Dammit–

Jack gets in over the wire again in time – –

The latest member of the household is beginning to make a nuisance of himself. When ‘Wee Dammit’ first arrived, he lived in our guest room before getting a full medical examination to be sure he was safe around other cats. When he got the all-clear, we left the door open, but he was very reluctant to come down to join us. After all, we had kidnapped him from his happy street life….

That has all changed now. We can’t get him to leave us alone. Which is funny, because at first, he only would interact with us when we were lying flat, in bed. That’s how he learned to get along with Wendy the first week he was in the house; she slept upstairs to socialize him, and he grew accustomed to playing with her feet. When she stood up, he would dive for the nearest dark corner.

So when he first came down, he just slunk around, staying away from all of us and hiding in corners.

Then he discovered Bruce!

With two female cats in the house what’s a guy going to do? He wants to play with the other guy, but the other guy is a dog and is BIG. So wee Dammit runs around the house now trying to play tag with Bruce! He runs back and forward, tapping Bruce’s tail and paws, but Bruce is the most laid back dog on the planet and can’t be bothered. He’s very patient and gives Dammit a weary look now and again—just before Dammit bops him on the nose.

So now Dammit finds Wendy’s balls of yarn and carries them all around the house as though they were captured mice. Eventually I find them, soggy with saliva (we hope), and return them to their original place.

But I can hear you asking – why is he called Dammit? A few months ago Wendy was heading to the store and saw a small kitten wandering around an intersection. She happened to have a cat carrier in the car (well, of course) but couldn’t get it in. She came home and got a can of cat food. While he was eating she snatched him up and said, “Dammit, get in the car.”

We had agreed to not have any more cats for a while, so when she brought in another one I said, “DAMMIT.”

And she said, “I totally agree.”

When I took him to the animal clinic to get checked over they asked what his name was – – –

Come back next Wednesday for more from Jack

The Monday Book – Baumgartner by Paul Auster

Guest review by Janelle Bailey, avid reader and always learning; sometimes substitute teaching, sometimes grandbabysitting, sometimes selling books

Baumgartner by Paul Auster

Baumgartner by Paul Auster

I no longer know or recall exactly what my introduction to Paul Auster was, as it was many years ago and many Paul Auster books ago. I just counted six of them in my personal library. And I believe that it was in 2009 when I first visited New York City and found myself on a Soundwalk–an audio-driven self-led walking tour–that was narrated by Paul Auster, and from then his voice represented for me all that was…is…New York City.

Baumgartner is Auster’s newest, and it is a wonderful book. Baumgartner is a professor emeritus, long-time tenured university professor, who is ten years beyond the death of his beloved wife, Anna, and still mourning the loss, grieving the hole she left. But he isn’t wallowing in a pitiful place; rather, he brings Anna back to life through his memories and reminiscence as well as all that she has left behind.

This is a beautiful, fully philosophical pondering on aging and grief, life and living it fully. It’s about what keeps–or can–those who are aging from growing old.

There’s a little Baumgartner in each of us, I think. And I found this sweet 200-page book to be smart, wise, and full of inspiration for making good things happen with what we have in front of us.

Seeing each day as an opportunity, from the moment that we awaken, to address what we have, rather than what we have not, and to do our best with “that” each and every day is just one message I took from this book. Love is beautiful. And a life spent loving as well as to love living it is a precious gift…but moreso a choice.

Paul Auster is a wise guy…of the very best kind. Every reader benefits from meeting Baumgartner and taking even a little direction from him.

Come back next Monday for another book review!