Run-On Saturday

A perfectly lovely spring day.  Several things could have spoiled it -- my tempestuous crabbiness, for example -- but nothing did.

AFTER . . . a night of very little sleep because it was hot and I was sharing my bed with a squirmy almost-five-year-old who had a stuffy nose but who insisted upon sucking her thumb anyway and then who woke up fussing every 15 seconds because she couldn't breathe and also? the wild outside cat Itty who got knocked up had her kittens right out in the open Friday afternoon and after nursing them in the heat all damn day she KILLED ONE in front of the girls and then abandoned her remaining kitties (maybe) so I kept checking on them but wouldn't bring them into the house because INSTANT KITTY DEATH SENTENCE (and also the crying and the hunger and that would've been just me, by the way) because Teenage Pregnancy StatistiCat would definitely have flown the coop for sure and NO WAY am I doing the eye dropper thing with cow's milk which gives them the runs anyway, and who needs a box full of yowling kittens with the runs while your daughters bawl and blame you?

So, of course, I took the only logical course of action, which was to . . . lie there and obsess about the meowing I could hear coming through my open window which in no way could have been kittens who are too tiny to have been heard from the distance we are talking and anyway it sounded more like a BOBCAT, but, since we don't have any BOBCATS I could only assume it was either a kitten predator singing over his supper or it was Teenage Pregnancy StatistiCat come back too little too late to assuage her guilt and finding only an empty box where kittens used to be and where predators had had a hasty meal which I of course internalized and will feel forever guilty about especially in the wee small hours when I am supposed to be sleeping or at least monitoring the depth of Sparky's nose whistle since sleep is out of the question anyway and GAH I hope I don't get her cold.

"Mommy?"

Mbmbfmbremnffemblblbfph.

"Mommy!  When are you gonna get UP?!"

Oh GAH is it Monday have I slept that long where's Chas is Sparky in a coma where's the clock I can't read it my eyes won't open 7:11 well I'm not too late oh crap it's Saturday go back to sleep Chas is at work and why won't my eyes open anyway?   Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Oh yeah.  Saturday.  Picnic with Grandma day.  Only the rugrats don't know about it, because I haven't told them in case Sparky's sniffles turn into the Ebola Virus.  Okay, I can do this.

Why, again, don't I drink coffee in my own kitchen?

Oh yeah.

Why, again, don't we own a coffee maker?

Break out the crack; Mama didn't sleep much last night.

Within minutes of my virtual Nick Nolte routine I am up and smiling and fresh as a daisy and making Dutch Babies for my Baloney Girls.  THEY are watching some bizarre cartoon about sushi or something -- have Japanese animators taken over the world?! -- and I have a few moments to hang with NPR, my only friends, in the kitchen.  This day may turn out to be okay.

And it did, because my wonderful, darling, generous, inventive, adventuresome mother suggested a picnic to my favorite place in the world to find my center, Black Butte Lake.  There IS an E in BUTTE.  We loaded up my car and drove west through the mostly-green hills to the lake.  Mom was looking out for picnic tables, but I was on a mission.

"Lonely Tree, Mom.  I want to go to Lonely Tree, if it's available."  It's the best site on the lake, as far as I'm concerned, and it's under an oak tree that'll break your heart if you're the sappy sentimental kind, and I am.  I have posted this picture so many times it's getting silly, but it's one of my favorites, so I'm doing it again.



Only picture mostly-green grass all around.  So here was our picnic, on the picnic quilt my Aunt Liz made for our wedding present (still one of my favorite treasures). 



And here was our view.  See the Coast Range?  There's still snow up there.  A lot, in some places.  And next month, maybe even next week, this will all be yellow-brown.



After some playground time we headed for home, where Mommy promptly did the unthinkable and took a two-hour nap.  IN. THE. MIDDLE. OF. THE. DAY.  I am NOT kidding -- this almost NEVER happens.

