I miss Pumpkin.
For regular visitors to the Island, this isn't a shocking statement. Some days, it hits me harder than others. She used to sit with me on Saturday mornings when I was writing my Island posts. Her two favorite places to sit were on my lap so I'd have to type over her and sitting behind my laptop so she could steal its warmth. When she would sit behind the laptop, she would occasionally look over the laptop as if to say, "Are you done doing whatever it is you're doing, human? I'm feeling ignored." Then she would proceed to smack at my hand when I tried to pet her. It was an awesome cycle to live in. Every now and then, I'd read sections of whatever I was working on to her, you know, for her opinion. I developed a sliding scale with her reactions: if she moved or made a noise, what I read was on the right track. If she continued napping, I was boring her. If she went into another room, maybe I needed to rewrite it all entirely. Pumpkin was a fierce critic.
She was also a source of inspiration, shade, and humor for my writing. Pumpkin inspired my short stories about a cat named Pickles and of course, was the inspiration for six "Answer Your Cat's Questions Day" posts. And who can forget that time she lived in an Ikea bag for a week? Pumpkin-centric posts are some of my most read. Y'all really enjoyed her; I appreciate that every day.
Since she passed in August, I've been on the receiving end of a lot of advice about adopting another cat. One person told me I should wait a month for every year Pumpkin was with me before adopting a new cat. Pumpkin lived with me for 16 years so that means I would adopt a cat in December of 2019. Someone else told me that I've already waited too long. Apparently, I should have adopted a cat two weeks after she died. This seemed cruel and somewhat bizarre to me. Even more people say I seem "lonely" and need to get another cat so I have "someone" at home. I have to wonder with this last group if they'd decided a new cat is my only future since they've stopped encouraging me to try online dating again. If you can't find a man, get a new pet? I don't know if that really works.
I appreciate all the concern, I really do. Being a pet mom was something at which I excelled. Cats, while not easy, are my speed of pet. I always tell people what I love about cats generally and Pumpkin specifically, was the balance of aloofness and neediness inherent in their personalities. Cats know their boundaries for social interactions. Don't want to someone petting you? Hiss and smack their hand away. Not feeling social interactions at all? Hide under the bed or in a weird location like in a tote bag at the back of a closet. (Real thing that happened - it took me two hours to find her.) Need some love in your life? Jump into your human's lap and make it impossible for them to get up. Cats are basically introverts trapped in the bodies of circus performers.
Finding a pet isn't easy. To paraphrase Cher Horowitz, looking for a pet is like trying to find meaning in a Pauly Shore movie. It's challenging, elusive, and you have to wade through a lot of meaningless dialogue before you get to a winner. I have some parameters of my own, like not wanting to adopt an older cat, that make the search more narrow, especially this time of year. Cats are hard, given their propensity for looking like they'd cut you in the parking lot if you walked too close to them. Cats have a lot of personality, but their personalities don't work for everyone. I saw Pumpkin's photo in the newspaper and knew that I was supposed to be her human. I went to the shelter the next day and she was there, waiting for me. It was fate or kismet or whatever you want to think. I've started looking for a new cat friend, but none of the pictures have propelled me out of my house to meet the little dears in person. Are they adorable? Absolutely, but none of them are my cat. Even the one shelter who named their cats after Gilmore Girls characters didn't get me out of the house. No one is going to adopt a cat named Dean, by the way (#TeamLogan). I'll know when I find the cat that belongs with me.
Until that time, I'll coo over adorable little pals over on the Fairfax County Animal Shelter Instagram account and keep a running list of possible cat names. I'm partial to Waffle, Olive, Agnes, Cheese, and Chester right now; food and old fashion names seem to be my thing these days.
*Quote from Kristin Cast, author of the House of Night YA series (I've never read her books, but love this quote.)
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