This evening brought a long and softly-rolling thunder storm to our home. A long-awaited simple pleasure, I turned off every sound-making machine, opened every window that was not rain-facing and turned off any unnecessary lighting. And then I immersed in the deep reverberation of the storm as is slowly and gently, passed through.
This evening brought a long and softly-rolling thunder storm to our home. A long-awaited simple pleasure, I turned off every sound-making machine, opened every window that was not rain-facing and turned off any unnecessary lighting. And then I immersed in the deep reverberation of the storm as is slowly and gently, passed through.
There is a reason every relaxation soundtrack has a thunderstorm in the soundscape list: This is nature’s lullaby telling everything near it to pause, cover and be at rest.
It has been a while since I have posted about Fury our four and a half year old feline fur family member. She has been a gem for the last few years. Our daily days are full of cuddles, naps, zoomies and the “could care less” sass and attitude cats are known for. After the first 1-2 years we were not quite sure what quality of life lay ahead for this sweet gal we adopted from the local shelter.
It has been a while since I have posted about Fury our four and a half year old feline fur family member. She has been a gem for the last few years. Our daily days are full of cuddles, naps, zoomies and the “could care less” sass and attitude cats are known for. After the first 1-2 years we were not quite sure what quality of life lay ahead for this sweet gal we adopted from the local shelter.
Since our earlier updates from 2018 and 2019, her feline Ehlers Danlos condition has been a severity that we can manage well: She still has very stretchy skin and more of it than is typical for her frame. Fortunately she is not as bad as some other cases where there is noticeable sagging around the face or eyes, and for this we are grateful. Given the other conditions, I would venture this one is the least impactful and you cannot even tell she has extra skin when seeing her from a distance. You can see the difference when we have grooming time and she tries to lick her chest or arms; she struggles to release the fur from her tongue because extra amount of skin allows it to stretch outwards.
Booping the DVD tray when it slides in and out of the player.
With the feline hyperesthesia (or “twitchy back syndrome”), she occasionally still has spontaneous moments that neurological triggers will cause her back muscles to twitch, giving her momentary discomfort and a desire to scratch at herself. There is still no cure for this condition shared by many types of animals, but we are thankful these moments pass in seconds or minutes. We have learned to best soothe her in these occurrences by letting her curl into a ball and by wrapping our arms around her for warmth and security and she tends to relax right away, helping to make the twitches disappear more quickly.
My office manager overseeing desktop operations.
Fury still has vasculitis that has resulted in diminished pain and bleeding when she does experience self injuries. This means that just because there is not a lot of blood does not mean it is not serious and we look twice to be sure. We learned from the past that she will often scratch at a wound over and over having no idea she is causing herself further damage (and thus the cone and safety shirt is critical for the rest of her life). Some people ask if we have tried inflatable doughnut cones: Yes and they are adorable and offer some comfort in ways, but she can still reach around them with her back claws and nick her ears, so this cone is the best fit to offer her max safety and comfort.
We know it’s always sad to see any animal in a cone. But Fury has grown up in hers and regularly has it removed several times a day for snuggle time and monitored grooming.
Lounging on a heating pad on a cold day (very lowest setting).
We never did solve the question around if Fury has an officially confirmed allergy that may contribute to her propensity to watch to scratch her head and neck to the point of self injury. Two or three years ago, we did run a full blood work up to check everything possible. While we did get several likely suspects, we stopped the lab work at that time since she had been through a lot and it was not as medically-necessary as the other issues we were dealing with. We keep her away from the suspected allergy causes just in case (certain grasses, trees, etc.) If our vets ever decide it is worth it to re-visit, we would, but we are all about only exposing Fury to procedures that are necessary for the near future.
Morning post-treat playtime antics.
All Fury knows is that twice a day, she gets wet food that is very tasty for accepting two small squirts of medication. That mix of medication keeps her in a place of balance that allows her to experience less awareness of the conditions that she has. The prior idiopathic seizures she began to have in years 1-2 have also gone away and are managed by her medication as well.
We still get woken up every morning without fail to ensure no one forgets breakfast time. There is also zero confusion when her furry highness wishes to go outside for a walk (the entire house is informed). She has her pick of cat trees, a bucket of cat toys, window beds and the best food and treats. Basically it’s her home, we just pay the mortgage.
Humor aside, Fury gives us unconditional love and loyalty every single day. It humbles us that this small creature was given the short end of the stick in so many ways yet still loves these lumbering caregivers despite all that has happened to her. We owe her so much in return and we will keep trying to give her our best every day. We look forward to sharing more photos and stories in the future!
