Finding joy: Astrix

Astrix asleep on one of her favorite blankets.

I've been both sick and on the road, so unfortunately I have not had the time I would like to devote to my humble little blog, humble in the fact that I don't think many people are anxiously waiting for me to post, and little in that it's just getting going so there's not much to read yet.  I'm in Dublin for work at the moment, so I wanted to continue my finding joy series of posts by remembering the special little fluffball that I've shared my life with for almost seven years: my cat, Astrix.  I know it might be a little weird to blog about a cat.  Goodness knows I have other joys in my life too.  But other than family, no one has stuck by me as long as kitty has.  I also suspect this might be because I feed her so much...

I had just moved into my first "adult apartment" right before graduating from college.  It was the first time I had ever lived alone, and my little 600-square-foot studio felt a bit quiet and lonely.  It was never really a question of what I should do -- I wanted a cat!  My mom tried to dissuade me.  Cats were expensive.  They took lots of work.  And when she found out I wanted not one but two?  She thought it would be bad to get kittens.

I didn't listen, of course.

A few months later I found myself in a long line of folks waiting to adopt kittens from the Humane Society in Tacoma.  I couldn't believe how many people there were, and how few kittens were waiting for us.  Part of my heart was sad as I looked at all of the adult cats waiting to be adopted but, as for so many people, my heart was set on a kitten.

But the kittens were gone, all of them, and people began to drift away.  I clutched my number and was very sad.  I walked up and down looking at the other cats when I overheard one of the volunteers say that a mother and her two kittens had just arrived from their foster home.  And guess who was holding the lowest (winning) number?  Me.  I was whisked to a room with them and told I had five minutes to decide.

Astrix as a kitten

It took me no time at all.  She was mine.  And I knew she was the Astrix.  I wanted punctuation names to celebrate my love of reading and writing -- initially I had wanted Apostrophe and Ampersand, but those were too long to yell.  And she was just sprightly enough to be an Astrix.

Now, kittens can be quite exhausting, as I learned very quickly.  But from the get-go I was really excited because Astrix was smart.  I read a few books about kittens, including one about how to train them, so from the time I brought her home I started teaching her things.  They say the first trick you need to teach a cat is "come here."  If you waggle your finger, they will come.  Well, it worked.  And from there, we branched out to sit, sit up, kiss, hide, dead, high-five, and now I have a few more in mind.

But I think that I have so much joy when it comes to Astrix because she's been with me through the most turbulent, change-filled period of my entire life.  When I brought her home, I was just finishing up college and living in Seattle.  We've moved together twice, including into my first home.  She's lived with (and outlasted) three other cats, which has, not surprisingly, made her even more tightly bonded to me.  I really think she thinks that she's a "hoo-man," as I say it.

This is a cat who is a constant source of amusement with her nutty behavior.  She's attracted and repulsed by water.  She'll eat or lick anything she can, even if she hates the food (just to check).  She lets me know as soon as another animal, especially a squirrel or cat, is in the yard and will prowl from window to window until she can intimidate it away.  She's incredibly crafty.  She's super-needy and has just started drooling when she is uber-happy.

Most importantly, when I'm sad, she's right there.  I mean literally RIGHT THERE next to me or on top of me.  When times were tough in the last few years and I didn't have anyone to talk to, she'd just show up and purr contentedly.  That's a great sort of joy -- a little cat who just wants to be close.

My hope is for another seven years with Astrix.  After all, we still have to learn "roll over!" and how to jump through a hoop.

I take it back.  Maybe she's half dog.

xo
Sarah

Other favorite Astrix photos:

From the time she was a kitten, she's loved to lay on her back.

When we first moved to the townhouse, she'd run around so much that she'd pant!

Snowglobe, 1; Astrix, 0

Why I call her Fang

The lobster costume was one of my favorites.
She also has a cat snuggie :)

Out for a summer walk at the house

We mastered High Five in 2012.