moxie

Jan-20, 2022 - the day moxie purred her last pur

I grew up with dogs. We had a dog at the time -Rumples. Dog wasn’t working out well.

When I was a wee lad living in the Oklahoma flatlands, dogs were the ideal companion animal. Once grown, my pace of life fits better with cats.

2007, Amelia manifested desire for grey cat. I added - yes, and I want her to be called “Moxie”

Moxie was born in a smoke-filled trailer home near Liberty South Carolina. The mobile cottage comes into view along the I-85 drive toward Atlanta.

She was 6 weeks old when we took her home. Recomended age of adoption is 8 weeks. But we had found Moxie, and it was smoky in there. We didn’t want her to haz respiratory illness!
We took her home and she clung to us.

advance the slideshow below to see more baby pics…

Moxie’s big red robe

Moxie was such a wee lass when she came home, she fit comfortably into the pocket of this big red robe.

For the rest of her life, this robe was her happy place. hence, Joel is often seen wearing it in pictures.

Moxie haz playtime

She liked to bite my fingers as a kitten

Play video below to see Moxie play-box with Daddy…

Enter Bianca

Cats form behavioral patterns early in life. Moxie was about a year old when her sister Bianca moved in.
If anyone could up-stage Moxie, it was Bianca. I mean, just look at her! long-haired, soft blonde, some kind of Siberian breed.

Moxie had been overthrown as the house’s primast primadonna. She never forgot.

Moxie and Bianca were caught in a stand-off. Moxie had no frame of reference for dealing with another cat in the house. They could sometimes be seen in the same room, perhaps in the same tree. They had their moments of sister-bonding, but they also had a fierce cat-rivalry.

Bianca had no one to role-model social cat behavior, and, in some ways, grew up an only child in effect.

they were best frenemies

Enter Baxter

Baxter broke the stalemate. Baxter was an easy-going chill-with-whatever kind of cat. He came that way. Perhaps he had been better socialized with birth siblings,

Baxter was a great mediator of the Brenda-Kelly feud between Moxie and Bianca. HIs position in the middle was typical. Bianca can beez over here, and Moxie can beez over there, and, so long as there is no spark, the two could coexist in a cold war of mutually assured destruction.

Play video below to see Moxie keep her distance while Baxter cuddles up to Bianca

Occasionally, this tension would be broken, and skirmishes would break out with Moxie growling and running for cover as Bianca let out her cat-er-wall banchee yowl. When upset, Bianca would let out a shriek as though Corin Tucker would sing heavy metal.

One such skirmish happened while daddy was out late, on a Tuesday evening in early March.

Moxie missing 2010

It was a Tuesday evening in March 2010. I came home from work later than usual because I had been judging the local science fair. The break of routine caused a disturbance in the cat force, and Moxie darted out the door as I came in.

She probably strayed far enough from home to find something scary. and retreated to a panic room in the bushes of one of the suburban Mauldin neighborhood houses. She was gone for close to a week. Amelia put up signs.

Siblings Bianca and Baxter are worried about their big (older) sister

A nice old lady saw the sign and called Amelia, with stories of having seen a small grey cat lying dead along the side of the road. Her description matched Moxie - down to the white strip along her chest.

This was no prank. The nice old lady had surely witnessed Moxie as roadkill.

She went on to tell of a street sweep passing by and sweeping up the dead cat - gone furr-ever, without even a chance to say a last goodbye. Amelia was devastated. Joel continued somberly going to the office.

Joel and Amelia were devastated with what appeard to be certain: that moxie had died, hit by a car, with not even a corpse left to grieve over. Without even so much as a last goodbye.

Days passed. Baxter cut himself on the sharp edge of a cat-food can. He bled all over the kitchen floor.

It seemed like the cat-o-sphere was spiraling into destruction.

Amelia was tortured by dreams of Moxie. She was horrified by the idea of her being casually swept up like a piece of trash, rather than the princess she was.

Amelia began to dream of Moxie coming home. She would wake up happy, still half dreaming, thinking that Moxie had come home. I had to assure nothing had changed.

One day it escalated to the point Amelia called at work claiming she had parked the car in the garage, closed the garage door, and that Moxie had come darting under the door just as it closed.

Of course, I thought it was another dream at first, but she sounded lucid, and I still held a spark of hope, because I hadn’t actually seen the body.

So I left the office and drove home. Amelia was not dreaming. She had Moxie.

We left her carefully locked inside, and rolled out for a celebratory dinner.

Moxie - once presumed dead - comes home. Tony called it a miracle! It was.

I suppose someone really did lose a small grey cat that day. Perhaps a stray passing thru the neighborhood. Perhaps an ancestor of ‘hello kitty’ or of ‘little cat’.

but it was not Moxie. or maybe it was, and she had spent one of nine lives.

Either way, she really did come home.

IS MOXIE EVIL ??

Moxie had an “evil” reputation. She was grouchy and stand-off-ish. She didn’t generally like strangers.

