Possum

It was late June, I think, not long after our weekend away for our wedding anniversary, when a little black cat wheedled her way into our busy lives. We'd noticed her a few times in the neighbourhood. There are lots of cats around here, but this one stood out, not because she was quite black. What we noticed was the magnificent tail, bobbing up and down jauntily amongst the rubbish tins. A full, long tail on a cat is rare enough around here, but a long, fluffy tail is a sight to behold. At least half of the cats have inherited some genetic disposition to a pitiful, stunted tail, and all around Malaysia cats with half-tails, bob-tails, bent tails, and even no tail, can be seen.

We have to admit to being both fascinated and a little drawn to the little cat whose movements you could follow by watching the end of the fluffy, black tail, held high. When she made it to our door looking for food, we gave her something. She saw no reason to move on, and was again waiting the next day, hoping for some more kindness. We guessed from her scrawny little frame she was only a few months old, and she weakly picked at the kitten kibbles we gave her. We arrived home late that evening and as I picked up the hose to water my ailing pot plants, I noticed the movement in one of the pots as she stirred from her slumber on the warm potting mix, safely hidden behind the leaves. Overcome with totally illogical compassion, we took her inside and she became a part of the family. We named her Possum, a reference to her magnificent tail, the name borrowed from Dame Edna.

If I look cute, can I stay? Please?

After a few weeks at our home, Possum went into heat, and we realised that not only was she not a male, as we'd thought, but she was probably quite a bit older than we had originally believed. Her constant yowling, urinating and unhappy prowling around the house led us to finally make the planned trip to the vet's, who preferred to treat her many other ailments before doing the surgery to relieve her of the hormonal urges that ravaged her tiny body. We returned home with a yowling cat, antibiotics and flu medication, ear mite drops and multivitamins. The lice were treated with a single injection. Because she was on heat almost continually, we pushed the vet to do the surgery a little too soon- though Possum had stopped sneezing and had put on a little weight, the bones were still visible under the thin coat. She succumbed to flu again while still recovering from the spaying, and was quite sick over the four-day Hari Raya long weekend. The only vets in Kampar are a Moslem couple, and they were closed for the entire weekend and then some.

The fur that was shaved for surgery has nearly grown back now.

She's had more antibiotics, multivitamins, drops and other tablets since then, and lots of food. She's put on quite a bit of weight, and though she's still small, she looks healthy now as she prowls around in her thick, soft coat and sleek, muscular body. As her coat thickened, we noticed that she is only black until her shoulders- from a definite line below the shoulders, she is dark brown. Her “feather duster” is still quite magnificent, and is either held high, or bent in such a low arc, it almost touches her head! With her new-found energy, she eats her food enthusiastically and plays for hours. She has become quite devoted to both of us, and keeps us company in whatever part of the house we are in.

A great place to nap, or play with tassels...

Having a cat creates complications when we go away, but we have tried a few options and Possum seemed happy with the arrangements. We are pleased to have found a “Pet Cottage” in Kampar, and while the owners are “dog people”, they got on well with Possum and seemed to enjoy the challenge of looking after a cat for the weekend. She had a room to herself!When we are both in Australia in late October, hopefully Keenan will look after her, as he is already living with us while he is working with Tony at the lab.

Possum's favourite game is fetch, though she only brings the toy back when we play the game in the bedroom. She always plays with the toy spider for a minute or two, tossing it, biting and kicking it playfully, before she returns it to be thrown again. She'll play this game for an hour or more, though unlike a dog, she gets a little distracted at times, stopping for a scratch, a lick, or a sniff at an interesting smell. She is a funny little feline. 

We didn't ever think that adopting a weak, lice-ridden, sick little cat could bring us such joy, but Possum has made herself a place in our hearts.

The cat that got the cream...

Brown from the shoulders down. Strange.

Sleeping kitties are so cute. Playful ones are exhausting.

Married to an inventor?

Although my blog is called, "On being married to an inventor", I do spend precious little time talking about what that is really like. While few ever get the extraordinary opportunity to be a full-time inventor as mine currently has, there are a lot of part-time inventors out there, constantly creating, thinking, and stewing over solutions to the problems of the larger world, and their own little world. Some even make it to patent stage, and the diversity of patents that My Inventor runs across in his day-to-day life give some sort of indication of the tremendous diversity of interests and ideas out there.

I think most of us have sparks of creativity and we all have good ideas now and then, but what seems to set apart one as an inventor is the dogged determination (or happy circumstance) that sees an idea blossom into a reality. We know of one inventor who spent twenty years of his weekends, holidays and free time working on an idea for a bicycle helmet. From the original idea, he tested, built prototypes and refined, until he was ready to appear on "New Inventors", and from there his idea took off into commercial reality. Unlike so many others, at least this man won't be seeing his idea appear on a shop shelf and saying, "Hey, I had that idea twenty years ago!" The vast divide that many ideas never seem to cross is the limitation of time and money. Spending twenty years in your garage is one thing, but then finding the tens-of-thousands of dollars to register your patent is another massive commitment, and requires a great deal of faith in onesself and ones' idea.

The faith in a person and an idea is difficult enough to garner from an outsider, but having it followed up through financial support is another thing entirely. I pray every day that The Inventor's work will bring great financial gain, not just because that would be very nice for us, but I believe that D deserves financial reward and kudos for the faith he has placed in an idea which offered vast promises- but nothing more-  for the future of the earth and the environment.

Faith in one's idea is paramount, and some people just have one great idea which they work on relentlessly. Other inventors are like mine. Their minds are possessed by the constant churning of ideas, and often they need guidance to stay on one path without too much wandering. Life is just one long journey of possibilities, and they love to explore them all.
Once, when we went away for a weekend, The Inventor said to me, "We must do this more often".
"Ah," I thought to myself, "he likes to spend time with me, relax and get down to my level".
"Yeah," he continued. "I get so many great ideas when we go away, but the trouble is, then I can't wait to get back to the lab to try them out".

The idea The Inventor is currently working on isn't a new one. It is actually just one of the many things that have bounced around inside his head, and this one has bounced around in many forms for years. This idea has emerged from amongst the others because technology has now become capable of supporting the process and environmental awareness has grown to a point where the process is desirable and worthy of funding from private individuals and government bodies. (We are hoping to gain some government funding in the near future and have spent a great deal of time preparing a submission, and I am now volunteering my time in at the lab a few days a week to help speed us through some of the more mundane tasks, until the arrival of the new staff that we have been promised.) The Inventor's obsession with mankind's responsibility to the environment, and his involvement with environmental groups, led him to pluck and nurture this idea in preference to so many others.

The choice was a good one. Time after time, he finds solutions to problems and the science and engineering of the project leap effortlessly over the hurdles. With the extra staff, progress will leap forward and we look forward to the new challenges this will hold. To quote the Hash House Harriers, "On, On!"