IT’S NEVER TOO LATE FOR CHRISTMAS

I HAVE FRIENDS who are famous for celebrating holidays, birthdays, etc., just a tad on the late side. Sometimes I think we carry things a bit too far. However, the important thing is if the heart is there – and not when the presents get there.

Case in point… I got to visit a good friend over the week-end. I used to go there every week-end even tho it is an hour’s drive away. Actually, I used to volunteer at her Wildlife Center back in the days when I had a lot more energy and a lot less responsibility – not to mention ga$ was a whole lot cheaper! And then, my little possum lived out her days there after she outgrew all my cages here so I went up almost every week-end to take food, kitty litter, crickets… anything she needed. After PITA died, the trips were few and far between. Then came Lyme’s disease and everything became difficult to do, including driving for a couple hours.

Anyway, even tho we agreed to skip giving presents, you know how it is when you see something that is just too perfect and you just have to get it for somebody? Well, that seems to happen to me a lot. So, I had a collection of animal related ornaments for Bobbie’s animal Christmas tree, a possum puzzle I found 2 or 3 years ago, and a turtleneck with all kinds of birds on it. SO, we finally got together and had a package opening!

After visiting for a while, I asked if I could visit Blossom who, you might have guessed is a possum, so we trudged out to the Wildlife center and woke her up. It was cold, and Blossom made quick work of her snack… just poking her head out fast to grab a bite and back into her warm nest. Now let me just say something about her “nest.” Possums normally move every week or so in the wild. Often more frequently than that. Like cats, they LOVE cardboard boxes and will give up perfectly beautiful, crafted just for them, wooden nest boxes if you accidently happen to leave a piece of cardboard around. Go figure. There are at least 5 or 6 boxes in her cage, maybe some I did not see, and she moves from one to the other on her little possum whim… If you have never seen a possum on moving day, it is well worth the wait… they actually wrap their tails around their blanket (old shirt, towel, clump of straw) and drag it to the new nest site. I had a piece of rug here at my place that kept moving around, and an old T-shirt. Late one night I saw it being dragged across the car port and pulled up under the cover on the chair that was brought in for the winter. There is a box under that cover just for certain visitors. The little possum was moving from under the wheelbarrow in the shed back up to the carport.

Back here, a second Christmas was in store for Punkin and Spook. I thought their little heated box was too crowded. See them both in there? A full house! I had hoped one cat would sleep in the old location, the other on the greenhouse. No, they had to sleep together. After all, they have been curling up together for nearly 7 years.. Sooo, I found a bigger plastic box, cut a new door, built a new floor, filled in around the edges, and bought them a bigger heated bed. They do often stretch out, but they still sleep curled up together. This box is big enough to put a third cat in it – not that they would allow it. And not that I need another cat, NO THANK YOU!