Auggie has been with Bear and me for a week.

He is sweet and happy and curious and increasingly confident. It has been a week of watching him grow in all kinds of ways.

We went to our own vet on Tuesday and got a good report: negative for all of the kitten stuff they test for, booster vaccinations and a general “sound body and good disposition” report.

The paradox is that those first days and some of all of this week were also so hard. This has happened to me before, but I always forget and it catches me off guard. Getting a new pet after losing one is a strange combination of fun, distraction and joy in folding the new into the routine but the flip side is that it is also that absolute realization that the lost pet really is no longer here. A finality that I find very difficult while at the same time the new kid and new routine needs a lot of attention. There is no getting around the fact that all is very different and it is not going to be comfortable again for awhile.

Life.

Meanwhile, Fall progresses and we’ve had 2 hard freezes. But there are still pleasant temperatures in the daytime forecast so I’ve been covering the herbs at night with the lights down low and using the lights directly during the day for “helper” sunshine. So far, all looks good.

I’ve been finding yellow jacket nests, fallen out of trees, in the yard and the woods. I’m not sure if hibernating queens are in these but I’m spraying and getting them out of here just in case.

The aspens and birch are turning and the larch are lightening to chartreuse. By next weekend there should be a lot of gold in the woods.

Auggie is very interested in the outdoors, especially when Bear and I are out. By January – maybe even a little before, I’ll take him out on leash to explore if he wants to. My hope is that he would enjoy being outside with Bear and me but be, like Bob, a homebody. There is a lot of great hunting without going too far away.

And grass and sunshine and a beardog!

Inside, with a wire crate half way folded to add a kitten barrier to the gate, Bear and Auggie grow ever closer. So much fun to watch.

A week.