However, today, I did learn of something and I thought it was most definitely blog worthy. Well, at least for me to keep a little record of it. I learned that my cat back in the States, Hobbes, has passed away. He was seriously the best cat.
We got him way back in 1993. He came from southern Utah from a little town Escalante. Big long story as to how we came to get him from there, but nonetheless, he was a barn cat there, born the day my brother arrived. So, as a keepsake, my brother got to keep him.
When we went to pick up my brother and Hobbes and bring them back to Texas, I was the one that got to smuggle him on the plane in a sling...luckily, the security checks weren't as crazy back then, and this was actually possible. Hobbes was drugged so that he would sleep the whole way from Phoenix to Dallas (with a layover in El Paso) and I remember distinctly that he began waking up on our descent into Dallas Love Field. I tried to tell my mom that the bag was moving (we had transferred him to a bag at the time) and he started to make some noises. So every time that he would start to make some noises, I would have to cough or do something loud. Quite funny, but not really at the time thinking that we were going to get arrested or something.
He became my partner in my adventures. In our backyard in Dallas, we had a creek running through it with kind of a mini forest. It was AWESOME! As a kid there were all sorts of things to do back there, and now I had a companion who would always come with me on my adventures. Hobbes would always follow me to see what I was up to back there. It was nice. We'd have one sided chats...but we all know that I was answering for him in my head...and sometimes out loud.
There were loads of little rodents and birds back there too. At least once a week he would bring me a kill and lay it nicely disemboweled on the floor at the foot of my bed. Squirrels were his favorite. One time he brought in a baby owl, which was still alive and uninjured. He got pretty mad at me when I let him go. Once we got Cali, our dog, they worked in teams. I remember one time that Hobbes had killed a rat and brought it up to the porch. Cali decided to play with it. I must add here that she did have a squeeky rat toy that she loved, so I think she thought she was just playing with that. She would toss it up in the air and then it made a loud "thunk" on the ground. Mom heard this and wondered what the hell was going on, saw that it was a real rat and came up to get me to get rid of the damn thing. I might add that it was also 7am or so.
Hobbes was also one of the best cuddling cats. He loved it to be draped over my shoulder and would stay like that for a while, even as I walked around the house doing stuff. He would come up for snuggles, when he wanted them, and when he was done, he was off. He'd do that little pawing thing, I always called it making cookies, on me, while purring really loudly and drooling like you wouldn't believe.
His absolute favorite thing in the world was cat nip. He would lay on the table or the carpet and just roll in the stuff and act all drugged out afterwards.
I am going to miss this sweet kitty. It is going to be hard for me to go back to Texas and not automatically go to the back and yell out , "here kitty, kitty" for him to come for a snuggle. I am grateful for the time that he was here and the times that we spent together and I am definitely grateful that Amelia got to meet this sweet soul. I know she won't remember it, but I've got the pictures to prove it and more importantly I will remember it.
So, rest in peace my sweet Hobbes. I, and the rest of the family will miss you greatly, but I know that you aren't in any more pain and that you are frolicking around with Walter and Spike in fields of cat nip.
One of his favorite places to drink water was from this fountain in the front courtyard in Wimberley...
How sad! That's funny about you sneaking him on the airplane. It reminded me of the I Love Lucy episode where she smuggled cheese from Europe.
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