Nathan has a home

This week marked the official beginning of the school year. With only three days under my belt, I am already feeling the intensity of the year coming down. With the intesity, though comes a strange relief of feeling purposeful and directed, a little less lost and confused than when I arrived for my first year of grad school a year ago.


Also this week, Ken found a little kitten living outside in the bushes outside of his work. So, after a long day in the studio, I climbed through these bushes, hoping to rescue this cat and find a loving home for him. He was not eager to be rescued and I eventually gave up. Over the course of the evening and next day, however, Ken, armed with charm, patience and a healthy amount of salmon scraps from the kitchen lured this cat out of the bushes and he became a lovey loiterer at the restaurant's back door. Not wanting to be shunned by our own two by bringing home a new addition to the family, we tried all week to find a home for Nathan (yes, I still named him, even though I didn't want to bring him home). He was finally adopted by one of Ken's co-workers.

It's so funny that the safety of this cat became such a focus of our week. I think because home is so dear to me, in the sense of not only having shelter, but love and comfort and calm. I began thinking that this year's beginnnings, while off to a bustling start, and with some losses of those who have graduated and moved on, my home is so much better than last year. I now am not sure how I made it through those beginning months without my warm, funny, animal-rescuer Ken around last year. Here's to having homes with people that love us.