1 Write Way

Idling After a Week on the Roller Coaster

This week has been quite the emotional roller coaster, with my husband and I having a few teary-eyed discussions about our oldest cat, Luisa.  I’m happy to say that right now she is stable and seems to be regaining some of her old spunk and energy.

Luisa nodding off.
Luisa nodding off.

Okay, she’s not looking too spunky here, but this is the first morning in a week that she’s felt well enough to walk all the way from the back of the house to the front, climb up on the couch (with a little help from moi), and then take a nap in front of the window.  And I have the pleasure of giving her a cocktail of drugs twice a day:  her usual methimazole (for hyperthyroidism) and Pepcid (for her tummy; I don’t know that it helps but they say it doesn’t hurt); in addition, an anti-nausea pill once a day; appetite stimulant every three days; a liquid medication for colitis; and a food supplement similar to Activa.  Fortunately, Luisa is very good about taking pills and even having a syringe of cold liquid splashed at the back of her throat.  We are not assuming that she’s out of danger yet.  I mean, she’s at least 20 (my husband argues that she’s closer to 22) and her body is shutting down.  We’re just trying to slow the process and make her comfortable.  And right now, our efforts are paying off 🙂

With Luisa as my distraction, I’ve fallen very behind in writing and blogging and commenting.  Fortunately, this morning I came across this post from CommuniCATE Resources for Writers:  Don’t “Write” Yourself Off: I Don’t Care How Old You Are!  Indeed, I needed to read this!  One of the (many) struggles I have with my writing is my age:  Will I someday be too old to publish a FIRST novel?  Is time running out for me?  If you ever have any of these thoughts, read Cate’s blog post.

And if you feel that sometimes the world is too full of bad news and bad people, there’s a new blog that you’ll want to visit and perhaps even contribute to:  Good People Doing Great Things.  This is the brain-child of Margaret Jean Langstaff, a wonderful writer and blogger that you may already know through her blog, The Langstaff Retort.  For Good People Doing Great Things, Margaret wants “to hear your stories and experiences, events and acts of spontaneous kindness that you have witnessed or initiated yourself.” She is looking for guest bloggers, columnists, advisors, people who understand the importance of compassion in our humanity, as well as anyone with WP expertise who would be willing volunteer their time to make the new blog visually engaging.

Almost finally, Interesting Literature had two very interesting posts last week:  one about 19th century inmates of insane asylums (click here) and another one on great quotations from women writers (click here).  My favorite quote of those listed:  ‘Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.’ – Virginia Woolf

Now really finally, for Belinda at Busymindthinking.com …

Sunset at one of the most beautiful places on earth: St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
Sunset at one of the most beautiful places on earth: St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge
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Marie A Bailey

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47 responses to “Idling After a Week on the Roller Coaster”

  2. I will have to check out this article you mentioned about asylum inmates in the way back. Obviously, this fascinates me because of where I work and the history I’m surrounded by everyday.
    You are a wonderful Cat Mom! I’m happy to hear that she is doing well.

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  7. So glad to hear Ms. L is improving! I thought of her today because we took Nip in for her antibiotic shot. By the way, she’s also on methimazole. These two ancient kitties might have been separated at birth!

    Have a relaxing weekend…

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    • Hope you had a great weekend, Kevin! Hyperthyroidism is one of those kitties disease that comes with age, as does kidney disease. Luisa is our fourth cat to be diagnosed with both. It’s a balancing act too because, in treating one, you risk exacerbating the other. Luisa gets a special diet for kidney disease which does help. Anyway, our fingers are crossed that she just had a bad spell. We’ll see after she’s off her supplements …

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  8. You are a good kitty mom, she loves and appreciates you.

    Look at Anne Rice at 72 and still pumping them out. And my good old friend Michael Bishop…he must be at least in his seventies. We have years in front of us.

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  9. I’m so happy to hear Luisa is doing better, Marie. You’re such a good mommy! She’s lucky to have you. 🙂
    As far as being too old to publish…nonsense…Laura Ingalls Wilder was 60 when she wrote the first Little House book.

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    • Thanks, Jill! I didn’t know that about Laura Ingalls. I do find it inspiring to find authors who were published “late in life” 🙂

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  12. Good news about your 20-something baby. She looks contented in the pic, which is the ideal mode of cats.

    Re: Age at first publication. That’s one of the great things about writing. We don’t have to be svelte 19-year-olds to find success, and I don’t know of any book buyers who base their reading choices on the sex appeal or youthfulness of the author. i know the odds are rather stacked against me as a musician/songwriter, given that I am old enough to have seen Star Wars on opening day. I could write the catchiest rock song in history, but someone under 25 would have to perform it for anyone to care. On the other hand, I have at least a few more decades to take stabs at getting a novel published. Race ya?

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    • Excellent points, Eric. You’re may be right about music. We have plenty of examples of singers/musicians who are going at strong at 60+, but, yeah, most (if not all) of them started when they were in their teens/20s. I actually just read a brief interview with an agent who noted that the age of an author is not relevant, so there’s hope for us. And the race is on 🙂

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  14. Your cat is beautiful and cute and I wish that she recovers to keep your and others happy with her presence for a little longer 🙂

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  15. Oh, Marie, so sorry!

    I have two pups that mean the world to me, and if I were in your position I’d be doing the same thing to make sure she’s comfortable and happy. Hopefully she is able to maintain the best of health for as long as possible- and for your emotional health as well. It’s amazing how they become just like children to us, isn’t it?

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    • Thanks so much, Katie. Yup, they do become like children. Right now, she’s comfortable. We still don’t know if she just had a bout of colitis or if there’s something else going on. I’m hoping we’ll have a better idea in a couple of weeks. Again, thanks for your kind thoughts, Katie. It really helps 🙂

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  16. I’m so glad that Luisa is stable, Marie. It’s a tough road, but she’s lucky to have such a wonderful cat-mamma. And thanks for all the links – I love that last quote!

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  17. Hi Marie – better late than never. So glad to hear that Luisa is doing well. As for the being too old to publish that first novel, absolutely not. You’re never too old. I, for one, am a way better writer today than I was a couple of decades ago when I first dabbled in it. Time has a way of improving things, like wine … and writers 🙂

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    • Hi, Dave, I always enjoy it when you come by 🙂 Good point about improving over time. I still have stuff I wrote 30, 40 years ago, and there is a vast difference in quality between my “early work” and current work 🙂

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      • Absolutely true, right? And I always enjoy stopping by, Marie. Been overwhelmed with work and trying to finish up a story so I was falling behind in keeping up with blogs. Glad to be back 🙂

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        • I hear ya! My job has been more demanding so I have less time to sneak and check in. And then there’s Luisa. I wish I could blame my erratic blog presence on writing 😉

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