The Joys of Sunday Morning

Hope.

Hope for a sunny morning and short-seeming first day of the Israeli work week.

Sundays have received the dread-value that Mondays used to occupy when I was living in the United States.

The week actually unofficially begins Saturday night with rage against the dying of the weekend and, as of late, the bitter realization that I didn't accomplish half the homework goals I set for myself. It also includes, invariably, going to sleep past midnight. I am a go-to-sleep-between-midnight-and-2am person by nature and even just a few extra hours on friday and saturday mornings push me further back in my ongoing attempts of getting used to an earlier bedtime. It's okay, I have bigger battles to fight. I'm usually unnecessarily tired on Sunday mornings as a result.

And so it begins: As the land transitions from leisure to toil I have an unchanging date with the 6:20am alarm. We smile slightly at each other, the cellphone alarm and I, knowing our mutual dependence mixed with mutual loathing. We'll meet again Monday morning, at 6am not 6:20am. I'm out of the house by 7am, though this morning I was a little late leaving because of Gonen the cat.

He was out all weekend and finally made an appearance in the wee morning hours. When I walked into the living room this morning, I was hoping he would be curled up in the blanket I set out for him on the chair in the living room. I put one for him on the chair and one for Xuxa, the other cat in the house, on the couch.

When I walked in there were indeed two cats in the living room, each curled up in a blanket left for them. One problem. Xuxa was no where to be seen, and a stranger-cat was curled up on the couch. When she saw me she knew the jig was up and she promptly saw herself out through stage left. The windows were promptly closed after her so that she realizes that her talents are no longer required. We're going to keep the two cats we're obligated to inside and the rest of the neighborhood posse outside for now. I'm sure Gonen and Xuxa will be thrilled.

After a few minutes of petting and chastising Mr. Gonen for his frolicking in the streets of the big city, I left my apartment and rounded the corner to catch the shared taxi that takes me to the main road outside of Yakum. This morning was a little off because I was out about 10 minutes later than my usual for Sundays and there was a driver I didn't know and someone was sitting in the seat I always sit in. Variety is the spice...

The groundhog rule worked it's magic. I arrived at 7:52am, eventhough I caught the taxi at 7:20am. No matter when I get on those things, 6:50 or 7:20 or anytime in between, I'll get to Yakum around the same time. It's a rule.

I like the walk from the main road to the office. It takes about 15 minutes. I start by rounding the gas station and entering Yakum's boundary from the fields on the west. I walk up the path until I pass the village cemetary. It's a beautiful plot set in between evergreen pines and a citrus grove. Most of the graves have flowers all around and there's a gentle seabreeze blowing. It's a very peaceful and shady spot. I pass through the western neighborhood with it's modest single story houses with large backyards and pass by the kindergartens. There's one that has a big cage full of parrots and lovebirds and such behind it. I usually sneak by to see how things are going. There's a flock of wild parakeets that always hang out near the cage to catch the seeds that fall to the ground. They're a loud bunch but a nice site in the morning. I love the wild parakeets. I want one of these huge room-sized cages myself someday. There's enough room for a few dozen squeaking birds to move around and fly from side to side and have a blast stuffing themselves with seeds and gossip.

I round the pool and come in to the office. Usually Sundays are quieter than other days in the office because people have off-site meetings and work from home. I can definitely respect the appeal of working from home on Sundays, I am unfortunately not high enough on the food-chain to be so lucky.

I come in and set my laptop up and make some tea.

The workweek begins with the traditional weekly reading of the latest post secrets.

Then I read the new york times and some Israeli news sites, check out what Ree the Pioneer Woman has been up to.

And then...

Then without any more excuses (unless I think of a few more) I start working.

Good morning and Good week.

introducing Gonen the handsome cat

It all started a few months ago when I was alone in the apartment for a few weeks when the air outside was so hot and so still that I wanted to be as still as the air.

I noticed that something orange was running between the kitchen and the living room. My housemate's cat is a big fat grey cat and so I was very surprised to discover a young male orange cat who learned how to sneak into the apartment from the kitchen window.

I didn't really know what to do with him at first so I closed the window to the kitchen and thought that it was over.

A few weeks later he learned how to get in from the bathroom windows which I don't like to keep closed perpetually because that's gross and he came in every now and then.

In the last week he's been spending more time inside the apartment than outside of the apartment.

We've slowly been developing a relationship and he now likes to come and sit next to me or on top of me and get petted. He's very adorable and quite handsome and hasn't really given me any choice in the matter because he has slowly adopted me.

The other cat does not like him, she minds him less when he isn't getting attention, but when he's being pet and cuddled she gets very very jealous. She's going to get special attention for a little while so that she's not too depressed by having to share the cat role.

Overall I think it's good for her, she used to be a very lonely and miserable cat before she discovered that she could sneak out of the windows in the rear of the house. I think that having a companion will be good for her in the long run, make her life less lonely and terrible than it used to be.

I took him to the vet today and he got his rabies and other vaccines and was dewormed. He is going to be neutered next month after all the shots and such are over with.

Without further adieu, I'd like to introduce you to the handsome cat that adopted me and that I am in the process of adopting back, Gonen: