Cat belly futures (and past)

You know, I really did try not to let Tig3.0 get fat. Really. I tried.

And although I failed, I think it’s safe to say that he hasn’t quite reached the width of Tig the Previous.

You know, a search on “belly” brings back 37 posts in WordPress alone. I shudder to think how many there are since the inception of my blog in 2001.

February has turned into quite the milestone month. It will be a year for Tig in five days. This month marks my second anniversary with Company in Northern Virginia, which has been the best thing to happen to me in a very long time (and may I once again say thank you to Janet and Chris for pushing me to meet with their boss, who is now my boss). And I realized a few days ago that it is the 22nd anniversary of the day I opened my BBS to the public. Seven years of BBSing, a long period of GEnie and online networks, and now nearly eight years of blogging. I sense a pattern here.

The year I got Tig the Second and Gracie, February was a dark, dark month. I lost my first Tig near the end of January, and was catless until April. I still remember the sight of the tips of those little orange ears showing as Tig 2 clawed his way up my blanket into bed. Miss Gracie, who has been timid since I first got her, had to be assisted into bed at first. (Sorry, I have no kitten pictures of them. That was pre-digital camera days.)

Gracie, too, has a beautiful belly. It’s not as pretty as this anymore. Her episode with IBD (and subsequent mistreatment by ex-vet) caused her to lick it bare so much that her fur has never properly grown back. But she’s still a beauty.

I used to hate February. Not so much anymore. This morning, I noticed that for the first time since autumn, I had to close the blinds of the window next to my desk, because the office is once more bathed in morning light so bright I can’t see my monitor.

There may have been snow on the ground yesterday, but here in Richmond, spring is near.