Should I be writing today? Do I feel inspired? The answer is clearly "no"; if it were a "yes" I would not have asked the question. The truth is, I am feeling incredibly mellow lately and I take that as a good sign. Strong emotion can be exhausting for long stretches, and besides, mellow means "hakol bseder", everything is okay. I never look a gift calm in the mouth. One never knows when the next crisis will hit; therefore I ride the gentle waves and let them lull me, devoid of turbulence that will heighten tension within. My days are rather ordinary, and for that I am grateful. Not completely without drama, but with a sort of ordinary drama, not the life-changing kind. Last week brought a dual doctor's visit, one to a pediatrician and one to a veterinarian. My daughter had suspected strep, but the cat that had collapsed in my friend's garden had the worse affliction. So we made a double run, stopping first at the vet's office.
Our veterinarians are not so unlike our pediatrician. They coochy-coo at our new puppies during their first visits, they calm us when we fear the worst, and they do what needs to be done, even if it hurts. The vets in Israel are hip to the fact that stray animals abound here, and they give a break to those that bring strays in for treatment out of the goodness of the heart. The cat we brought in was clearly suffering. The yellowish white gums and tongue proved serious anemia, and other unpleasantries were symptomatic of severe dehydration. The cat was cold and was feared to be in the midst of system failure. Nevertheless, we pooled our money, the vet cut the bill down to less than half, and the cat received an IV, antibiotics, a tranquilizer, painkiller, and was gently cleaned up before her release. My daughter, on the other hand, was squeezed in between patients, cultured, and sent off with prescriptions in hand. We made it back to the vet's office just as the cat was being readied for discharge. Although it's temperature had risen slightly, it was still cold, not a good sign as the vet was sure to warn us.
We arrived at our building and were greeted by spewing water and a massive flood on our floor. A gentleman was working at stopping the leak, while we put the cat in a carrier and draped it with a hot water bottle, per the vet's instructions. I was already an hour late leaving for Jerusalem to pick up an item and meet with my cousins in the wonderful little artsy alley off of bustling Ben Yehuda Street. With my son hitching a ride to a job interview, he was antsy to get on the road. Having made sure that both sick beings under my watchful eye were comfortable, we were finally able to hit the road. The day was wonderful but traffic slowed our arrival home that evening. My daughter called to report that although she was doing well, she had a terrible suspicion that the cat had not faired as well. Adding insult to injury, the impromptu water fountain had prompted a water shut-off, and my once-a-week cleaning help was unable to clean much in the absence of water. My husband's office kept in touch that afternoon as well, as unflushable toilets made for an unhappy workplace, which also suffered from the indoor drought. I couldn't have been happier to arrive home, but one glance at the unfortunate cat confirmed my daughter's suspicions. Alas, we had done all we could and all that was left was to lay the feline to rest. We didn't finish the job until well after 11 pm, but knowing we had done the right thing brought us comfort. Just two weeks prior, on busy election day, we had buried a beautiful puppy whose spinal cord had been severed in a hit and run. There is no shortage of animals, nor the heartbreak of seeing them lose the battle of life.
Other than this, there was nothing wrong with a day with family in the Holy City. An unmistakable glow surrounds me whenever I have been there, walking the cobblestone streets and breathing the air of my ancestral homeland.
Our veterinarians are not so unlike our pediatrician. They coochy-coo at our new puppies during their first visits, they calm us when we fear the worst, and they do what needs to be done, even if it hurts. The vets in Israel are hip to the fact that stray animals abound here, and they give a break to those that bring strays in for treatment out of the goodness of the heart. The cat we brought in was clearly suffering. The yellowish white gums and tongue proved serious anemia, and other unpleasantries were symptomatic of severe dehydration. The cat was cold and was feared to be in the midst of system failure. Nevertheless, we pooled our money, the vet cut the bill down to less than half, and the cat received an IV, antibiotics, a tranquilizer, painkiller, and was gently cleaned up before her release. My daughter, on the other hand, was squeezed in between patients, cultured, and sent off with prescriptions in hand. We made it back to the vet's office just as the cat was being readied for discharge. Although it's temperature had risen slightly, it was still cold, not a good sign as the vet was sure to warn us.
We arrived at our building and were greeted by spewing water and a massive flood on our floor. A gentleman was working at stopping the leak, while we put the cat in a carrier and draped it with a hot water bottle, per the vet's instructions. I was already an hour late leaving for Jerusalem to pick up an item and meet with my cousins in the wonderful little artsy alley off of bustling Ben Yehuda Street. With my son hitching a ride to a job interview, he was antsy to get on the road. Having made sure that both sick beings under my watchful eye were comfortable, we were finally able to hit the road. The day was wonderful but traffic slowed our arrival home that evening. My daughter called to report that although she was doing well, she had a terrible suspicion that the cat had not faired as well. Adding insult to injury, the impromptu water fountain had prompted a water shut-off, and my once-a-week cleaning help was unable to clean much in the absence of water. My husband's office kept in touch that afternoon as well, as unflushable toilets made for an unhappy workplace, which also suffered from the indoor drought. I couldn't have been happier to arrive home, but one glance at the unfortunate cat confirmed my daughter's suspicions. Alas, we had done all we could and all that was left was to lay the feline to rest. We didn't finish the job until well after 11 pm, but knowing we had done the right thing brought us comfort. Just two weeks prior, on busy election day, we had buried a beautiful puppy whose spinal cord had been severed in a hit and run. There is no shortage of animals, nor the heartbreak of seeing them lose the battle of life.
Other than this, there was nothing wrong with a day with family in the Holy City. An unmistakable glow surrounds me whenever I have been there, walking the cobblestone streets and breathing the air of my ancestral homeland.
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