I had to bring The Old Man {aka St. Farticus} to the vet this morning, which meant I had to arrange to come in late to work this morning, and that meant I was able to sleep in this morning.
And I would have overslept too, if I hadn't been awoken by this dream:
I was walking down a street when I noticed that a Used Bookstore I liked had gone out of business -- or, at least, through the window by the front door I could see there was nobody at the cashier's desk. When I looked in the window to the body of the shop, however, I could see there were people in there and the shelves were half-emptied out; and I thought there might be a possibility it was still open for its final clearout sale. So I went in.
There were no sale prices on the stuff, and I figured one would just haggle at the caisse; but I pretty broke, and I was too embarassed to even try. Plus, though I found items that were moderately interesting, there was nothing that I really needed. So I couldn't really justify buying something; but I wanted to buy something just for the sake of buying something.
For example {I must have been in the women's studies section} there were some original sample textiles for women's period dresses {I recall in particular a pale green, orange & cream plaid} stored rolled up in cardboard cylinders; they were accompanied by the corresponding period books on fashion, as well as some modern and period books on ettiquite & women's social history. Fascinating; but I felt it should better belong to someone who was student of such things.
Also found three old grey tattered books, late 18oo's I think; part of a series containing facts and fictional stories about cats. But it was incomplete, and I knew that would irritate me not to have the whole set; so I couldn't bring myself to buy it.
There was also a part of the store which dealt with secondhand junk/antiques. Again, interesting stuff, but nothing I really needed...
Then I saw a black wooden walking stick.
The head was the shape of a heraldic (or medieval?) stylized "lion". The body of the stick was like a table leg, the "proud" curve of the table leg being the chest of the beast (almost like a seahorse); and the base where the cane tapped the floor was a ball~and~clawfoot. The overall effect was a bit like an highly ornate elongated bathtub leg.
It had an almost a germanic gothic type of rendering; there were lots of protuding triangular "scales" which stuck out by maybe about a half an inch. It also had, I suddenly noticed, four little wooden arms - two on each side - attached to its chest by metal rings; so they were articulated at the shoulder and they swung fairly freely.
They were willing to sell it to me for about $70.
On the tiny dangling price tag {written in those precise and elegant curliqued numbers often seen on price tags dangling from antiques - well, of course, because you're not about to buy something at *that* price if the tag looks like a ransom demand from some illiterate criminal lowlife} that the original price of the cane was something like $525, or maybe $595.
I didn't have the cash on me, but they did have interac. Interestingly, that price was the same price the vet quoted me for The Old Man's checkup, which I planned to pay via Interac... and that's what woke me up.
Got to the vet on time. Will pick up The Old Man tonight. Will get the results by tomorrow. Then we shall see what we shall see.
~ ~ ~
I wonder if my subconscious chose "bookstore" because of Rosie, the cat from Welch's bookstore.
My first afternoon in Montreal, I took a random walk downtown, guided only by green streetlights; and by nightfall, I was walking down The Main.
Something made me look up. High above, there was a girder/pulley arrangement; it projected from an old dark building, spanned a small fenced~in yard, and jutted out over the sidewalk. Perched like a gargoyle on top of this girder was a black & white cat.
I watched the cat slink back across the girder, over the yard and into the building; and that's when I noticed smack in the middle of downtown Montreal was a tiny yard crammed full of headstones. It took my mind a moment to register that it wasn't a cemetary, but a monument engraving business; and that moment was a wee bit surreal.
Spent a little time looking through the chain~link fence at the yard, thinking about how cool it was, how it deserved to show up as a location in some story, and wondering how I could work it into something somewhere...
Started walking again, and immediately found a nifty little bookstore; as I entered, that very same black and white cat slipped in past me through the doorway. The bookstore was Welch's; the cat was Rosie.
I remember when I found out Rosie had died; her passing was mentioned by one of the hosts on CBC radio one. A fairly respectable achievement for a cat, I thought, to have yer wee obit on national radio. Found a nice little reminisce about Rosie here too, at Utopia Moment.
The last time I saw Rosie, I was surprised to see her quite svelte; she used to be respectably plump. Got to talking with the bookstore cashier who, quite cheerfully, mentioned Rosie had not been put on a diet but had simply just lost the weight. I told him unexplained weight loss in a cat ought to be taken as a warning sign, and said Rosie should to be taken to the vet.
But even as I spoke, I heard myself sounding like a crazy cat lady, and so I apologised for sounding like a crazy cat lady, which of course made me sound even more like a crazy cat lady... and I could see the cashier wasn't taking me at all seriously. In the end, I don't know if Rosie's passing was indeed related to her weight loss... so I may very well be a crazy cat lady.
Maybe I should drop by and ask... maybe I should bring condolance flowers... maybe that would be the irreversible step down Crazy Cat Lady Lane... ah, well, it's too late anyways; should have thought to send flowers when I first heard of it... and, wake up and smell the catnip, I've already bought the birdhouse on Crazy Cat Lady Lane.
~ ~ ~
I don't know how to wrap up this little anecdote; and it needs a wrap-up; but all I know is, I've got to leave *now* to make it to the vet before it closes.
Bye! :)
Posted by edgar at May 25, 2005 01:13 PM