But she’s Moxie. The “evil” was part of her charm… she liked a few people, and she loved two. In a house of 4 cats plus many more strays and fosters, Moxie was by far the most loving to Joel.

I sometimes joked that “I haz one cat and my wife haz 3“’

When she was accused of evil, I would retort that “she isn’t evil, she just likes two people” then sometimes add “and she’s not so sure about one of them.” This last part was a joke of hyperbole to illustrate how much “my-cat” she really was. Of course, we always knew she loved mom too.

“meanest cat alive”
“[not] even nice to the other cats”
It was true. She was a love robot that only worked for me.

Moxie the Primadonna

Moxie was raised for the first year of her life as an only cat. Rumples was not with us, he had gone to a better place… a farm with mom (thanks MOM!)

So when Moxie came home that day, she was only child - the center of attention in a big house with just two hoo-manns. She was the diva, the primadonna..

There’s a concept in Japanese philosophy called WABI-SABI (nice explanation here) that has to do with finding beauty in imperfection.

Moxie was ill-adapted to social settings with other people and other cats (I’m a little this way myself). I acknowledge this “flaw” in her character, but it also exactly what made her special to me.

Enter Catwina

Catwina was an unplanned rescue cat addition to the group. A neighbor found her on the side of the road, with a respiratory infection, near death, tiny as a ball of cotton.
Knowing the Halls were cat people, this good Samaritan showed up at our door not knowing what to do.
photo by Brandon Bush >>

Baby Catwina had a face only a mother could love.

Amelia nursed her back from death’s doorstep, and she quickly transformed from a snotty gremlin to the cutie you see here.
At first, her name was to be “CAT-trina” (like the hurricane). Amelia would talk to her in baby talk and gibberish, pronouncing it “CATWINA”.
I liked the sound of that, it had the lit I like in a cat’s name. I suggested we just call her that.
And so it was… Catwina Weiner

Moxie and Catwina got along well enough. Catwina was clearly an “underdog”, no competition to the diva.
Arriving after Baxter brought peace on earth, and good will to cat, Catwina never knew she was supposed to feud with Moxie. Occasionally, the two would pass with a growl and a hiss, but more often without clash, like two ships passing in the night.

Catwina had respiratory problems since early kitten-hood. Her breathing is often heavy and labored. She has the kindest heart, because she knows she is lucky to be alive. Of the group, her health, I thought, would have been the first to go.

Catwina is the smart one. The only one who knows how to play outside and come home without disappearing into the forest in panic. Catwina was also smart enough to leave Moxie alone.

Enter Petey

Petey Pat the kitty cat (Peter Patrick when he’s in trouble) won Amelia’s heart from a distance, by making eyes at her from the cage at PetSmart.
We were already at CAT-pacity at this point, with 4 (Moxie, Bianca, Baxter, Catwina). So there was no room in the Inn.
Thinking I could talk her out of adopting Petey, I bluffed and told Amelia he could move in if someone else would move out.

Amelia called my bluff, and Baxter went to a better place — again to live with Mom, this time at the palace-of-a-farm in Georgia.

Petey was here to stay.

Moxie and Petey clashed. big time.

Petey didn’t know why. He onboarded after Baxter and Catwina had set a new tone of peace and mutual co-cattery.

But Petey was also playful. He wanted to wrastle with his older sister. By this point, Moxie was old maid. She wasn’t playing his games. She would growl at Petey and retreat under the bed. Bonkers (the “sheriff”) would wail and yowl, and tornadoes of fur were flying.

Petey would then get nervous and pee his pants. Those two were best kept apart.

Moxie Missing 2012

sporadic conflicts with the pleb-cats persisted. She disappeared again in April 2012.

once again, she eventually scurried home.

When Moxie finally came home, Amelia captured the moment on video. One of the few benefits of facial air is that short stubble feels like momma cat tongue - at least Moxie thought so.
Click the link below to watch...

Link to watch Joel and Moxie nuzzle on FB

Moxie Memories - Mauldin years

Moxie liked to disappear into shelves and boxes full of soft things

search google images for “philosopher’s pose” and you’ll find these likenesses of Moxie’s classic portrait

I used to say Moxie could be found in window thinking “I want to know if I can live with what I know … and only that.”

Meanwhile, her sister Bonkers (Bianca) could be found humming “doop-ah doop-ah doop-ah doo” - the blonde air-head to Moixe’s grey thinkrz.

Moxie goes to vet with a sick. They gives antibiotics. She haz well again

Moxie holds down the fort in daddy’s spot

Moxie nursing. She would curl up in my lap and face into my bent elbow.. always on my right-hand side. She would paw into the robe (both red and blue robes) and suck/nurse on the fleecy wrinkles of the fabric. Moxie never had long fingernails. because whenever one could get sharp, her nursing routine could jab my arm, motivating me to clip.

Moxie in background balancing on massage table

Enter Riley

Riley came home one day to make cat #5 of 4. Something happened that pushed us over CAP-pacity.

