After two days when we could not find the cat and I had visions of a starved creature stuck in a mattress somewhere, our resident curmudgeon, Chewy, started hissing in the computer room and I followed the hiss and there was Toots under the desk. I gave him food and water that he ignored, but he is eating some when I don’t see him, and pooping some. I have made the computer room “his” room for the time being and put a litter box in it. Even when I leave the accordion door open, he won’t come out. I hesitate to introduce him to the rest of the house in case Chewy spooks him and he finds a new place to hide. Since the computer room is Chewy’s favorite, he is pissed.

Becky, the daughter-in-law of the late owner, said she will take the cat back to Indiana with her when she comes in April. By then, who knows. That is a long time to foster an animal and then uproot him again. Also, Becky says she has a territorial resident cat as well so that will be another adjustment for poor Toots. He is all black, with hard tufts of fur that need to be treated, has a 3 inch tale, which makes him a Manx, and is very sweet if incredibly timid.

Toots does not have ordinary habits. He spends his days wedged between the wall and a filing cabinet next to the computer, and comes out at night. He lets Ed and me pet him and he purrs. However, in the middle of the night, he meows endlessly. When I check on him, he may be looking out the window and I interpret this as a hunting meow. At 5 this morning I took my pillow into the den, lay on the floor. Toots came by and snuggled up to me with his head on my chest. But I couldn’t stay there forever. After a bit, I went back to my own bed and the meowing began again but stopped at first light, when he went back to his hiding place in the corner behind the computer. I fuss these things and wish I could make him all better.

We are having a cold snap that developed in the late morning, the lower part, I think of a severe storm system in the northeast. Ed and I went to Publix and during the time I was in the store, the temp dropped 20 degrees. I came out to a high wind and scattered rain and, not being dressed for it, was done in. Once home, thoroughly chilled, I went to bed with aches and the heating pad. What a case. So no exercise today. Who wants to bike in 40 mile winds? You are biking, but you are not moving, like the birds who fly into a high wind. They aren’t going anywhere either.

I spent a good deal of time later at the piano reviewing a major Beethoven sonata (the Appassionata) and am really pleased that it is “coming back” with very few problems. I haven’t played it in a year for an interesting reason. My piano needs a rebuild. It sounds okay for a lot of things, but Beethoven is so pure that all the mechanical faults stand out, so I have been avoiding this piece. Sophie, my friend and piano mentor (gone at 99 a year ago) said that a rested piece is always better when you come back to it (assuming you worked it well to begin with). So I expect that I will see much more refinement in this piece as I continue to work it this time around. What I find amusing about me and Beethoven, is that I am small and the sound is large. It amazes me that I can make it. Lots of fireworks. I shall never forget an afternoon, after beginning my lessons with Sophie, when a Beethoven we were working on began to sound right. I got up and danced around the room, yelling “That’s it, that’s the sound!!”

xx, Teal