Paw Patrol Friday Round-Up

My husband says that no one is emailing me because I’ve become a cat person. Everyone likes dog people better, he says, and that’s why there’s been such a drop-off in my email life. Perhaps. I do have a cat living in my office. He’s been here for a week. His name is Hercules, and he is my son’s cat. He is staying here temporarily while my son looks for a new apartment. Unfortunately, Herc, as we call him, can’t have the run of the house because someone else who lives here sneezes around cats, I guess that would be the dog person who everyone likes and sends emails to constantly.

Speaking of emails, I often do important business or communication via Facebook Messenger (where apparently no one cares whether I’m cat or dog). It is a skittish medium where, unless you’re very careful, unfinished thoughts will go flying off unrestrained. That makes crafting a very intelligent, well-thought-out response challenging because of that skittishness as well as the little box and the inability to see what I already wrote. I say this because of an exchange yesterday with a very smart person writing about a very serious topic in which I wanted to say, hold on for a few weeks while I get out my chisel and stone, so, I can be sure of every word before handing it to you.

If you are wondering, Swirl and Punchy are oblivious to Herc. Herc escaped my office last night, went in our bedroom, and tried to get Punchy to pet him. Punchy, as is his wont, wandered around puzzled, not knowing what to do. This is his usual response to both unpredictable and routine events. He is always baffled by what to do next. Swirl has poked his head in a few times, earlier today, Herc ran out between Swirl’s legs. Swirl wagged his tail and went to lie down on his bed. I think this is because they were taught as sled dogs not to get involved – no fussing with other dogs on the line or chasing after moose.

I’ve become more serious about my writing. This includes a Monday morning check-in group where nearly everyone has published a book, some of them quite successfully. I’ve published two books, but they were both the result of wild hairs and reek of amateurism. I hide them like one might hide the apron made in Home Ec – too sweet and earnest to get rid of but too off kilter and clumsy to wear. Now, with this new discipline and more serious attitude, I’m thinking about making a serious effort to publish a book of essays. Not rush, be careful, and patient. A new me.

In keeping with the word of the year – CAKE – I am accepting recommendations and recipes. January’s cake was chocolate with chocolate frosting. It was immense and could have been used to keep a team of Arctic explorers nourished through the winter. February’s cake needs to be more nuanced. After all, it’s the month of Valentine’s Day and our wedding anniversary. So, we need something more delicate and thoughtful? Not pink, necessarily, but of that genre. Ideas?