NC Update
I love Jake’s cats! There are two of them and they are both "talking" cats and he encourages them by talking back to them. I do too but I have to admit that I talk baby-talk to them. 
He doesn’t. Nimbus "talks" whenever Jake sniffs around him so I tried that today when Nimbus came up and looked at me. Nope! Apparently Jake’s sniffs are informational and mine are not! However, much as I love them, I do not appreciate the amount of fur they shed! {And they are both short-haired cats—the mind boggles to think of what it would be like if they were both long-hairs!} I swept and mopped the living room floor this morning and found little balls of cat fur in the corners. {They finish up there because there is a ceiling fan running all day.}
For various reasons. I am somewhat sad today. Running through my head is "I have lost Fred and now I am going to lose Vermont." Part of this entry is the process of giving myself what my Auntie Babs used to call "a good talking to." First, yes, I have lost him living with me, but as long as I am alive, he will always be in my heart. And I have lots of good memories and photos and, even better, pastel paintings of him. I also have all his classical music CDs and his cook books! Of course, it is not possible to stop someone dying but if it was, it would have been very cruel of me to want him to stay with me when he was in pain and finding the every-day tasks of life so difficult to accomplish as he was in the last month of his life. And as for Vermont, well, I love the place and if there was any possibility I could live there for what remains of my life, I would do so in a shot. But I can’t afford it and being a realistic and pragmatic person, I know that as I get older, I will need help from my family. And Vermont is not going anywhere! As long as I am able to travel, I have a friends I can visit and see both them and Vermont again! And it is not as if I absolutely hate or even dislike NC. In many ways, it is like MS and I lived there reasonably happily for 30 years! I will find things to do that I enjoy and I will make a friend or two, too. It takes a while because friendship is difficult for me but so far, I have always found one or two people I enjoy being with!Well, I was going to go look at more apartments today but now I am not. I think I need to be more positive and optimistic about the possibility of adding on to this house and at least wait until the end of the week when we hope to hear from the contractor!. I actually do quite like the first apartment complex I visited so if what I hope for falls through, I have made a start on finding somewhere else where I can live.
The car I rented is a Yaris. It is not a 2012 model, actually, I don’t know what year it is without looking it up, but I wouldn’t buy this one anyway. I am 5 ft 9 in tall and feel squashed in it. I have the seat as far back as it will go and still feel a bit uncomfortable in it. However, it does seem to get good mileage and takes me where I want to go which is what expects from a rental, right? Oddly enough, it is the same color as my Kia. Oh, and the licence place begins with FEK which amuses me.
Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone. ~Fred Rogers (Mr. Rogers)
You are not happy because you are well. You are well because you are
happy. You are not depressed because trouble has come to you, but
trouble has come to you because you are depressed. You can change
your thoughts and feelings, and then the outer things will come to
correspond, and indeed there is no other way of working.
— Emmet Fox
I really, really love that Rogers quote. I am glad you are doing what you need to do. I wish you all the best in the transition. At least you’ll be warmer!
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Vermont is one of the few states I’ve never been to and always wanted to go to. North Carolina is beautiful though. I know how hard it is to leave a place that you love but sometimes we end up a lot happier than we think we will be — I hope that is the case for you.
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I would be sad at having to leave Vermont too, but you CAN go back for visits and at least you got to live there for a number of years. :o) !! (I was sad to leave England, but at least we got to live there for nearly three years….but ya know, I would not have minded just staying there!) You are allowed to be sad, and to grieve for what you have lost, because you are the kind of woman whose mind,eyes, and ears are always open to take in new things too. And NC will have lots of good things in store! And lots of us will enjoy hearing about them as you discover them! :o) !! hugs, Nicky
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You forgot one thing– no matter where you go, we’ll still be with you! I’m sure it will all work out.
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((((hugs))))
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I like your “talking to”. I want to be that comforting to myself about those that I’ve lost. I could learn alot!
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After I visited Vermont I said to one of my friends that next North Carolina, it is one of the prettiest states I’ve seen… I love NC and have no desire to live any other place….(well, I could live at the beach… and thankfully it isn’t to far away so I can visit there often!!)
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ps… as for long haired and short haired cats, my friend has a short haired one that sheds way more than my long haired kitty ever has…. 🙂
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FEK – love it! This is a huge step for you – no wonder you’re feeling sad. I like the sound of the granny flat though – best of both worlds I think!
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Be kind to yourself. You’ve been making huge changes in your life, and sometimes it all catches up with you. I have to brush our kitties regularly, as they all shed and are short hairs.
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i love talking cats. they are the greatest. angela’s cat, pearl, doesn’t talk much. my two talked a lot. maybe cause i always talked to them when they talked to me. pearl doesn’t get talked to very much. if i had my druthers, i’d be out of new england in a heartbeat! i’d be in the eastern part of tennessee or back in colorado. it’s not the cold up here that i dislike it’s the difficulty i’ve foundin making friends here. people here, to me, aren’t friendly. north carolina would be a great place to live. i have a brother who lived there for a while. he loved it and would go back in an instant. i know how you feel about moving and ‘losing’ not only fred but vermont. i remember feeling guilty about leaving colorado and jason’s grave. but, my baby will always be alive in my heart and anyone else who remembers him. if you get an addition built on to your son’s house, you will still have a chance to talk with the cats. my cat has been gone for a little over 4 years and i’m still finding cat fur in places. i don’t think it ever really goes away. take care,
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Finally got back on OD with an entry. Then went to check on how you were doing. Glad to hear about your visit with Jake and the cats. I believe you need 2 of them so they can interact.
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I’m glad you love the cats. 🙂 I like cats. My sister’s cat is a semi-longhair and sheds a lot.
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We loved North Carolina and the five years we spent there, especially the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other. Then we came back to boring Ohio, which is home and the place where most of our family lives. But we have our memories!
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I hear you about the fur. I love the furry critters but I have no regrets about loving other peoples furry animals instead of my own. At a secret Santa party once someone guessed that there gift was from me, because of the dog fur on the tape of the gift! That’s why I’m all about the tortoise. I like how easily you are amused. It amuses me, easily. 🙂
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