Hi there! I think it's probably a mix of anti-depressant, getting past my birthday, and just the fact that things are hopefully somewhat better in general, but yeah, the clouds seem to have cleared from my mind a bit. I still have my moments...had a TOTAL meltdown Sunday night, crying hysterically. I'd gotten some of mom's stuff for the house, AND some of my grandmother's things as well. (I'll post a picture of what was such a bittersweet catalyst.) But yeah, most of the time, I can hold it together and even be somewhat cheerful. I tell ya, just getting over my damn birthday was a huge thing. I was dreading it so.
The cat tree: I don't know that they were afraid of it at first, it was just a non-entity. They have their own room, where I keep their litterboxes, feed them, have their familiar cat furniture from home (the smaller condos and jungle gym they've had for years.) They would eat and use the bathroom in there, but they totally ignored even their old stuff! I have no idea what was up with that. Finally a few days before I caught Misty on the tree the first time, I found her lying in one of their old cozy beds, that I'd had since...hmm..2004 or 2005 I guess? It was clearly "theirs" and had been well-loved and used before, but she only now deemed it passable. And I hung THREE bird feeders within eyesight of this new condo, thinking "that will tempt 'em!" Nope. They couldn't care less that 27 families of birds were having dinner three feet away every day. Cats are such weirdos. :-)
If you ever do get your raccoon family on pixel film, I would love to see them! I've always been a little fascinated by them, and after seeing this one so close up (and its little FINGERS...holy cow), I really would love to see yours!
I am often awake at odd hours of the early morning and have observed entire families of raccoons, some the size of Volkswagen Beatles, dining on my deck.
Did you know that they wash their hands after eating? And they'll even wash their food if it's got dirt on it they have access to a a bowl of water. They totally do! I have watched them do this and you have just got to love a critter who has impeccable personal hygiene, especially when you yourself are an obsessive hand-washer.
I love the hands to death, they're really not paws. It makes them so much more humanish. I had a skittish guy eating cat food from a bowl that was right up against the glass doors a few weeks ago. He didn't trust me as I stood there AWWWWWWW!ing at him all over the place so he kept a distance from the bowl, and streeeeeeeeetched his arm way over, picked up just one a piece of kibble at a time with one hand and bring it to his mouth, without ever once taking his eyes off me.
Yes, I knew about the food washing thing! Fortunately this was cat food straight out of a bag, so it was evidently satisfactory for my little guy. S/he was so close to me, it was crazy. Yes, there was a door separating us, but it's a full-view glass door. For all it knew, I was really standing four feet away with no separation. Oreo was at my feet, watching it intently. It seemed completely unafraid. I loved how it would scoop up a handful of kibble, then sit there chomping on it. This guy would look down for a bit to get the cat food, but did somewhat keep an eye on me as it ate. I was entranced.
I'm somewhat obsessive on hand-washing as well, so yeah, I totally respect that about an animal, too!
When it's muggy in the wee hours, I'll almost always open the sliding glass doors and we'll have the thinnest flimsiest screen separating us, and some just don't have fear at all. I love that.
I just noticed a grammatical error I made in my previous comment and I would like to blame that on the confusion of knowing three languages, sort of almost four, but I really can't. English was what I learned first, at home, even though French came in to some degree at the same time.
The cat tree: I don't know that they were afraid of it at first, it was just a non-entity. They have their own room, where I keep their litterboxes, feed them, have their familiar cat furniture from home (the smaller condos and jungle gym they've had for years.) They would eat and use the bathroom in there, but they totally ignored even their old stuff! I have no idea what was up with that. Finally a few days before I caught Misty on the tree the first time, I found her lying in one of their old cozy beds, that I'd had since...hmm..2004 or 2005 I guess? It was clearly "theirs" and had been well-loved and used before, but she only now deemed it passable. And I hung THREE bird feeders within eyesight of this new condo, thinking "that will tempt 'em!" Nope. They couldn't care less that 27 families of birds were having dinner three feet away every day. Cats are such weirdos. :-)
If you ever do get your raccoon family on pixel film, I would love to see them! I've always been a little fascinated by them, and after seeing this one so close up (and its little FINGERS...holy cow), I really would love to see yours!
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Did you know that they wash their hands after eating? And they'll even wash their food if it's got dirt on it they have access to a a bowl of water. They totally do! I have watched them do this and you have just got to love a critter who has impeccable personal hygiene, especially when you yourself are an obsessive hand-washer.
I love the hands to death, they're really not paws. It makes them so much more humanish. I had a skittish guy eating cat food from a bowl that was right up against the glass doors a few weeks ago. He didn't trust me as I stood there AWWWWWWW!ing at him all over the place so he kept a distance from the bowl, and streeeeeeeeetched his arm way over, picked up just one a piece of kibble at a time with one hand and bring it to his mouth, without ever once taking his eyes off me.
So adorable! And also funny!
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I'm somewhat obsessive on hand-washing as well, so yeah, I totally respect that about an animal, too!
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I just noticed a grammatical error I made in my previous comment and I would like to blame that on the confusion of knowing three languages, sort of almost four, but I really can't. English was what I learned first, at home, even though French came in to some degree at the same time.
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