While the news cycle in the outside world is spinning faster and faster every day, Charlie’s little world has remained blissfully simple, with only minor bumps.
The biggest news and game-changer in Charlie’s life last year was a new couch, a replacement for my beautiful red couch that got shredded so badly the stuffing was showing through. My new mustard couch was a very generous birthday present from my brother, and has a much tighter weave that’s not as easy to pull apart. With a couch cover on top, may it live long and prosper.
Charlie had what must have been a confusing experience in between the day young French-speaking removalists took away the old couch, and the day my new couch has arrived:
So far, Charlie hasn’t shown much interest in destroying the new couch, maybe because he has too much fun hiding underneath it. My old couch didn’t have legs, so now he has a brand new safe space:
Charlie kept up his annoying habit of hiding inside the wardrobe while I’m getting ready for work in the morning. He hasn’t been locked in for a day yet, but he really pushed his luck a couple of times.
I felt more sentimental about Christmas last year than I ever have in my life, and made more effort to decorate my apartment for the festive season. Of course, it still had to be Charlie-proof. I was relieved that he showed no interest in my small Christmas tree or the new Santa figurine, but he did spend some time gazing longingly at the tinsel. So close, so very far.
Charlie spent three weeks at my friend’s place while I was away in Sri Lanka and Singapore. Apparently he napped away a few days under the bed while Melbourne was hit by a heatwave, but still found time to indulge in some neighbourhood voyeurism by the window when it wasn’t too hot.
Charlie hates the car ride in a cage at best of times, but coming back home this time was even rougher than usual. I arrived in Melbourne late at night, and had to do a hasty grab-and-ride that must have felt like a secret police arrest to poor Charlie. It took him a full day to recover and go back to his normal purry, mischievous self, and his feelings about me were a tad mixed; one minute he would hiss at me and five minutes later he climbed on my chest looking for reassurance and rubs. All in all, I’m very lucky to have an easy-going boy who doesn’t hold grudges and bounces back quickly.
yggdrasille.com 