Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Chili and bruises

Whoo-boy, had a good lunch today. A friend and I went to Hickory Street Bar and Grille, one of my favorite restaurants here in River City. I'd link you to it, but they don't have a Web site. The best I can do is this link to a review of it.

Part of it was good company (shout out to ya, Miss Jules), and part of it was the food. It's always good food, but today we had the special pleasure of enjoying some chili with our meal. You see, a cool front finally blew in, and it was chili weather! Ya-hoooo! We're lookin' at 60s for the rest of today and on through the weekend! I'm giddy. I love shorts as much as the next Texan, but for pity's sake it's November. If I can't be in a sweater, I'd at least like to be in jeans.

Jeans are a particular draw at the moment, because just as my hiney is healing up from the weekend's oompah festivities, I've managed to bang up my legs in two different places in the last 24 hours. I ran into my living room coffee table in the dark to bruise up my shin nicely last night, and this morning I discovered a large bruise with a cut of some kind on the calf of my other leg. I've got no clue how that one happened. These are the things that happen as you get older - phantom bruises that take forever to heal. You 20-somethings laugh it up. Your time is coming.

It's possible the calf bruise was incurred during a search for my kitty last night. I really have no one to blame but myself in these matters. You see, I know she's going to go over the wall (the fence actually) if I let her outside, yet I let her out. Partly, I don't want to hear her incessent meowing if I don't let her out, but partly it's because she likes to chase the bugs, and it's cute, and if she attacks the bugs, she may spend less time attacking me. So, I let her out and tell myself I'll watch her and make sure she doesn't escape. But she always does - sometimes right in front of me. I see her perched on top of the fence, and I can't get to her fast enough. It's like she waits for me to see her, too. She used to wait until I went inside to escape, but she's lost all respect for me somewhere along the way and now she does it 10 feet in front of me.

It was annoying when she used to go over the back fence. The only thing behind my house is a drainage easement and a ranch. So, that means walking all the way around and trudging down into the brush to get her...or rather to chase her back over since just as I get to her, she jumps back over the fence. But sometimes she goes over the side fences into the neighbors' yards. This is even less cool. One neighbor used to have rabbits, and I lived in fear of her killing one. I think the rabbits ran away, though, tunneling under the neighbor's fence and disappearing into the ranch. I think the neighbors may have filled in the tunnel. They weren't too sad when the rabbits were gone. I'm not sure what they expected from the rabbits as pets, but the rabbits failed them, and I sensed that their escape was a relief. They have a dog, though, and when my cat goes into their yard, I think they like the excitement.

The other neighbor is a different story, though. I don't know those people all that well. They seemed to fear me after I threatened to shoot their pit bull if it dug under my fence (as it was inches from doing) and hurt me or my cat. The pit bull disappeared soon afterward, and the neighbors and I have had little conversation since. They've got their house up for sale now. I think it's a coincidence.

Anyway, I probably cut my leg climbing on various items to see which fence The Beast had scaled. Oh, and did I mention her front paws are declawed? That's right. She has no front claws and she can climb a 6-foot privacy fence. She's a maniac. My first few months with her are a post for another time. Right now, though, I need a nap. Chili good.

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