with travelling for the year. I’m off to New York next week. That is a city that I thought I had seen the last of as I was driving the rented black Chevy Surburban (that would end up going into Limp Home mode somewhere in South Dakota) filled with a small black cat, Lawyerella and moving boxes out of the city and back home to Seattle. I haven’t been back to New York since and I haven’t wanted to. For me, all the charm of the city disappeared once I actually lived there. To be fair to New York, there were also other factors in play that made it an incredibly stressful time.

The highlights of my New York living experience include: spotting the inspiration that would lead to the arrival of Denzel the wonder dachshund, the renaming of the street outside CBGB’s to Joey Ramone Place, the culinary experiments that allowed me to have my lunch made almost every day, seeing Boy George not playing himself on Broadway in the production of “Taboo” and escaping the city with Lawyerella every possible chance.

I have not even entertained the idea of going back as a tourist. I think after 10 years, I should be able to face it now without any second hand trauma. And after all, someone has to get the boys their next 3 month supply of tortillas.

Moortje has lost a little more weight which is troublesome. However, his red blood count is climbing and he is definitely running around like he used to. He has also gone back to biting you if you pet him too long. That wasn’t really a behavior I had missed truthfully. He doesn’t break the skin but he does dent it pretty well. We go back to the vet in two weeks to check his weight again and if that is up, he gets his vaccinations. He very much dislikes riding in his carrier in the bike basket. I can’t say I blame him because for an indoor cat that must suddenly be a massive amount of noise and over stimulation.

It has been a long week. Tomorrow will be a bit of a slog as well. I made a big pan of boerenkool tonight to eat this weekend. That translates to farmers cabbage. Which is really kale, with potatoes and Field Roast sausages, spelt milk and vegan margarine all mixed together. And then you let it sit for a day before you reheat it and eat it. It is definitely cold weather food. This time I experimented with adding a spice mix called Vadovan to it. Basically curry crossed with pepper crossed with herbs d’Provence. I think the label described it as the French interpretation of curry. I tried after I mixed it all together. It is unusual but good.

It is 6 degrees out. That’s about 42. When we go on our walk tonight, the boys will get their jackets. So not George’s favorite thing! But I can’t stand to watch them shiver while they are lifting their legs and writing their p-email!