Observables #69
on Bad Sisters, Bad Kitties and a bowl of beets
Deep thoughts about my cat:
Bad kittie comes around most days even though she knows she’s not wanted. She comes and sits on the roof of the neighbour’s shed where she has a perfect view into our back door. Sometimes Coco is sleeping and doesn’t notice that her nemesis is visiting. Sometimes she senses her and perks up. She runs to the door and makes a huffing sound which I translate as “Not again!” Or “Let’s go, bitch.” Her tail doubles in size. I open and close the door with a bang to try to scare Bad Kittie away. Once in a while the noise jars Bad Kittie enough to make her scurry back under the gate. Often though, Bad Kittie just laughs at me. A guffaw I find galling.
If I’m feeling anxious about something, (the guffaw destabilizes me more than it should), I throw a shoe. (It seems my reaction to Bad Kittie is directly proportionate to how I’m doing emotionally in my own life on a given day.) By the way, when I throw a shoe, it’s usually Simon’s shoe, which is fine because he has so many pairs of these battered up running shoes in every colour. So don’t be worried about the shoe. It wants to be thrown. And I never hit Bad Kittie. I just hint at the notion of being hit. When Bad Kittie runs away, it’s in indignation, not pain.
But I don’t mind spreading a little indignation. I’m a bit of a people pleaser, so taking decisive action that causes ire in another—it’s good for me. Something I need to shore up.
These days I have given up thinking that Coco and Bad Kittie can be friends. For a while I fretted about what I could do to bring them together. I looked up articles on the internet about cat fights. “What can I do to make cats change their ways?” The answer was always a resounding nothing! But you can throw a blanket over them to reduce the stimuli. Interestingly, ne’er a mention of a shoe.
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I feel like the world is trying to tell me something about the nature of relationships via these feuding cats. Some relationships are doomed from the start. Also, relationships are cyclical. Bad Kittie will keep showing up to make Coco’s life hell. And Coco will always react. Is that any different from me having a set reaction to a certain person? If I can’t change, why would I expect a feline to do better?
Bad Sisters with my…sister.
We made a trip to the farm to make kimchi with our chef friend and managed to fit in 2 episodes of Bad Sisters. We watched one episode while eating a big bowl of beets, which I’ll admit felt off. (Just…popcorn, please?) I have no one to blame but myself since I brought the beets. But then failed to communicate about accoutrements for the beets. Nat was in heaven.
The Adventures of Coyote Sunrise with Violet. It’s about a girl who lives in a bus with her hippie dad. They’re escaping the sadness of their hometown where the mom and two other sisters were hit by a car and killed. Now they are permanently on the move. Violet and I really like the emotion of the book, and she seems to handle that sometimes I have to read through my tears. Gah.
Although, I am starting to explore the reading technique called, “the cry-pause.” Brief halt to clear. Continue. Once in a while you will be overtaken, but not enough that your child will think you’re out of control.
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That cabbage was amazing!! The beets - divine.
I’m confused by so many things here!! Most of all, “If I can’t change...” We can all change!!! And also most of all, beets and cabbage instead of popcorn. I really want to understand this one but it’s so hard. Thanks for the “cry-pause” reading strategy. I will share it with my English teacher colleagues!