Oxbow's World

I might as well just cut to the chase, and I used to be pretty good at chasing back in the day: I am retiring from blogging. This news probably won’t come as a shock to any of you who have been following my blog over the years and have noticed that the number of posts have been tapering off as of late. I’ve been at this business for nine years, believe it or not! That’s a long time to come up with new material, and there’s only so much of my cuteness that humans can endure. And to be honest, I just don’t have the energy that I used to have. For instance, I used to actually enjoy real “birding” at the window or out on the balcony, but now I mostly just do it from the recliner. There have been days when I’ve been sunbathing out on the balcony, getting buzzed by hummingbirds, and I don’t even bother to glance up!

This was me in action just three years ago, when Those Two made the mistake of putting on “Cat TV” on YouTube and watched in awe and horror as I barreled through the living room, launched myself into the air, and lunged at the clueless squirrel on the screen. Now? Forget about it! Arthritis has limited my ability to go into attack mode, and my hostility toward squirrels has diminished. As Grandpa G used to say, “Getting old is not for the faint of heart.” I’m almost 15, or about 75 in human years, if that helps put things in perspective.

So I’m just going to kick back and relax from now on. I have enjoyed writing these entries over the years, and I will miss your attention and your comments, but I will remain here on these pages if you ever need another Oxbow fix. In the meantime, be kind, and stay sassy!

I have an exciting announcement to make this morning. It turns out I’m not the only writer in the family, because Mama G has self-published a book! And yes, that’s Yours Truly on the cover!

The cover description is pretty self-explanatory, so I won’t elaborate on the content. For now the book is available for sale through Blurb.com bookstore for the low price of $9.99, plus shipping. But honestly, if you already know Mama G, she would probably be happy to just mail you a copy if you ask nicely. She is not in it for money or fame. Like me, she just likes to write. Well, let’s be honest — I do enjoy the fame, too.

I just wanted to wish everyone a happy Halloween! I wrote back in March about how it was tough to be me on St. Patrick’s Day, and it occurred to me this morning that Halloween is the only holiday I can think of that has the color orange predominantly associated with it. So I’m feeling right at home today!

And don’t worry — I’m not as grumpy as I look. I’ve just never been a morning guy.

I know my mamas have “cheated” on me before with other cats, but Mama C recently crossed the line and became smitten with a little dog named Sweetie that she and Mama G met while on a hike. How is an elderly feline guy like me supposed to compete with that?!

Well as I sit here contemplating life, I just wanted to mention that today my mamas are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary! That’s quite an accomplishment, I’d say. If you look real hard at the bookcase in the background, you might see the photo of the two of them back when they were still courting, long before I came along and made their lives even richer. And just as it’s hard for them to imagine a time when they didn’t have each other, I find it hard to imagine a time when they didn’t have me!

Happy anniversary, You Two!

Look! I’ve turned into a unicorn!

No, that title is not a typo on my part, although I can be a bit clumsy on the keyboard at times. I just wanted to post about a delightful new treat that Mama C found for me at the foofoo pet store near us: lamb lung! Yes, it sounds gross, and any PETA types reading this are probably plotting their revenge on me, but lamb lung is quite delicious. If I were a drinker, I’d probably have a little Chianti with it. Mama C lets me get a few licks in before she breaks the waffle-like hunk into little pieces and feeds it to me as a special treat.

Somewhere, Agent Clarice Starling is probably screaming.

Somebody around here (Mama G, in case you can’t read my writing on the envelope) had a birthday recently, and I’m proud to say I was the first to give her a birthday card! I thought I’d get a lot of points for that, but instead Those Two promptly left the next day and didn’t return until three days later.

Fortunately I have a really nice pet sitter named Catherine. The two of us really have a bond, so much so that my mamas refer to her as “my girlfriend.” She even brings her own bag of special treats. She sure does know how to win a guy over!

Happy Fourth of July everyone! My holiday is off to an awesome start! My Aunt Donna and Uncle Paul are visiting from New England for the week, and they are really spoiling me! Last night my mamas cooked on the grill and I got to join in later and lick some corn and and get a bite or two of burger. Guests are always such easy marks!

I’ve really enjoyed getting so much attention this week, but being a party animal sure can be exhausting. Later in the evening, I crashed big-time!

And for those observant readers out there, yes, those are ski helmets that I’m nestling against. It turns out I’m not the only party animal, because Donna and Paul decided to celebrate the holiday by skiing! Why? Because they can out here! So early this morning, Mama C, Paul and Donna headed to Mt. Hood, where a high-elevation snowfield allows for skiing throughout the summer. Mama G chose to stay home and sleep in, because I’ve made sure lately that she is perpetually sleep-deprived. Mama C decided not to ski, but she hiked up part of the mountain, got some good photos of Donna and Paul as they embarked on their adventure, and even got to make a snowball. In July!

In the end, I’m sure this will go down as an “epic” holiday for all of us. A good BBQ, a well-deserved rest, and a memorable skiing experience that defied the calendar. There’s nothing more American than pursuing your own dream.

Although in my youth I was known to spend some time outside, I have never been big on going out. After all, it’s a dangerous world out there, and with all the creature comforts I have inside, why risk it? Recently, however, I’ve been rethinking that position, because Mama C decided one day to let me out on our third-floor balcony. I have to say, I felt pretty safe up there, although Mama G — always the more protective of my two mamas — fretted about me leaping off, or being carried away by a big raptor. But nothing of the sort happened, and I thoroughly enjoyed feeling the breeze on my face and the sun on my skin.

Yes, I am quite content out there, and I even made a new friend one afternoon!

Mama C is happy that I have found an activity that makes me happy, because she has been worried that I was losing interest in things as I enter my senior years. This could be one of those be-careful-what-you-wish-for moments for her, because now I want to go out all the time!