updates from time to time -- I had to do it while
>in the hospital last fall for example.
>
>The final thing I plan to do is try to be a little
>more liberal about telling stories, at least when
>there's a story to tell. A lot of these photos come
>from driving down the road and spotting an interesting
>looking tree or landscape or something, so obviously
>there aren't many stories growing out of them.
>
>But sometimes there are,
>href="http://www.spearfishlaketales.com/photopost/pp155
>.jpg">like in this PhotoPost. My wife and I happen
>to like cats, and while we have several inside cats,
>there are some more-or-less feral ones that hang
>around outside as well. Last fall one of the outside
>cats had a litter of kittens; by Christmas only two
>were left. I had named one "Ford," and my daughter
>named one "Miss Muffett."
>
>It was both rainy and cold back before Christmas, and
>neither of the two kittens was doing well with
>respiratory problems. My wife asked, "Isn't there any
>way we could bring them inside to get them out of the
>weather?" We didn't just want to bring them inside for
>a number of reasons, so I conceded that they could
>join me in the shop where I do most of my writing.
>
>Unfortunately we were a little too late for Ford; he
>was in by far the worse shape and died the first day
>in my shop, but Miss Muffett recovered. We still
>didn't want to expose the inside cats to her, so she
>stayed my shop cat for a few days while I was writing
>furiously to make my quota for the year. It was an
>interesting experience to have kitten help writing,
>and she loved to walk on the keyboard, as the photo
>shows. The little cat also showed great interest in my
>writing, often sitting right in front of the
>screen and intently following the sentences being
>typed out or chasing the cursor. While she held up
>production from time to time, it was also relaxing to
>pet her and listen to her purr while I was trying to
>think what to say next.
>
>Miss Muffett turned into quite the snugglebug while in
>my rather cramped and disorderly office in the shop
>where I've turned out the vast majority of over seven
>million words. In fact, she forced me to clean up some
>of the area so she'd be less likely to get into things
>she shouldn't.
>
>After a few days of improvement, we took Miss Muffett
>to the vet, and after he gave her the normal shots and
>an otherwise clean bill of health, we brought her home
>and converted her into an inside cat, although she's
>still my shop cat from time to time. I have to be
>honest and say that I more or less expected that to
>happen when my wife leaned on me in the first place,
>but darn it, it gets lonely down here sometimes when
>I'm writing and she takes away some of it. She's not
>down here with me all the time any longer, but I plan
>on bringing her down here for company every now and
>then.
>
>So, Miss Muffett and I wish you all a Happy New Year!
>
>-- Wes
Thanks, Wes, for the story about Miss Muffett. Whether two or four legged, a friend always helps past the time more agreeably. Pets and little children seem to know when someone cares for them. Thanks for sharing your photos.
|
Feedback: 