"Mommy?  When are you gonna get UP?!"

An extremely good day.

*     *     *     *     *

EPILOGUE:  I think Itty, the Teenage Pregnancy StatistiCat, may have actually moved her kittens in the middle of the night, and that was the yowling I heard.  In any case, they are gone, and Itty (who never misses a free meal, feral thing) was nowhere to be seen after this morning.  While we don't need any kittens -- GAHH!! we don't need any kittens -- I am secretly hoping that Itty did the right thing, and that all three of the kittens survived the night.  I would have made a lousy pioneer woman, since drowning kittens is beyond my capability.  I cried the last time I caught a fish, and that was 1977.

Comments

[ok, where was I]

This post is awesome, and now that I've commented on, like, 12 posts in a row, I have to say, What kind of a-hole have I been? Has it really been that long since I've been here? Or are you just writing tons? How about I keep asking questions, K? I've been trying to catch up on some non-blogging things, and I've totally slacked, apparently, on the visiting. The upside is that there's all this great stuff to keep me at the computer when I'm supposed to be getting dinner started and throwing some towels in the washer so we don't get all dirty again when we dry off.

I LOVE that tree, and you could post a photo everyday of it and I'd totally get it.

LOL, teenage pregnancy statisticat. Holy Sh*t. We had one for a few years who just cranked out the kittens like there's no tomorrow. They were all inbreds too, so they had sniffly noses and gunky eyes. She was a whore and didn't care.

[Debbie]

Why do you not have a coffee maker? Ummmm.....

Those pictures of your favorite picnic spot burned into my head it's so gorgeous. Are you close by there to visit often? I think I'd go weekly.

Oh gosh....such a view!

[jason]

Run-on Saturday? This was fantastic! I think I may have a new blog crush.

[Kyddryn]

Aww...rough night! I feel your pain.

Mama kitty probably did move the little ones - they usually move away from the birthplace since predators know the smell of things being born. Ain't nature just grand?? (The answer is yes, yes she is, even when she's messy)

If I didn't know what a Dutch Baby is, I'd snort every time you mentioned making them.

I woke up to a spawn who wanted to wrestle this morning. Lucky, lucky me. :-)

Did you know they make a single-cup coffee thingy? It looks like the filter basket from a drip-maker, but with a lip on it that fits it over your mug. Put a filter in it, add coffee grounds, pour boiling water over aaannd....coffee!! I use a french press, but I'm all fancy that way.

I hope today's a good one - I would have commented yesterday, but I think I slept through the whole day, or aliens kidnapped my brain, or the government was testing their new zombie-ray...

Shade and Sweetwater,
K

[Mantel Man]

Has something changed from my childhood fishing days? As I remember, it was the lake itself that was mostly-green.

Good post, sis. Hope Sparky has gotten that mostly-green stuff out of her nose so you can sleep.

[MommyTime]

Nature is harrowing -- but really, does it have to be so harrowing in our own backyards??! How awful. I hope the little tramp has decided to take proper care of those babies.

And I'm glad your ButtE made you happier. Everyone needs a place like that great oak tree to regroup.

Here's hoping Sunday is better.

[Chesapeake Bay Woman]

Holy Mackerel, woman, do you drink? If not, I heartily recommend you take it up. My nerves are raw and I am only READING about this harrowing experience. Oh, and I feel so badly about your lack of coffee, I want to send you a coffee maker. You must have caffeine.

I hope the kittens are OK, and I think Black ButtE Park is gorgeous.

Now, to answer the most pressing question here:

YES, Japanese animators are indeed taking over the world, one insipid cartoon at a time. I still experience post-traumatic stress syndrome from my son's 8th birthday party a few years ago, where I took 4 raucous boys to a Pokemon movie.

Warning to Parents: Do NOT try this at home without earplugs and a blindfold. And perhaps a shot of vodka for the fountain drink.

[Mental P Mama]

Now I need a nap.