(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Critter pictures and brief update [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-12-25 O’hai. Merry Happy Gobble Season! I’ve posted a bunch of new pictures of my remaining critters below. They have been taken since Anubis passed. At the end, I’ll put a BRIEF update on my life, health, career, et cetera, for those of you who have been asking for an update. I’ll be posting a more substantial update around New Year’s Day. #jtg P.S. Feel free to share your own critter pictures and stories in the comments • • • Apophis, jtg, Khonsu, and Fenris. That’s my great-great-grandmother on the wall. ​ Ma’at is getting rubbed. Ma’at has become much more affectionate after the passing of Anubis and the freeing up of my lapl Apophis on top of the cat tree. I keep the cat food bin up high to keep the doggos from eating all their food. Zorrita is a fluffy dogggie Zorrita and Apophis by the Artichokes. Ma’at waits for Khonsu to eat her fill. That’s not a kitty on the cat tree! That’s Dorcas the dorky dog. Apophis relaxes on the cat tree heating pad Apophis head-boops his puppy Fenris. The new ruler of Casa de Verde after Anubis’s passing. Ma’at is on lookout duty. Fenris kisses my nose. Fenris and his mean mean mean sister dog Brunhilda Brunhilda kisses my noseal region… Brunhilda is a cuddly baby. Of all the puppies, she is the most like their mother Delight in terms of affectionate behavior. This big young man is a feral kitty I’ve been feeding. He meows loudly at me when I come out on the front porch, but so far I’ve not touched him. He has no name, yet. I won’t name him until he lets me pet him. Still, as a feral, he could disappear or die at any time… I still grieve for my big baby Anubis, RIP, the goodest of the good cats. After all the years gone, I still miss Delight, one of the best doggos I’ve ever had. • • • Now for a BRIEF update: I’m still recovering from the griefstorm that hit me after the passing of Anubis. His passing triggered a lot of unresolved and delayed grief. I’ll be writing more about that in a future dedicated diary. My recent hospitalization was at least in part probably triggered by my grief. The phenomenon is called “broken heart syndrome”. I had a very serious cough with lots of mucus and my chest hurt, so I went to the ER after putting down a couple of weeks of food and water for the critters and making arrangements for their extended care if I was hospitalized for more than a few weeks. When I was admitted, I learned later that the initial concern was that I was in heart failure and I might have to have immediate surgery. Fortunately, I responded to the treatments which consisted mostly of observation and lots of diuretic drugs to make me pee out about 2 gallons of fluid in four days. After I got home, I rested for several days before I went back to teaching although I was not yet fully well. I had some people express concern at this, but I simply had to get back to work as my financial buffer is inadequate. Some people at the time expressed that I should stay home until I was fully well, but it’s a privileged position to be able to simply take off as long as necessary when ill. It would not do my health or my critter any good to miss my living expenses. I do not, as one person accused me, “want to die”. Since the winter break began, I have been sleeping constantly or feeling like I needed to sleep. I have not gone out much except to go to the store. I’ve begun to feel like I’m almost recovered, but I still have moments of dizziness. With the return of semi-health, I’ve begun to do some long overdue housekeeping. This morning I awoke with a stuffed head and sneezing. I think this is due to the rains last week and the probable resultant surge of pollen, which is something I can deal with. Several weeks ago I got four tangerine orange trees. I have been intending to plant them, but due to the decline of Anubis, the griefstorm, my hospitalization, the ongoing recovery, and the recent winter rains, I had not gotten around to it. I’ve now planted two of the four trees and dug holes for the other two. Today, I’ll put the last two in the ground. I dug the holes on Christmas Eve day, but it got dark and I didn’t want to do the planting in the dark. Apophis and Anubis sharing me about six months before Anubis died. Now that Anubis is gone, the social environment among the other critters is much more relaxed. As much as I miss my giant purring baby, he was a selfish king of the house who was usually on his throne, aka me. Plus Anubis was a jealous king in that he rarely would share me with any of the other critters. Eventually, he allowed Fenris to lie next to me, and sometimes he would let Apophis join us in the last year or so, but the other dogs and cats were generally hissed at or even clawslapped if they tried to jump on me. When Anubis was not dominating me and others were on me, and Anubus decided he wanted to join me, he’d just jump up and expect the others to leave. Now, especially with the two younger cats, Ma’at and Khonsu, they jump up near me, and increasingly, on me. All the remaining critters generally get along, although sometimes Dorcas' dog will get growly at the others. Apophis is now the undisputed new King of the house. He goes where he wants when he wants, including on top of me. Unlike the late King Anubis, Apophis is all about sharing and is very affectionate with all the other critters, be they dog or cat. The tension and anxiety that Anubis invoked in the others is now gone and the mood is much more relaxed. Anubis in his cage right after I caught him and brought him back inside after 4ish years of self-imposed exile. When I remove the cage, the space the absent cage frees up I’ll be setting up a studio for making videos for my various YouTube channels. My future plans is to produce educational videos like MISTER GREEN EXPLAINS ( please subscribe ). Hopefully, within the next couple of years, I’ll build it up enough so that I’ll make enough to one day not have to work as a teacher. Being a teacher is a very difficult and stressful job and I don’t think I can do it for more than a few more years. I’ll write more later. I’m working on a diary about Grief and what I learned and experienced recently. I’ll also post a more substantial status report in the near future. If you read all that, thank you. I am greatly appreciative of the support I’ve received. The community of Dkos has become very important to me, and without you, I’m not sure where I’d be now, if anywhere at all. #jtg Group Hug P.S. ‘Tis the reason … [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/12/25/2213716/-Critter-pictures-and-brief-update?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=latest_community&pm_medium=web Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/