Tag: Christmas

All I Want For Christmas

Our black cat Emma sleeps underneath the Christmas tree

Emma’s struggles continue and she’s in a fight for her life. Her last hope is a chemo drug that she’ll start tomorrow. We weren’t sure she’d make it long enough to start treatment as last night and this morning she didn’t want to eat much. My wife had the brilliant idea to get some baby food and she’s been eating that today. It’s a stop-gap solution but we’re just trying to keep her strong enough that we can see if the new medicine will help.

All I want this Christmas is for Emma to be healthy again. Here she’s sleeping under the Christmas tree, in previous years she’d spend most of the holidays under the tree but now that she’s sick she’s only there occasionally. It’s been so hard to see my sweet little Em slowly waste away.

An Oregon Duck

An Oregon Duck

Portland has an assortment of animal statues scattered about downtown and this past Christmas season many were decked out in Christmas sweaters. Even the little duck statues got in on the action, I suspect whoever knitted this outfit is as much a fan of the Oregon Ducks as Oregon’s ducks.

That’s Not the Way We Left the Tree, Em

Our black cat Emma walks away from the Christmas tree she knocked over in December 17, 2009. Original: _MG_3243.CR2

There’s a reason I don’t put the ornaments on the tree right away.

I thought with another year of wisdom and experience the cats might be kinder to the tree. But yesterday we got home from work to find this carnage in the living room.

The investigation initially focused on two prime suspects, juvenile offenders with a past history of tree climbing, but the discovery of a clump of soft, black fur in the treetop has narrowed the focus. The accused did herself no favors when, as I righted the tree, she climbed back into it before I even had it upright again.

In her defense, the tree stand isn’t the best. It certainly wasn’t designed with the idea of a ten pound ornament hanging from the top.

📷: Canon 7D | Canon 24-105 L
🗓️: December 17, 2009

Unboxing Day

Our cats Sam, Scout, and Emma underneath the Christmas tree in December 2009. Original: _MG_3177.cr2

Many parts of the former British Empire celebrate Boxing Day after Christmas, a day originally set aside to give gifts to the less wealthy parts of society. While we don’t celebrate Boxing Day here in the States, we do celebrate Unboxing Day in our home, a day set aside to unbox our artificial Christmas tree. This day will always be a day of joy and sadness for me, as it was not only one of Templeton’s favorite days of the year, it was also the day he died in 2007.

But it is also a day of joy, as the cats all love it, Emma especially. I brought the box down early this year but didn’t get the tree out for another week, and every day when I came home from work Emma would be sleeping beside the box. I’m not sure if the smell brought back pleasant memories or if she was trying to guilt me into putting the tree up.

I finally put it up last night, and before I even had the top assembled Emma was sleeping under the bottom branches. Sam was climbing in it before I had the branches spread out, and today it showed clear signs of cats tunneling upwards through the branches. We’ve had this tree throughout our married life but I don’t how much more of this kind of love it can take. Scout used to love to climb in it when she was younger, but being the resident genius she at least figured out how to climb up without leaving an evidence trail behind her.

Last night all three cats were under the tree, and I hoped to get some pictures but Emma woke up and came out to greet me so I didn’t have much time. Snuggle buddies Sam and Scout stayed put so I had a little more chance with them.

Our cats Sam and Scout under the Christmas tree in December 2009. Original: _MG_3188.cr2

Leaning

Our Christmas tree suffers after our cats Sam and Emma were sleeping in it

This is our Christmas tree shortly after we first put it up (thankfully before the ornaments went on), you can see a decided tilt to the tree. The eagle-eyed observer may even be able to tell which layer Sam and Emma decided to sleep in.

Shelter from the Storm

Our cat Sam sleeps on the cat bed on a snowy night, with the Christmas tree lights reflecting on the left and the neighbor's lights visible on the right. He was illuminated by the room light and the Christmas tree lights. Taken on December 20, 2008. Original: _MG_0058.CR2

The forecast for a winter storm held true and we got quite a bit of snow today. The cats seemed rather agitated during the day but by the evening were ready to settle in for their naps. Scout was holding fast on her favorite winter spot, the wooden grate above the heating vent, so Sam took the vacated window seat.

Even as the snowstorm raged on the other side of the window, Sam finally fell into a deep sleep. I grabbed my camera when I saw that I could frame him between the Christmas lights of the neighbors across the street and the reflection of our Christmas tree in the window. The top picture is lit by the lights of our tree and a room lamp while the bottom one is lit only by the tree lights. They each have a different feel but I like them both, I deliberately left the color warm since I think it works best for this scene.

Our cat Sam sleeps on the cat bed on a snowy night, with the Christmas tree lights reflecting on the left and the neighbor's lights visible on the right. He was illuminated by the Christmas tree lights. Taken on December 20, 2008. Original: _MG_0052.CR2

Oh Christmas Tree

Our cat Sam yawning under the Christmas tree

I put up the Christmas tree last weekend not knowing how I’d feel about it. Templeton loved tree day but last year on the day the tree went up we realized something was seriously wrong with him and he had to be euthanized that night. Thankfully this year it was a happy time, between remembering how much he loved the tree (and the big box it is stored in) and seeing the current cats enjoying it so. Scout was curled up on the tree skirt as soon as the top section went on, while Sam and Emma stayed away at first.

Soon enough Emma curled up under the tree as well and has rarely left it since. I hoped to take a picture of her but Sam walked in front of the camera and then Emma woke up and walked towards me, hoping for a game of String. Emma spends her waking hours hoping for a game of String. So I settled for a picture of a sleepy Sam under the tree, although of the three cats he spends the least time there.

We left the ornaments off to see how Emma and Sam would do with the tree, they left it alone last year but they were new to the house so they had plenty of other distractions. After the first few days the tree showed no ill effects so I planned on putting the ornaments up this weekend.

But one day this week, my wife heard an awful cry from Scout so she rushed in thinking the cats were fighting, only to find Sam and Emma in the tree and attempting to flee the scene. Scout used to love to sleep in the tree but we finally got her to stop, I suppose our little narc decided that if she couldn’t sleep in the tree, no one could.

At least we think we got her to stop, she’s crafty and learned to cover her tracks pretty closely and sneak up near the center of the tree. The new cats haven’t adopted her Leave No Trace ethic and I’m not sure the tree will survive the holidays, at first it just suffered flattened branches but soon developed a decided tilt.