Greetings, beloved fans of Rocky!

We hurtled through January so quickly that it seems the abrupt slap to the eyeballs of heart-shaped candies and sweet nothings are already being encroached upon by the pastels that follow ahead of the turn toward spring.  In this season of standing in the grocery aisle to find the perfect card that conveys all variations of love, likely with a red cellophane-wrapped box of chocolates tucked under the arm or a festive bouquet clenched in a fist, perhaps it’s a perfect time to give those splashy colors a break for something softer—Rocky!

Rocky may be the same shades of dreary as the midwinter skies and piles of old snow in parking lots, but this grayscale goofball is about as brilliant as any holiday retail display can be, even MORE SO.

Love is the theme of the season; I like to look at the loves we can enjoy outside of the prepackaged and pre-picked.  Little things, big things, Rocky things!  (Especially Rocky things.)

Aside from deep-rooted appreciation for people like you—the rare folks who take up the mantle to support cats like Rocky—Rocky has a lot of loves in his life.  I’d like to think he loves me, and I believe he does; his patience with the needful tasks from the routine of nail trimming to the imperatives of medical care seems to be a testament to that love.  (Or he’s just very much into the treats that come afterward.)

I’m happy to report that Rocky has trotted into February with only one remarkable change.  His weight, his health, his condition?  No change is the news, and no change is a happy thought.  Rocky remains as robust as ever, with one ever-evolving caveat.

He’s getting weirder.  The captain of weird.

I was planning to spend this update relaying all of the things Rocky loves.  Rocky being Rocky means: “Hold that thought.”

 

Please enjoy the following list of the new and odd things Rocky has been up to:

• He taught himself to open bifold closet doors
• He claimed a box with photo albums and my sweater as a napping designation while I was trying to unpack it
• He flipped his cat bed inside-out
• He figured out where the sock bin lives now and will take every chance to climb into and reclaim it; it’s four feet off the ground
• He claimed the folding stepstool as his fort
• He flipped his bed inside-out again after I fixed it
• He believes my pony bead bracelets rattling together mean the red laser light is approaching
• He yelled at me because my husband was looking at him
• He claimed the bin of silicone molds as his bed
• He quit his job at the Neighborhood Watch after a crow family moved into the courtyard
• He flipped his bed inside-out again again and I gave up on fixing it
• He claimed the craft supply shelf as his spot for his new job, Humans Are Asleep Watch (HAAW)

This list is not exhaustive but just a snapshot of how much can change in a mere month.

I suppose that’s Rocky’s greatest love:  being a Long Weirdo doing Long Weirdo Things.

I suppose that’s good enough for me, too—I love him being a Long Weirdo doing Long Weirdo Things.  I love that he got his chance to be a Long Weirdo doing Long Weirdo Things because the love and generosity of folks like you gave him that chance!

May love and joy and kindness be showered upon you. Thank you for showering yours onto Rocky!

Your correspondent,
Carrie