Taking a leap, for the first time I ordered a very young yellow pine orchid (gastrochilus japonicus) and had it shipped to my home. The process was very simple and quick, with the young orchid arriving safely packaged in newspaper and a double plastic pot healthy and growing.
Yellow pine orchid on arrival.
Taking a leap, for the first time I ordered a very young yellow pine orchid (gastrochilus japonicus) and had it shipped to my home. The process was very simple and quick, with the young orchid arriving safely packaged in newspaper and a double plastic pot healthy and growing.
Surprise! More roots than I suspected.
Since then, I have nervously been watching its progress as it acclimates here. We live in an extremely dry climate and despite running humidifiers 24/7, often my new orchids lose their aerial roots until they re-establish in a potting medium where I add more sphagnum moss to help with moisture retention. Most take a few weeks or months but send out new aerial roots thereafter.
My “make do” baby orchid nursery on my standing desk.
This tiny pine orchid has been pampered with daily root misting, fertilizer and a prime real estate location near a window and under an LED lamp where I can keep an eye on it. And still, it’s a battle to keep those roots silvery green and plump. Not knowing what losing any roots might mean to a such a small orchid, I have really been keen to see this small plant get started with as many intact as possible.
Blooms are coming!
Last week, I was overjoyed to see budding blooms appearing earlier than expected. The description of the shipped order indicated it might be 2-3 years before the plant was mature enough to produce flowers but it appears luck is shining on this tiny orchid as flowers are definitely on the way. Once it completes the blooming process, it will get a shiny new pot and medium all its own next. This one will be a joy to care for!
Did you ever find yourself excited to hear that a favorite book was being made into a movie? Movies can only cover maybe two hours of plot versus the longer read or audio listen of the original work. But if you fell in love with the book, hearing that a movie is coming is encouraging and hopeful, because the original printed work was just that good.
This edition I found from Barnes & Noble has beautiful artwork and detail.
Did you ever find yourself excited to hear that a favorite book was being made into a movie? Movies can only cover maybe two hours of plot versus the longer read or audio listen of the original work. But if you truly fell in love with the book, hearing that a movie is coming is exciting. Where the Crawdads Sing is a treasure of a book I enjoyed two years ago and is movie-bound next. I’m crossing my fingers it does the author’s work justice.
Occasionally a movie will miss the mark due to acting or screenwriting (which will rarely satisfies the following of literary fans). We want to see every last moment and word of dialogue. Yet I am cautiously holding out hope that Where the Crawdads Sing will hopefully rise to the high bar set by author Delia Owens.
This novel took the literary community by storm after it was published in 2018. The now famous sun-toned cover was getting mentioned in friends’ social media feeds as their beach books of choice or as a new “discovery read” that surprised readers as to how impactful it was. I began to be intrigued by the book when I started hearing how friends crowed on social media that it was the best read they had enjoyed in a long time. One almost could not help it but to get a copy to see what all the fuss was about (an author’s best advertising, no doubt). So, in 2020, I bought my first copy via Audible. A year later, it still was resonating with me and I listened to it again. And as is my practice when I am taken with a work this much, I buy a printed copy.
Owens takes the reader on a wonder-filled journey for the mind and spirit. The book paints vivid imagery of an Audubon-painted marsh home of a naturalist’s dreams. Once started into the first few chapters, our minds want us to be there in our imaginations. We follow the main character, Kya, through a coming-of-age story, but this story has teeth that make you hurt for, cheer for and believe in the determined spirit of survivors and thrivers. Kya’s resilient personality, born of struggle, inspires the reader forward through each chapter despite obstacles that are common to our society regardless of past or present.
It is a beautiful experience to read this book. Even if you just read it once, it will stay with you in the way the good books do.
Yesterday brought an interesting storm front just south of our home that made for curious cloud watching from our front yard.
Yesterday brought an interesting storm front just south of our home that made for curious cloud watching from our front yard. Our location here in southeast Wyoming has the uncanny ability to see most storms break north or south of us, more often than not. That said, we do get walloped a few times each year, but we fair well with mainly just a few hail storms versus other surrounding areas, typically.
This time of year will see storms coming through more regularly until winter settles in. Until then, we will enjoy the cloud watching, remain prepared and remember that mother nature is not to be trifled with.
Life by Lens and Laptop 