Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Home from the hospital, I pose with Jim - but it is Chicago who appears in the photo


Having spent an additional six hours under the knife of the good and skilled orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Duddy (for a total of ten hours), plus an additional four nights in the hospital (for a total of seven nights), I have returned home.

Two weeks have now passed since I photographed Jumper, the Tuxedo cat, and his black, short haired younger brother, Watson (who is as clever and observant as can be), in Barrow, Alaska. Ever since, I have been promising to post the photos and stories of these two notable and worthy felines, but so far have failed to do so.

I understand that this failure of mine so angered a group of loyal Kracker Cat fans in Reykjavik, Iceland, that they rioted, overturned and set fire to three "good humor" ice cream trucks, that a gust of wind then caught the flames and that the whole city is now ablaze.

I feel terribly about this, and ask all of you to  please calm down.

I promise - I will start working on this entry today. I will move very slowly, as I still must type with only my left hand and it hurts. Plus, I grow weary swiftly and so can only stay at it for short bursts. This is how it is going to be for awhile, Doc says.

Still, I will get it done. And I will tell you the whole story of how I got hurt and what it was like to ride in a jet ambulance from Barrow to Anchorage and then to go through two surgeries and how the cats played into every moment of it.

I will tell it all.

I have many thank-you's to give,   - to all those who emailed me, called me on the phone, bought and picked flowers for me, baked oatmeal cookies and brought Moose Tooth Pizza to me, plus Pepsi, and to you, from India to various places in California and the Rocky Mountains, Minneapolis and the searing Arizona desert who left posts of good will, right here, on this blog.

As to the posted photo, it happened last night. Immediately after entering the house, I sat down down upon the brown couch. Jimmy, the black cat, leaped up and then carefully sniffed and looked about, apparently trying to determine where he could safely rest. He chose my lap and there curled up. 

After about 20 minutes, I instructed Rye to get my camera so that he could photograph Jimmy and me together, but by the time he got the camera and I had taken him through the various, necessary, ISO and shutter speed changes, Chicago had moved in and Jimmy had moved on.


9 comments:

springfang said...

I'm glad you're back home and enjoying the cats. I know you don't like being restrained, bed-ridden, holed up, and so forth... but do be careful and take care of yourself. :)

Best wishes with the recovery. I imagine it must be difficult to type whilst petting a cat when you only have the use of one hand. Good luck.

And again, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I probably can't do much from SLC, but if there is anything, let me know.

kalamahina said...

glad to see you've made it back to your den. loads of healing aloha to you, from the rocks in the middle of the pond.

Taddie Tales said...

Good stories take time and those that appreciate them are patient enough to wait for them. Please don't rush on our account. Take you time and allow yourself to heal. We will be here. As far as those Icelandics (is that what they are called????) they can go pound some snow....LOL.

Glad you are home with your furry family.

Unknown said...

So glad to see you are back home! :) Please take good care of yourself.

The Activist said...

Sorry dear Graham. Get well soon. Recover quick and let the cat keep you happy!!!

Pls DONT EVER TAKE THIS BLOG DOWN

Grahamn Kracker said...

Springfang - The worst part is that Jim insists on walking back and forth across the keyboard while I type. Even with two hands, this was a challenge, but now it is insane.

Sarah - Sure do wish that I could be there on those rocks, where I would soak in the warm waters of the South Pacific, photographing felines with my water-proof camera as the cat-paddled by.

Taddie tales - you are right. Thanks for the good advise. I will take a few more days yet.

Varsha - It is so good to be home! So good to breathe the outside air.

Standtall: Your plea makes me feel good. I will not take the blog down. One day, I expect to move it to more flexible territory, but I will not take it down.

The Activist said...

I am touched. Did you know your blog was referred to in a cat online news? I forgot the name of the website/blog. I once told you that was how I got to know about ur blog.
How r you doing/

Grahamn Kracker said...

Thank you Standtall. I think I am doing okay; I hope I am doing okay. Everyday, there is some little thing or two that jars my injured arm and shoulder a bit, but it feels to me like it has held together, so far.

I am very weary and I spend about 16 hours a day in bed (but only 12 today) drifting in and out of sleep. I have many vivid dreams (as I think my posts make clear). some of which are wonderful and others are absolute nightmares. Painkillers, I believe.

I go into town to see the Doc on Wednesday and I can hardly wait. I just want him to tell me that it is okay, that everything is staying in place and it is time to begin some therapy.

The Activist said...

Okay, I wish you the very best. Let me go and read ur current post