Richard's Rolling Again

Well, the truth is, Richard ran errands while I took a long sigh of relief. Richard said that he needed to get out for a while to begin having some regular activity. He is always concerned about avoiding “illness behavior.” This may be how he gets himself in so much trouble.

The little cat that had shown up in our shed was limping and biting at her back paw. Because his immune system is compromised, Richard can’t take a chance on getting scratched by a cat. And that cat wasn’t letting us check her paw without a whole lot of hissing and scratching. We decided it was time to take “Slate” to the Monroe County Animal Shelter.

Gypsy had taken to chasing “Slate” which probably wasn’t the best thing for the cat’s injured paw. Buster had made it very clear that he wanted nothing to do with this interloper who got wet food while he only gets kibble. And “Slate” was obviously used to being a pampered princess, rubbing up against our legs every time we were on the porch, and attempting to make herself an indoor pet every time the door was ajar. Since we still needed toilet paper, Richard volunteered to go to Wal-Mart for our provisions and a dowry of cat food to leave at the shelter with the cat.

Richard also agreed to run by the library to deliver more copies of Jack’s book. Jack and I have set up a fundraising program at the library, donating two dollars to the library for every book ordered through them. We offer this plan to schools, libraries, and several other area non–profit organizations.

As I puttered around de-Christmasing the house, I fielded phone calls. Mamie called looking for Richard to come fix her fuse box in her guest apartment. Jack checked in to see if we were improving. I spoke with two of my nieces, and my baby boy. Camille called to check on Richard’s progress and to reschedule a business meeting that we had postponed due to Richard’s illness.

Camille is considering using her relatively new MBA degree to assist me in my publishing and arts promotion business. Camille is also an RN, so maybe she can explain to Richard the importance of taking care of himself so I don’t have to hand him over to the horrors of hospitalization again.

I can now look out the window and see the mud path our guests beat to the front-yard fire pit. Until now, it had been covered in snow. I never thought I’d think mud is beautiful, but I prefer it to being icebound. Richard is rolling in his Bronco II again, more slowly than usual -- which is really, really slow -- but at least he’s rolling. Gypsy is again riding with Richard and getting her daily requirement of belly rubs.

Camille is coming, and Christmas is mostly put away. Richard refilled the bird feeder, so our bird friends are back. Things are certainly looking up around here.