The Christmas tree was just the beginning. Let me share a
few more of Prudy’s recent exploits. There are only a few surfaces left that
are safe from her depridations—and that will probably change as she gets older:
the top of refrigerator (where we have to keep Scout’s food when she’s not
actually eating it), the top of the armoire in my office (where I put fresh
flowers if I have them) and so far, our dresser in the bedroom. (I’m pretty
sure she could jump up on it—she just hasn’t seen any need to do so yet.) Everywhere she goes, havoc! She loves to lie
on my desk while I’m working, and her favorite way to get there is to run into
the office, jump onto my rocking chair and spring onto the desk. With the
following results:
She also decides it’s time to play around 11 p.m. and frequently has to be locked into
the office for the night. She doesn’t seem to mind this—I hear her rolling her
ball around in there, and she doesn’t start crying to get out until morning.
However, she takes that time to explore the shelves and knock things over. I’ve
found many of the little odds and ends I keep on my desk on the floor in front
of it when I let her out in the morning. I use a docking station with my laptop
so I have a better keyboard and monitor, and Prudy likes to jump on the shelf
below my desk that holds my laptop, shutting the lid and turning it off,
usually when I’m right in the middle of typing a sentence.
So far she’s not an especially naughty girl (knock on wood)
and I know it’s only a matter of time before she’s a full-grown cat whose main
activity is sleeping. I’m enjoying her loving nature, playfulness and curiosity
while trying to stay one step ahead of her possible destructiveness (the silk
flower arrangement from the dining room table now lives on top of the china
cabinet, for example). For once, I’m not wishing away this stage, but appreciating
it, pausing many times a day to play with her or pet her. (And I save my
documents frequently!)
Often we (I) look forward too much, neglecting the present
for the future, believing that it will somehow be better than right now. I look
back at my life and see how fast it’s going, and how much time I wasted wishing
I would grow up, wishing I had a husband and family, wishing my child would
grow up…you see the pattern. I’m learning that appreciating the right now not
only improves my experience of the present, but builds a store of warm memories,
and hopefully, a happy future.
How do you appreciate the present?