The Cat and The Grocery Store

 

5:26 a.m.

I woke up early today as I had an 8 a.m. appointment.

The alarm was set for 6 but my brain couldn't handle that so I woke up much earlier.

Rascal "The New Cat" was nowhere to be seen at first but I called for him and he quickly appeared.

The house -- quiet, dark, and cold -- bubbled with a glimpse of life as Rascal climbed up on my chest.

The kneading began. The engine began to purr.

The he settled down on top of me.

If my plan to was get out of bed, it was quickly thwarted.

The moment was pure happiness. 

I've had four primary cats since I was 11 years old. Fred was not much of a lap cat. Neither was Chico. Bandit (who should be a saint) was all about laps and chests and attention. Rascal leans towards the Bandit side of the ledger.

I think we were both in heaven but, given he still shows a lot of kitten tendencies (he's only 18 months old), he was soon off of me and on to other things.

I went about my business. I went to my appointment and made it back home. But that was a great start to the day.

Before I came home, I made a stop at Wegmans. The grocery store chain recently opened its first location in the lower Hudson Valley, in Harrison.

I've been a fan of them for over a decade, dating back to going to their stores in Syracuse and Pennsylvania.

My mother had been excited about their opening and we were plotting a visit the week she died, as she had become a fan when I took her to one in Pennsylvania that had a restaurant in it. She was hooked.

We never got there and I have to say I felt a hint of guilt going there today, even if it was to honor her on her 63rd wedding anniversary.

It was a great shopping experience and I bought both lunch and dinner there, but it highlighted some of the feelings that I'm still kind of dealing with. Guilt -- which my mother had a doctorate in producing -- is often chief among those feelings.

Guess that's all I have to say about that.

I'll go back to Wegman's soon.