Saying Goodbye

I've been driving the car a lot more than usual.  Our eldest cat has been sick and our vet is almost a half hour from our house.  Strange arrangement for our lifestyle but she's been our vet for going on 20 years and I trust her.  The car-lite lifestyle is strange.  Sometimes you hit this rhythm where you don't even think about driving.  You just grab the bike and go.  Only as an afterthought do you consider the car.  Usually after you are on your way.  Heading out to our vet after work is one of those trips where it doesn't matter how much you ride you are pretty much going to grab the car keys and leave the helmet on the table where it was.  It would actually be a nice ride out and back but time constraints being what they are and the conundrum of transporting the cats means we always drive.  The traffic doesn't help either.  The cats might actually like the bike trailer better but I've never tried it.  Our one cat hates the car with more of a passion than I do.  Can't say I like driving when he's in the car either!  Our other cat was generally stoic about the whole affair.  It was his demeanor about everything from his "brother" horning in on the food  bowl to said "brother" pushing him out of the choice spot on the couch.  He was amicable and loving and more patient than I will ever be.  Anyway, the point is how the car still figures into our lives.  Sometimes you find yourself driving a lot because of various circumstances.  In this case it was because our cat was sick and the vet is far away.  While I would have loved to be on the bike for those errands out to get medicine and such I'm grateful that the car was there.  Sometimes that's hard to admit.  I guess I'd rather think of us as living a lifestyle characterized as "bike-heavy" than "car-lite".  The car can sit  there now and "rest".  It has served it's purpose in a pinch.  I can get back on the bike.  That's something that will do more than just get me from one point to another right now.

~=~=~=~

Monday morning our cat Jack woke us up at 5:00 am one last time.  This time it wasn't because he was being cantankerous or because he was hungry.  He woke us up to say goodbye.  We will miss the warm purr between our pillows.  I will miss the warm lap while I sit at the computer.  I hope he doesn't miss too much the warm sun spots on the carpet that were just beginning to come back as fall progresses into winter.  We will all miss him greatly.  Adieu Jackson.

Swirled coat of silk
Yours was a wonderful song
May we meet again