Losing another baby

I've lost another of my precious kitties.
Pollock was a stray that came to live at my house eight years ago. She was a sweet cat, but was my "special needs" girl since she had some health and litter box issues.
I'd been giving her thyroid medicine daily for the past three years, but earlier this year she began losing weight, a lot of it. Then in late July she stopped eating.
I took her to the vet and blood work showed her kidneys failing, but not in failure. We got her stable again, but about three weeks ago she began to fail again and on Sept. 12 she was so weak I had to take her in to the vet's office to put her down.

Pollock

I named her for Jackson Pollock because she was a tortoiseshell cat and looked like the artist had used her fur as a canvas. She had no rhyme or reason to her pattern, but she had a little white tip on her tail, like a little paintbrush.
So right now it's just me and Felix. Felix is feeling a little lost, I think. He's only ever had other cats in the house with him, and now being an only cat is new.
I don't think he'll be an only cat for too long. I went to an animal shelter to look at a cat today, a black one. But she was so shy she wouldn't interact with me. That's not the cat for me. Felix is going to want to play. I need a cat that is going to be a little more lively.
I may even consider another tortoiseshell cat. Pollock taught me a lot of things: being more patient and having to take care of a special needs cat. She also taught me the beauty of a tortie.
I will miss my special baby.

Meaningful Miles

I'm well behind in my blog, but I've run some very meaningful miles in the past two months.
I'll start with the Meaningful Miles 4-miler that benefited Back on My Feet, a nonprofit that teaching homeless men, and now women, the joy of running.
Atlanta has a chapter and I've wanted to run its charitable run for a couple of years, and this year I was able to sync my schedule.
It was one of the most joyful pre-race atmosphere. The event began with an explanation of Back on My Feet, with testimonials from some of the participants. Then we all did the "circle up." It was very powerful.

Hearing what Back on My Feet means to participants

The course itself is pretty rough. There is a hill early on that I've had to face before. And facing it during an August race. Grr.
They had photographers at a great spot along the course, however, and so here I am along the race.

Downtown Atlanta

Who's that runner?!

My next race in August was the Magnolia Run. This is a big race that benefits the Epilepsy Foundation and always has a great turnout. But it was another hot, humid race.
That's pretty much been my running this entire summer. Hot and humid.
But some of those hot and humid miles were very meaningful.