While I was away at World Fantasy, I got the following email from Rob:
I took Marlowe in first thing this morning to Fremont Vet. The tissue surrounding his eye is very swollen but they eye itself does not appear damaged. He is running a slight fever. The vet asked if our cats have been fighting. It is possible but I didn’t witness any altercations. She found no evidence of injury so the likely cause is a severe herpes infection induced by stress and exposure to Hariet, or perhaps an infection contracted from his night in the hospital. They gave him an antibiotic shot and a prescription for topical salve. If the inflammation is not reduced in two days I am to take him back in.
He is active, has good appetite, and appears to be annoyed but not distressed. Luckily I’ll be home to keep an eye on him until you return.
That’s it from the Sandycrest feline ward.
Apparently, he downplayed that. When I got home, Rob said that Marlowe’s eye was so swollen it looked like he’d been in a boxing bout. So, while I was having fun in San Jose, Rob dutifully put ointment on Marlowe’s eye twice a day for a week. The swelling went down, we were relieved.
And then Marlowe started sneezing and both eyes were oozing white goo. We gave him a couple of days, hoping it would clear up. Alas. No.
So, back to the vet with the poor guy. This time we took Harriet along to get her shots. Marlowe is a perfect gentleman and very stoic at the vets. Harriet? Not so much. She literally climbed me.
The vet examined his eyes and said that it’s likely chlamydia picked up from Harriet. So Marlowe is on a new course of eye salve and oral medications for another week. Poor guy. If he were human having herpes or chlamydia would have meant he’d at least have had some fun first. In cats its just an unpleasant cold.
Harriet meanwhile, aside from a mild digestive issue, is perfectly healthy. Rob and I are considering renaming Harriet to “Vector.”

k well with her elegance and curiosity. As she settles in, she’s become less stridently chatty and clingy and is proving herself to be quite bright. Re-educating her that the litterbox was not a playground involved saying “No” and offering her another toy. Since then, she’s been quite ladylike.

We’ve brought home a very sweet six-year old lady with a brown tabby coat and pale, pale yellow eyes. My god, is she affectionate. The biggest problem right now is the strength of her headbutts of love.
And now, here are some carefully cropped photos of the bedroom. Carefully cropped so you can’t see the pile o’ boxes over in the right hand corner. Hey. We’ve only been here a week, so it’s amazing that we’ve come this far.
But what really makes the bedroom, indeed all of the rooms here, is the view out the window. This is what it looks like when you are sitting on the bed. I can’t wait until spring when that apple tree outside my window is in bloom.
I have to say that my desk situation is vastly superior in the new apartment to either the old apartment or even the house. I’m right by one of the windows. Marlowe uses me as the highway to get to his window seat. He looooves the windows, here.
This is the view from the kitchen sink window. Pretty amazing, eh? What’s remarkable is how much this feels like a private yard, rather than part of a complex. The designer did a really good job with the layout. We also don’t have any common walls with our neighbors, except right at the end of the kitchen.
The downsides? The floorspace is not much wider than the doorframe. The refrigerator and stove are to the right of the picture, along with a single bizarrely deep cabinet.
Rob had picked up a flat of wheat grass for the cats, which they loved, and at some point he set it outside to get some sun. Naturally, it rained, so he had to leave it out to drain.
Here’s baby. Baby pigeons are one of the ugliest things I’ve ever seen in my life. And this photo is a couple of days after it’s feathers have started to puff. When they are just out of the egg, it’s all reddish skin and what looks like white bristle.
Junior has grown some. This is about two weeks after the last one. The plumage is starting to fill in and, aside from the balding head, baby is starting to look like a bird instead of an alien from the sewers.
Marlowe watches them religiously. His concern for their welfare is really touching. He’s constantly pawing the window and chirping trying to get their attention.
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