A Dog, A Cat, & A Herd of Wildebeests

Dear John,

 

We had another warm day, but a very windy one. It was windy enough last night that the animals got scared and needed some comforting. The wind didn't bother them so much today when the sun was up.

 

The theme of the day has been fibromyalgia. The strong front that came through and caused all that wind also flattened me this morning. I woke up having too much pain to tolerate clothes on my skin. I managed my softest sweats, and nearly screamed when the dog came up and plunked down next to me/on top of me, all 55 pounds of him. The cat is lighter and gentler, and sometimes lies down draped across the back of my neck and purrs - perfect therapy for my worst fibro pain.

 

You and I had our own code for me to let you know how I was feeling. I always felt like I'd been run over by a herd of something, but not always the same thing. So there'd be a day I'd tell you I had been run over by a herd of wildebeests (not a good day), a day that it was a herd of ladybugs (an excellent day), a herd of flamingos, and so on. It was a way that I could communicate with you and also give us something to laugh about - some of the visual images were great.

 

The cat thought he'd been run over by something today. I'd swept and was finishing vacuuming in our room. Jethro was trying to devour the vacuum cleaner, so I shut the door and left him in the hall. What I didn't know was that the cat was in the room with me. After I finished I found him cowering by the door, trying his best to squeeze through the crack at the bottom. I picked up the poor terrified creature and sat down in my grandmother Keistler's rocking chair, and held him and rocked him for almost half an hour, while Jethro lay right beside the chair. He seemed to love the rocking, and he slowly settled down and got happy again. I'll have to be careful, and be sure he can get away from the vacuum cleaner.

 

And Jethro had his own adventure today. I was emptying the vacuum container into the trash can when Jethro looked out and saw one of the neighborhood cats in the yard. Next thing I knew, I went flying and Jethro was out the door and after the cat, going behind DeWayne's house. I saw him briefly as he went behind Brenda's house. He was only gone about half an hour when he showed up at the front door wanting in. He never goes far and doesn't stay long, bless him. And this time he stayed out of the horse manure, so no bath was necessary. He slept the rest of the afternoon.

 

Tomorrow morning we'll leave for Indy. And this time I'll get to see Jill! She will get off around 5 and will call me, and we'll make plans then. I'm quite excited about it, and I'll fill you in on everything. This trip may be part of my emotional struggles this past week - knowing I was going back to Indy this week had probably made things a bit harder. I'll live through it, and I don't mind if I don't. So there. Please pray for safe travel for us. We'll likely pass through thunder storms going down and back.

 

Love you so much, and will especially miss you in Indy,

Joan.