December greetings to you, and to all Buddy’s buddies.

Comfort and joy reign in the FIV-positive suite. Not only Buddy, but all the special needs cats who call the suite home, are healthy and well-loved, with no medical news regarding Lester, McNulty , Wolfie, or my ol’ pal Charlie. And in more good news, Cisco has grown close to recent arrival Shea, while Mona also snuggles regularly with the shy gray guy. Each of them, these cats with an incurable condition, have a home at Tabby’s Place.

All the cats were inside their heated suite during my most recent visit last Sunday. While autumn has a week to go before ceding its place to winter, chilly temperatures have left the solarium loaded with shelves, beds, and cubbies — and no cats.

So I joined them inside, and as I opened the door to their suite, I looked to my left and spotted Buddy resting on top of the cages. His relaxed posture inspired me to walk over to him and pull out the camera phone, but before I could focus, Buddy had gotten to his feet and was rubbing against the phone and my hand.

Throughout my visit, staff members and volunteers came and went, doing their part to keep Tabby’s Place up and running: bringing food, climbing a ladder to change the air filter, cleaning the large windows in the suite. Buddy took on the role of the semi-official greeter; as each person entered, he made his way over to them, and it almost looked to me as though he was acknowledging everyone’s efforts and showing them how much he appreciated them for helping make his life a good one. I won’t go so far as to say that Buddy asked me on his behalf to thank you for your generous donations, too — but even though he can’t, I will.

In other December feline happenings, the latest film in the Star Wars series (The Last Jedi) was just released, and I’m going to be right up front with you — I know virtually nothing about Star Wars. I only know a little about Oscar Isaac, who has the role of Poe Dameron, an X-wing fighter pilot in the Resistance, and what I do know is that in an earlier film, Inside Llewyn Davis, his character cared for a handsome, mellow orange cat. Well, according to an article in the Irish Times, when Oscar appeared to care for that cat, he was only acting.

All of which means that when I read that the late Carrie Fisher slapped Oscar Isaac some 27 times during the course of filming one scene of The Last Jedi, I can’t say I was entirely sympathetic to the guy. Perhaps Carrie had read that article, too.

P.S.: While I don’t know for a fact whether Carrie Fisher loved cats, there is a least one cat lover/knitter who also appreciated Carrie Fisher.

Holiday greetings to all, Happy New Year, and so long until next time!