Chasing a squirrel

This morning I opened the sliding door just a crack so I could toss out some peanuts to the squirrel waiting hopefully about a foot from the door. Suddenly Simon did something he has never done before. He squeezed through the crack and shot off after the squirrel. Of course, the squirrel disappeared in a flash, and I caught up with Simon as he was snuffling around in the dirt right off the deck. Being a cat, he would not come when called, but being Simon, he had no objection to being picked up and lugged back into the house.

It's a good thing I had managed to find a robe to put on over my nightgown this morning. No belt, just semi-wrapped around me, so maybe the neighbors won't report me for indecent exposure. I'd have run out after Simon even if I'd been in my birthday suit, though. After losing Mr. Bogey to a black labrador retriever many years ago, I am not about to risk losing Simon to any wildlife. Chances are, he could have taken on the squirrel, but these squirrels are pretty frisky. Sometimes they get into a war over the peanuts, and you'd think it was the Bloods and the Crips on the deck. The chipmunks and bluejays join in, and look out, Animal Farm.

I was a real slug yesterday, sitting around and reading and napping. Then late in the day, I checked email to find some horrible news. My friend, mentor, and dissertation director, Marty T, is dealing with a recurrence of her breast cancer. It's worse this time. She's got to have chemo and a mastectomy. My heart goes out to her, but she's a fighter. She won't want pity. She sailed through the brain tumor last year, and twelve years ago, she fought and won her first bout with breast cancer.

I can't help wondering how Becky, the girl I went to high school with, is doing. Last I heard, her breast cancer had turned into brain cancer, and the end seemed near. Maybe I've just gotten to that age when news like this seems too immediate and real.