(no subject)

Yesterday was very cool. Today has sucked.

Gordon agreed to come with me to a place I heard about from the owl-cam's website- the Austin Nature and Science Center near Zilker park. First we went to La Madelain's, which is a place hub hates so I never get to go. I love that place! They had a yummy mushroom soup that tasted homemade and had lots of garlic in it. Then we went to the Center. There were hordes of shrieking children touring the center that left almost as soon as we arrived- blessed silence! So we were able to tour the Center at leisure.

The displays were nice, but the outside stuff was coolest. Zoos can be ooky, but the animals here all were found in situations where they probably would have otherwise died (hit by cars, eaten on my fire ants in their youths, parents killed, etc.) so it truly was a case of zoo life versus none at all. I'll gloss over what I saw, but it was a lot.

...an albino blue jay, that seemed to enjoy being chirped and whistled at...

...a tank full of turtles, where I got to look at them close up- see how they breathe when they surface for water, and how neatly their legs tuck up into their shells when they're sunning themselves under a lamp...

...a Harris' hawk, beautiful, proud as a prince, thinking arrogant raptor thoughts...

...a coyote, who behaved so much like a dog, grinning and begging for attention...

...a raven that is older than my husband, that was stealing people's car keys from the nearby park, and was quite chatty...

...a vulture with his wings fanned out to catch a little warmth from the Sun, but with his beak buried in his chest feathers as he groomed himself in a ridiculous pose. The vultures all seemed quite good-natured, which was not the vibe I expected from them at all. To make up for laughing at them Gordon serenaded them with a Calypso song about a yellow bird in a banana tree, and they appeared to enjoy it...

...the red-tailed hawk, his wings broken by cruel humans to keep him captive, still proud and willing to talk back to you...

...the spiny lizard, hanging from the screen-ceiling of his cage, tail sticking straight out...

...coatis, huddled together for warmth but still bickering with each other...

We walked around in the adjacent preserve lands for awhile, climbing up to a lookout point to see the city, and looking for signs of spring. It's just starting, but nevertheless is very green the way this part of the country always is.

Then we came home and batted about ideas for Oestara's ritual. After he took off, Bob came over and we watched 'Traveler's Tales'- episode 6 of Cosmos. It talked about the lineage of Voyager from the old exploring ships of the Dutch. We all agreed that Holland seemed like a great place to live- open-minded and valuing intelligence for it's own sake- and speculated that it was still like that today.

(no subject)

So I get up at 6-something to take Bolt in for his teeth-cleaning. I stopped on the way back to get some kolaches, but Eric left for work early so I didn't get to share them with him. My disappointment turned to anger as I found cat barf on the stairs (by stepping in it), cat poop on the floor, and dishes still in the sink, sitting there since last Sunday and that he'd promised to do 'soon.' This ended up as an almost-shouting match over the phone about chores, practically the only thing we fight about. His idea of clean and mine just don't match up; and while I can ignore it sometimes (dirty dished left for days) there are some things I can't bend on (cat shit on the floor, which he did see before he'd left) so we had to battle that out. Yuck.

The vet called around 1pm. She said they had to take out 3 teeth including a canine fang. One of his back teeth had chipped clean off, leaving just the root and exposed nerve. We have to keep up with the antibiotics for another week, but she said to feed him soft food anyway, and just sprinkle the broken capsules on that. She also said he had a slightly elevated kidney value; they take two and the other was fine, but she said we would need to keep an eye out because kidney disease in older cats is quite common. She also said he had a hemorrhage in his retina, which could be a sign of high blood pressure and that we'll have to keep an eye on that. He's an old cat, and as much as I love him, he's starting to show signs of being an old cat. He's the first cat I've had (aside from cats that 'we' had that I left at home when I went off to college) and it's hard to see him age like this. I just hope I can keep him healthy and happy for as long as possible.