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Saturday, 11:22 pm

By Kate

Aug

29

2009

I probably should poke my head in here and let you know that I am, indeed, still breathing. And probably will get back to blogging a bit more often and regularly in the very near future.

Summer is over. The lad left for school yesterday and, as usual, he left a gaping hole in my poor heart. I mean, by now we know this is as inevitable as the sun rising and setting. We had such a terrific summer. I suppose it is normal to not want the wonderful to end. Ah well. I miss him and the house feels terribly empty tonight (or as empty as it can feel with a cat and a dog racing around the place chasing wildlife....we’ll get to that story in a minute). Nevertheless, it is always a delight to see how excited he is to return to friends and the independence.

We certainly did give my checking account a workout the last couple of weeks. He’s sharing an apartment with three other guys this year, so needed housekeeping stuff. And cookware. And cooking utensils. He’s cooking for himself this year rather than relying on a campus meal plan. And that includes budgeting money for groceries and managing his finances for the semester. We wonder how much he will enjoy cooking by the end of the semester. We’ll see how the money management goes, too. I wouldn’t be too surprised if there are a couple of care packages filled with Ramen Noodles for those special occasions when the sink is piled high with dirty dishes, the term paper is due in the morning, and there’s not even enough time left to sleep, let alone cook. Possibly for those other rare occasions when the grocery money doesn’t quite stretch to include the...um...groceries.

So, about that wildlife the dog and cat are chasing around the house....

Last night Abbie (the cat) came up from the basement with her first catch of the season. I did not realize what was going on until she started mrrrowing as if she had a mouth full of marbles. I made the mistake of asking, “Abbie, what in the world do you have in your mouth?” She dropped a mouse on the floor and told me. Naturally, the mouse did not stick around for Abbie to have a second chance.

Sooo… now I have an itty bitty mouse zipping around my living room. Abbie has been a dismal failure at catching it today. Mackenzie is not much better, though she’s tremendously excited about this little creature that moves so quickly. If someone doesn’t catch it tonight, I suppose I will have to put a trap under the sofa. I really do wish Abbie would catch the darned thing. She is, at least, making progress. It wasn’t all that long ago that she was still afraid of mice.

I guess it is the season for mice to move inside. I expect this will be just the first of several hapless mousies. The days have already grown noticeably shorter and cooler. Autumn is in the air.

I have a feeling this intends to be a stormy autumn. We’ve already had the remnants of two hurricanes within a week, the most recent (Danny) departing here only a couple of hours ago. Probably just getting warmed up for the nor’easters. This is going to be the year for them. One after the other. I can just tell.

Over the last week, the lad and I stacked a couple of cords of wood. I’m now ready for the heating season. And the snow and the cold and more snow. This year I got my tarps over the woodpiles before weather happened. My wood is still thoroughly dry even though we’ve been practically drowned in this storm. Dry wood makes Kate a happy girl. What would make Kate an even happier girl, however, would be a lovely warm autumn lasting though Thanksgiving, an extended January thaw, and an early April spring. Is that REALLY too much to ask? I don’t think so.