Brunch, Murray, and summer

For brunch I made broccoli-garden tomato frittata with hot sauce, sourdough toast, and home fries. Cuban coffee on the side. I'll have three more weeks of brunches like this before it's cereal gobbled while I frantically walk around and finish morning tasks, so as to leave the driveway at 7AM sharp.

I say brunch because in the summer my schedule shifts somewhat. I wake up later. I get up around 6 or 6:30 am rather than 5:30 in the school year. I read the bible and pray a while, then I get dressed. Around 8:30 I start making breakfast but as the summer progresses the breakfast gets later and later, around 10 or 10:30. So by then it's bunch.

I eat lunch around 2:30, something light, and then dinner around 7.

The kitties like me at home. They are so funny. During the day I sit at the kitchen table and write, research, and later on, watch Hulu. Luke and Bert, my original two, take turns during the day napping on the table behind the laptop. They like to be near. I like them near. The are polite and well-behaved, and never fuss about whose turn it is.

Murray, my new kitty, well, let's just say he is a piece of work. He is a good cat, but he's a kitty, so he is more rambunctious. Unlike Bert & Luke, who were rescued at 5 weeks, Murray was a stray for three months. He lived on our property, but was independent. He came and went, and had to be hyper-vigilant about predators. You could tell he liked people. He'd come running every day when I drove in after school. He allowed me to comb him (and pick off the fleas) and to cuddle him. Briefly. It broke my heart because when I cuddled him he'd start to relax, but any little noise and he would tense up and then run off. I used to think that was a terrible way to live, never being able to relax and accept some love.

I made it a goal to offer that to Murray when I took him inside.

It's been a while now, six months. He has started relaxing for longer periods when I hold him or comb him. He isn't as skittish. I never held or combed him longer than he wanted. I made sure to always stop before he fussed. Hopefully this would assure him that he wasn't trapped. Hopefully it would leave him wanting more.

He'd incrementally relax longer each time. That was good to see. A couple of weeks ago he began seeking it out. He never lets me pick him up from the floor. He always, and I mean always runs away when I call to him or approach him. I have to train him to come, like I did with the other cats. He is not there yet.

But when he does want company he runs to the table and sits on the right side, with his back to me no less. (The other two always sit on the left side, funny). I hold him and blessedly, he has started purring. A non-purring cat is a heartbreak, but a purring cat is a blessing.

While he purrs, Murray will relax a bit. You can feel his muscles collapse. He throws a paw over my arm. I can almost hear him sigh. I love this. It feels so good offer safety and love to a little vulnerable thing. Murray is a good cat. He'll come along. He'll settle in at some point on the range. Luke will let me hold him all day. he never wiggles out. Bert loves to be held but only for about five minutes. But during those five minutes he loves it totally and completely. LOL, sometimes he drools he purrs so hard.

My new neighbor has sheep. I love to watch them graze in the pasture next door. They are big animals, and funny too. I knew sheep 'baa'd' but I had not know how guttural and sound-carrying their bleats were. I like that too. I really enjoy having animals around. Life in Georgia is always interesting.

Murray marauding. He's in constant motion, until he drops dead in a nap.

Wot? Wot? Mom's laying on the rug? Gotta check it out!

He sits down for a moment but it won't be long until he moves...

And there he goes. Now's a good time to clean myself up, till I make the next mess!

He sure is a pretty kitty!