I am going to pause here to pay homage to my feline friends. I’ve gone on about my little animal shelter dog, Willy, and he is the bee’s knees, but I left behind a wonderful, peaceable kingdom of three cats and one dog. My boyfriend has the dog, and she (the dog) is very happy in his care. My cats were left with some very good friends—but one was very old and one had a heart condition. During week two of my journey, the old one (Archie) died—a good death, succumbing to old age. The other two, four-year-old brothers named Pete and Repete soldiered on, infuriating their caretakers with their crazy antics. However, Pete went into cardiac failure yesterday and I had to make the decision to put him down. I am so terribly sad.

I am also angry for not being there. I pride myself on facing the inevitable and being present in my animals’ last moments, with treats, and bacon, and whatever I else I can anthropomorphize. Archie and Petie were, honestly, the best of cats and I will miss them.