Tuesday, March 12, 2024

White Cat


As I was walking to work yesterday morning, I saw this perfectly poised white cat sitting on a windowsill. It seemed so perfect I momentarily wondered if it was a garden ornament.


But then it moved! It sure blends in well with that building, doesn't it? I wonder if whoever lives there has an all-white living room, like Daisy Buchanan?

I had a strange realization yesterday. I was helping a boy with his library account, and when I pulled it up on the computer I happened to notice his date of birth -- a little nugget of data that normally doesn't mean much to me. It was July 22, 2011 -- just a few days after Dave and I first moved to London. I was amazed to see that we've been here so long that kids born after we arrived are now in sixth grade!

I looked back at my blog to see what Dave and I were doing around that time. That student's mother must have been in labor about when we moved out of the hotel and into a school-owned house, where we lived for several days while waiting for our apartment in Notting Hill to become available. We went to Bibendum for the first time. And he was probably born when I made that Zen video of shadows on the wall.

It boggles the mind. Where does the time go?


When Dave and I were at "Dune: Part Two" on Sunday, I went to get a coffee before the movie. I was walking through the shopping center where the theater is located when I looked down and saw a beheaded daffodil lying on the floor. Someone must have bought a bunch at the grocery store, and then one of them lost its head. I picked it up and put it in my jacket pocket, and when we got home I popped it into some water. It opened yesterday.

This is the first daffodil we've had indoors all season. I used to have to bring in lots of them, because Olga would break them off romping through the garden. These days she doesn't romp as much, so they stay outside, attached to their plants!

17 comments:

Moving with Mitchell said...

I love the thought of that child being born while you produced the beautiful shadow video.

Andrew said...

2011? We still had lots of friends and I had plenty of social things to blog about.
A great niece turning 10 has shocked us.
The white cat is magical. One day earlier this week at about 7am I was sitting on the balcony while making sure the world was still functioning and I noticed from a neighbours window in the just pre dawn light a black and white cat sitting staring at me. I wish I'd taken a photo.

Yorkshire Pudding said...

As soon as it saw you, the daffodil must have thought that you were its father. This often happens with baby birds and lambs.

Bob said...

It does surprise me how time flies; you think it's been a minute and it's been a decade!

Boud said...

You moved to London when Handsome Partner started hospice at home. Significant for us, too. Quite a different new adventure.

Ms. Moon said...

That's sort of magical- the ability to go back and see what you were doing when a child that would come into your world eleven years later was born.
I like that house and I like that cat. It is perfect there.

Ellen D. said...

Time flies by, doesn't it, Steve? Today my youngest is 35 years old and I remember when she was born.
I have daffodils blooming outside my kitchen windows. It's a little early for that but I'm loving it!

ellen abbott said...

my small clump of daffodils only gave me two flowers this year.

when you get to my age time goes even faster. when I think about the inevitable end of my life I always think I could possibly have another 20 years but with the sudden death of my sister last November I'm realizing probably not.

Jeanie said...

Thank you for saving the daffodil... they are my favorites! That cat is fabulous -- it sure knows how to pick a posing station!

You've been in London a long while. That had to be an interesting arrival. Sometime I'll have to see if I can see some early blog posts on your move!

Sharon said...

It's amazing how fast time rolls by. I've run into people I worked with at one time and find that they are now grandparents. It's always a bit of shock.
I love that pretty daffodil you saved.

Debby said...

We were in the process of rehabbing the house we live in now.

Red said...

Sometimes there's a little detail that takes us down a rabbit hole.

Kelly said...

I had the same thought as you did when I looked at the first photo. It's a beautiful kitty.

You're reaching that point in life where more and more things will remind you just how quickly time is passing! (Isn't that a nicer way of saying "getting old"?!)

Michael said...

With every year I taught, when I'd get a new batch of students, I would be shocked at how fast time flew by. When I would put their birthdate down for some sort of form, I would go back in time to that date and realize that I was one of those "old" teachers!

John Going Gently said...

I always like your random pieces …you have a good eye

Susan Kane said...

We saw Dune 2 over the weekend. We were young adults/parents when the original Dune was playing in the 80s. This version is closer to the book. Your rescued daffodil is lovely.

Susan said...

You've made a good life in the UK. The years fly by. A white cat living in a white house sitting happily on a sunny window ledge seems picture perfect. The house looks quite lovely and I like the tile walkway to the front door. Your rescued daffodil flower is exceptionally well.