Aurora Stays With Us

Sunday, July 16, 2017
Posted here March 29, 2022

Taken from our Family Journal with minimal editing.


Joe, Elizabeth, Asha, and Aurora arrived at 4:04 pm. I made Kharlie M cappuccinos for Joe and Elizabeth right after they arrived. ~ Aurora made herself at home here; Stormy gave a few nervous hisses and then kept some distance from Aurora, but she seemed to handle it better than she did with Sky last Monday. Joe noted that each cat had smelled the other’s scent on our clothing after we returned from visits, so they were not entirely unfamiliar with each other.

We had a beef roast in the fridge, and I cut some of it up for “steaks” which I cooked on the grill. The appearance and flavor was very similar to the pork rib pieces we get sometimes. I also cooked up some Johnsonville brats. To complete the meal, I boiled up five ears of sweet corn (only two were eaten) and served the rest of the cheesy broccoli from last night. Served around 6:00. ~ Joe, Elizabeth, and I had some of the pink lemonade cake for dessert (I had baked it yesterday from a box mix).

After dinner, at 7:00, I played some music in the living room for everyone, using the baritone and concert ukes. I planned on doing about 30 minutes’ worth, but everyone said they were enjoying it, and I should keep playing, so I did just over an hour, ending around 8:10 or so. This was my impromptu set list (as best I can recall; order is not certain):

We had a semi-surprise visit today from our son, his wife, and our granddaughter. We also have their cat, Aurora, for a time. I got to play about an hour’s worth of music for them tonight after cooking dinner. It was great fun!
(Posted to Kharlie M at 9:22 pm)

Asha had a great time, and of course she got into everything, so things had to be put up. ~ Joe moved the door and went upstairs for a while to look for stuff to take back with him; I went up there for just a few minutes and was surprised to find that the air quality was actually pretty good, despite the room having been closed off since the 10th of June.

Joe and Elizabeth would have a long drive back to River Falls. He made a pot of coffee in our kitchen, and he and Elizabeth drank large mugs of it. I had a regular-sized cup myself.

Finally, Joe, Elizabeth, and Asha left at 9:45 pm, leaving Aurora here with us; they also left us with her litter box and some litter, and a bit of Purina Indoor Cat Chow which she normally eats. ~ They got about 15 minutes out and stopped for gas, then realized that they had a pair of glasses belonging to Annette Jewell, which she had forgotten at Josh and Joy’s house last time they were there, so they came back to drop it off. Joe was back in our house from 10:15 until 10:25.

Joe messaged us at 3:17 am (Monday) with just the two words: “Home now.”


Aurora makes herself at home on the kitchen counter. Taken at 5:37 pm on Thursday, August 3, 2017.

The places and positions Aurora gets into are incredible. #sojourningcat #valenciafilter
(Posted at 8:25 pm)