..back in the saddle again

This blog-cast is coming to you from the rooftops of the Oudayas. The heat has driven us to the roof with our laptops, and while a tiny bit inconvenient it is lovely and blessedly cool, and there is a naked pudgy man a few roofs over and I am having a very hard time averting my eyes… he may well have on some sort of skimpy bathing costume, I fear to gaze too long in his direction lest he suspect me of more than simple curiosity. While I am clothed in what is normal summer attire (a short sleeve shirt and shorts) it is not something I would wear even outside my door here. However as I informed Q, this is my house and I am not going to wear any more clothes in this heat. There is the sound of drums in the distance, which could mean anything from a wedding to some sort of show for the tourists. Oh my giddy aunt he stood up and has on a rather skimpy bathing costume – and he is not someone who should… Ah yes I see now it is a bar-b-que on the neighboring roof, and as Q so brilliantly noted, “there’s a fire over there!” And only men. So where do you suppose the women are eating? Oh my, our mouths are watering as the smell of meat grilling and some sort of delectable sauce is poured over it while on the fire. We are not big meat eaters, more your chicken and fish girls, but we are carnivores and now and then the body screams, “feed me meat!”. Alas after dark here that is not going to happen, perhaps tomorrow we need to go back to Le Grand Comptoir. We have decided it’s the only place to eat fish and I’m thinking the beef will prove out as well.

We have such a splendid view up here of the river and the city. In the twilight the city is a soft white and grey with the green rooftops and the twinkling lights of the traffic adding splotches of color. We can hear the prayer calls now going out over the cityscape and see Hassan’s Tower and the palace are lit up. The neighborhood’s only two dogs are barking from the palm-covered roof over next to the bakery (they do not leave their roof as they fear attack by the gang of “terrace cats”). “Who’s your daddy now?”

The moon has risen and is the kind you see in all the landscape paintings. Full and rose colored with the clouds drifting across the bottom. In the distance we can see the lights from the “I want to die in an accident” Ferris wheel and tipsy top rides. Q is crying out in some agony from the smell coming from “the men’s party” terrace of meat roasting.

File under total lack of personal responsibility: NYTIMES “Study Says Obesity Can Be Contagious”. “You don’t want to lose a friend who becomes obese, Dr. Christakis said. Friends are good for your overall health, he explains. So why not make friends with a thin person, he suggests, and let the thin person’s behavior influence you and your obese friend?” Didn’t that used to be, “It’s just as easy to love a rich chap as a poor one”? What a world, what a world. So now let’s see.. it’s not guns that kill people… and it’s not that buttery pastry you are putting in your mouth but your friends who are making you fat? I don’t think so.

I am one who believes in the power of thought – be it called prayer, meditation, or intentions – and we can use some of your positive thoughts just now. I had not told you of this as the incident with marymary took my attention, but M.C. Solaar is unwell. He went in Monday last for the very simple neuter procedure. Unfortunately a series of events has turned it to a dark day indeed. One of his testicles had not descended turning the snip-snip into an invasive procedure with multiple stitch sites. Then he had a very bad reaction to the anesthesia and we had to take him back to the vet where he stayed for three unhappy days. Q brought him home and he is a scruffy, sad little fellow indeed. The first antibiotic gave him terrible diarrhea, and now he is on two antibiotics. He won’t eat or drink and Q has been patiently feeding him with a syringe and squirting the water into his mouth. There has been none of his usual running, jumping, leaping – just sleeping. We are very concerned that he is no better after a week’s time. He returns to the vet on Wednesday to have his stitches out. I know there are many of you who are ‘animal people’, and those who are wonderful without animals. If you could spare a moment to send a positive thought his way it would be so kind. This is the poor dear’s schedule at present:
10AM--amoxi 1.5 ml
10:15--12 syringes of food+3 water
11AM--stomach antibiotic 2ml
2:15--12 syringes of food +3 water
3PM--stomach antibiotic 2ml
6:15--12 syringes of food+3 water
7PM--stomach antibiotic 2ml
10PM-amoxi 1.5 ml
10:15--12 syringes of food+3 water
if you're up--2:15--12 of food+3 water

We are somewhat encouraged as he moved aside the box blocking the staircase and made his way up the stairs to crawl into bed with me last night, where he curled up and slept quite soundly.

All good thoughts are appreciated.

If I don’t die from the heat, it is to be 39C and over the next few days, I shall return.

You all certainly made me feel better these past days. After all the hoopla I really considered dropping the blog thing, but you have made me rethink that decision. Thank you to everyone – and thank you for coming by☺

Ciao.