I slept TOTALLY alone in the guest room last night, the windows open, the door closed, a couple of fans going.

Complete peace.

No cats or kittens disturbing me. At all.

And I slept for 8 beautiful hours.

AND…

This morning — a really gentle, wonderful RAIN. For several hours, already. It’s 72 degrees Fahrenheit right now, and only expected to reach 82 today. Yay.

AND….

I have the next 2 days off (as of right now, anyway). So I get to sit at my desk and work on all the various nips & tucks we made to the play last week in NYC.

So it’s a perfect day.

Of course, losing Little Blackie so unexpectedly yesterday hangs over us, but oddly enough — I think she was here with her kittens this morning because they suddenly reached a turning point in their independence.

Even little Billie Jo! The kitten who’s missing her 2 back feet.

This morning, I went into the family room to set the food bowls down for my own cats — meaning the dwindling colony of rescued ferals who’ve been with me now for 13 years — and who did I spy in the family room???

YES.

ALL 4 of the kittens had finally come down the stairs and were leaping about, darting happily around the room.

I could not believe that even Billie Jo had made it down the stairs, all by herself. All 4 of them raced all over, exploring everything, and even had their own breakfasts downstairs in the family room, too.

The other cats were not thrilled with this development, but I am so glad this has happened. It means that, little by little, my room will be my own again and I will be able to do things like yoga, without having kittens all over me. Yay!!!

So this is a great day for all of us, and I can’t help but feel convinced that Little Blackie’s spirit was part of this sudden shift today.

*****************

Even though, yesterday, I was just a bag of frayed nerves and raw emotions, I still had to work my shift. But it went really well.

I was with the retired Minister and his wife again — I hadn’t been there in 2 weeks and it seemed like he has continued to make such great progress. He was alert, focused, and in such good spirits the whole evening.

With this particular client there’s nothing I really need to do except chat with him and provide companionship, because the wife does all the “caregiving” work. (It’s complicated medical stuff that I’m not legally allowed to do.)

So I sat there in their air-conditioned family room and chatted with them, and then watched the entire NASCAR Sonoma race. And then left.

And I got paid for that. Not only paid, but it was Sunday, so I also get paid the “Sunday” amount, which is higher than the weekday pay.

So I can’t really complain, even though, emotionally, witnessing the whole aging thing is still a lot for me to process. On top of feeling all that grief over Little Blackie, yesterday, that I couldn’t talk about.

It was still okay. But I am really, really rejoicing in this rainy Monday morning, day-off thing here today.

*************

I forgot to mention this, regarding my trip to NYC….

Remember those sundresses??? Wow, were they a big hit. So many compliments.

And just in general, I have to say that everyone — especially the men, regardless of age, ethnicity or religion — treated me so nice on that trip. I especially loved the men, holding doors open for me, saying hello, smiling.

This was everywhere I went. NO ONE AT ALL treated me like I was their grandmother!! Yay!! (Yes, I’m old enough to be a grandmother and yes, most of my friends from high school are grandmothers now, several times over, but I’M NOT ONE!!!!!)

Anyway.

So different from how things are around here in the Hinterlands. People are really friendly around here, but everyone basically regards me as “old”. So it was a really incredible change of pace.

I have to add that this dress, in particular, was probably the best thing I’ve purchased all year!! This dress, in real life, is just incredibly pretty. And it’s like wearing a flowing piece of air!

************

On a more somber note–

Today marks ten years since Nick Cave’s son Arthur died. His Red Hand File today was devoted to his thoughts and feelings about that.

For some reason, it has not been posted on the web site yet, so I can’t link to it. But I can quote the email —

“These days, I am neither distrustful nor suspicious of the world, even though my heart breaks for it, and I am not despairing, depressed or embittered. Indeed, I see heartbreak as the most proportional response to the state of the world – to say I love you is to say my heart breaks for you, and this sentiment resonates within all things, bringing a clarity to both the world before us and the world beyond the veil. Sorrow becomes a way of life, part laughter, part tears, with very little space between. It is a way of conducting oneself in the world, of loving it, of worshipping it….”

And Wednesday, Nick Cave’s Solo Tour with Colin Greenwood on bass resumes — in Mantova, Italy. Tickets are still available for this show only. You can buy them here.

And here’s this! From Instagram.

From the Bad Seeds show in San Francisco , back in May.

******************

And I just wanted to give a quick “thank you” again to everyone who’s downloading my eBooks over at Smashwords, during that Summer Sale!!

I really appreciate it (Freak Parade seems to be outpacing the Muse Revisited Collection!)

Details are on my substack page, if you’re interested in the sale. All of my eBook titles with Smashwords are FREE to download for the month of July. ADULTS ONLY. Graphic erotic literature.

****************

Okay, gang. I’m going to get started around here.

Enjoy your Monday, wherever you are in the world! (It looks like the value of silver is already inching up this morning, so this could be the start of a wild summer. We shall see!!)

Thanks for visiting, gang.

I love you guys. See ya!!

****************

Me! And a New York City from long ago!! Enjoy, gang.

Try It Real Slow

Driving in the dead of night
Coasting through a traffic light
Aiming for a back road
Where we could park it for the night
Thinking we would make it sober and
Try it real slow.

There’s music on the radio
Screaming bunch of white boys
Churning out the Black soul
But turning it to white noise
Well, we could learn to make it sober by
Trying real slow.

CHORUS
Any disappointed stranger will tell you
Love is just a ball & chain
Oh but baby you’re the kind of man
That I like to talk to

You can play the wine & dine
Pick yourself a pretty wife
Gather all that you can hold
Then drag it round your whole life
Or you could learn to make it sober by
Trying real slow

REPEAT CHORUS

I turned it over, round and round
Chasing it the hard way
Until my dreams were just a white line
Sailing down the Interstate;
Well, love was gonna shake me sober
But I didn’t let it grow.

REPEAT CHORUS

Oh, but you and me will be all right
By letting every yesterday
Go fading with the taillights
Sailing down the highway
And we can learn to make it sober
By trying real slow.

Yeah, we can learn to make it sober
By trying real slow

© 1984 Marilyn Jaye Lewis
First of May Songs, BMI