Kitty Withdrawal

At this very moment I am enjoying Spring Break at the beach which means I've ventured many hours away from my home along with countless families across the nation who all converge on the same plot of land and demand access to the same over-chlorinated pool.  Naturally, we all share some common goals:  radiate ourselves in the sun, do some expert people watching, and avoid parental liability when our children have junk food freak-outs in public.  (i.e. "Timmy? Please calm down while we go find your mother....")  Ah, the calming sounds of the ocean with the seagulls dive bombing the family next blanket over as their kids throw them bits of Cheetos and then run for cover.  This is relaxation.  The best part of the trip for me was the eight-hour drive, and that was mostly just the bumper-to-bumper arrival for the last ten miles.  We only live thirty miles away.  Ha ha.  I joke.  We live further than that, but I did have to split the trip into two days which meant we spent the night in a hotel at the halfway point.  We were delighted to find a clean room with no bed-bugs.  Sadly, there was a family of pacing pachyderms above us and for the life of me, I'm not sure what the fuss was about, or why they chose to stay at a hotel if all they wanted to do was practice their tap dancing all night.  Alas, when we finally got to our destination, I was poised to chill out and catch up on some Zzz's and be a professional slacker.

But I can't believe after all the fussing I do on a regular basis about all the hairballs, litter issues, paws where they shouldn't be, etc...I actually miss my kitties!  Not the work of caring for them.  Just their companionship and their little furry warm bodies when I'm trying to get comfortable in an unfamiliar bed.  And when I'm drinking my coffee in the morning and watching the sunrise I can't help but wonder if my cats would enjoy a nice stretch on this warm balcony too and listen to the ocean?  I see lots of people walking their dogs on the beach and, of course you can't take a cat for a walk (I've seen videos and that's an entirely different blog), but you don't see cats wandering around on the beach often in America.  Years ago I went to Europe and in Spain there were plenty of feral cats on the beach.  I saw them in the Bahamas too.  These were very resourceful cats that were pretty wary of humans, but would make the best of whatever scraps we inevitably leave behind in our vacation-mode.  I shudder to think how my domestic babies would function when left to their own devices in a strange place.  They know how to beg, but goodness knows they would see an approaching car and roll onto their backs to offer their bellies because they are that stupid and trusting. 

Which brings me back to longing to rub their little fuzzy bodies and give a good head scratch.  And if I wander over to my daughter and do this right now she will slap my hand away and look at me like the demented soul I am.  And head-butting a human is definitely not a good idea.  So despite the wonder of a blissful vacation, I will enjoy returning home in a few days to greet the Easter Bunny and my fat kitties.  They look a little bit like Peeps in the window when I get there, all lined up like little fat marshmallows.  I just hope they don't get into any of those Easter goodies I've hidden around the house while I'm away.  A trip to the vet is not the welcome home that I appreciate.  But I know my husband is doing his best to keep up with the five litter boxes, three food dishes and water bowls, separate feeding times, carpet accidents, and keeping them all apart at bedtime.  My poor honey, being an accountant makes him the sucker that stays behind for the cats every April while I get to live it up and ponder kitty withdrawal.  It's just not right, is it?  But he gets to do his kitty bonding now and I'm sure there's a small part of him that is grateful for the company while his family is away.  They are great little buddies--high maintenance, yes.  But I wouldn't trade them for all the Spring Breaks in the world.