Amelia had been fostering some stray kittens.
Most of the time, when Amelia fosters cats, she succeeds at finding them furr-ever homes. In this case, we had no takers, and ended up giving them to a local shelter before they lost their kittenhood, making them even harder to re-home.

Amelia went to visit the kittens at the shelter, only to learn they had been euthanized, due, in part, to an infection.

As she was leaving, in tears, some one else was bringing in a tiny black baby boy.
She couldn’t take it. She couldn’t let another kitten enter the death trap. She brought the little black ball of fur home, and he took the name “Riley”, after the Corin Tucker Band song.

Riley didn’t interact much with Moxie. He was with her for the shortest time before she moved in with dad.

Moxie didn’t pay much attention to him either. She probably just thought Baxter had come home.

Riley is too soft to be rough on Moxie

Moxie’s view on the other cats … “If you keep feeding them, they’re never gonna leave, you know that right?”

But the clashes with Petey and Bonkers continued.

Moxie missing 2014 - the JillyBean clash

the other girl - JillyBean

another grey cat entered Moxie’s orbit and created a major disturbance in the cat-force, causing Moxie to run away (again).

“One More Hour” became Moxie’s song for Jill - “ don’t say another word / about the other grrrl “

We put Jill alone into a closet to clear the coast so Moxie could come home. It was the least we could do for whom Amelia called “our favorite cat.”

Move to New York changes Moxie’s lifestyle furr-ever

starting today, Dec-31, 2014, Moxie is an only child again!

Moxie drove with me in the car, the remaining cats stayed behind with Mommy. Bianca went to live with Aunt Cici, to get head count back down to its max at 4.

On the road to New York, we stayed at a pet-friendly Red Roof Inn. This was when I learned that Moxie and I could sleep together without her pestering me.

In previous years, I had found that leaving my room open at night would result in cat shenanigans that would awaken me (a light sleeper).

This set Moxie on a new path. Starting Jan-1, 2015, Moxie and Daddy shared a room all to themselves. No other cats. Moxie’s status was restored to only child.

There were no more flight attempts now. It was all she ever wanted. Her own cat-tree palace, her own luxurious bed with heating pad,, her own poop box, and her own hoo-maan …. that and cat chow. A simple list of must-haves, and she was eternally happy.

Here she is the night I discovered she made good sleep company

this set the stage for Moxie to reclaim only child status

On weekends, Moxie would spend hours in Daddy’s lap, during which time he would write a music blog.

When Daddy wasn’t looking, she would seize control of the magic box, and make posts such as this…

Years later, after relocation back to South Carolina, when covid set in and Daddy began working from home, she would spend 6 to 8 hours sitting in his lap, every day possible.

In Daddy’s room in Simpsonville House.

Here, Moxie maintained her only cat status.
Her high-rise palace in the background, with window view of the porch and front yard.
Everything Moxie ever wanted right here.

Moxie’s Last Day

Moxie had reached end-of-life Geriatric age. Her health began to deteriorate.

Jan-19

Knowing we did not have much time left, Amelia stayed up for hours watching cat videos and keeping Moxie comfortable - as much as possible.
Moxie twice jumped up to chase birds on Cat TV
Her last drops of moxie-spunk were spent in peace and happiness

Moxie’s last night with us. watching bird TV

Jan-21, 2022, Moxie was laid to her final resting place near Simpsonville SC

the walk…

Amelia as she carries Moxie to her final resting place.

Moxie is laid to rest, at one with the earth

My Big Goodbye

.

xmas 2007 (or 8?)

Moxie was OUR first cat. She was also MY first cat. She was a founding member of our family

Moxie brought me peace. She kept me company for as many hours as I could spend sitting in my room, for as many projects, hobbies, and work days as I could possibly have spent with her.

Including house cats, garage cats, fosters, and strays, was have hazd dozens of cats roaming in and around the house. But of them all, only one was really “mine”.

and then there were 3. the 3 amigos.

I may some day haz more cats. But I will never haz another MOXIE

no other cat will nurse my arm every night.

no other cat will synch with my circadian rhythms so precisely

Moxie always knew when it was time for me to get up. She would leave me alone so I could sleep.

But when it was time to get up (and she knew when it was time), she would calmly walk across my face and settle on the pillow under my arm to sit, while I would snooze.. until I would finally get up.

waking up and getting up feels lonely now.

she would put herself under my hand and take all the pettings she desired.

She became famous among my coworkers, for her many appearances on my camera during virtual work-from-home meetings.

to an outsider, she didn’t seem friendly, or nice. They thought she was evil. But what we knew, was that, when no one was looking, Moxie was the lovingest cat (except Petey), and my best friend (except Amelia). Moxe is cat. My cat.

Purr your last purr

Sleep your last sleep

May your body rest in the ecosystem of fertile soil

May your spirit dance on moonlight

I will fur-ever see your name in the stars

Your soul will forever sit on your throne in our hearts

You always knew you were loved

goodbye sweet baby

goodbye fur-ever

moxie, this one’s for you…