Happy New Year, everyone.  November didn’t have a post a day, as I had hoped, but I managed a respectable 18 posts, more than any other month last year.  Then December arrived, and I threw myself full-tilt into holiday celebrations and secret projects…

But now I am back.  My fellow bloggers are celebrating the best of last year, taking stock of their projects and looking ahead to a fresh new year.  I have my annual project report to write too, but I can’t properly close out the year until I take stock of everything.  Unfortunately by everything, I mean the worst parts of the year.

To be frank, 2016 was a bummer of a year.  Politicians tossed aside all semblance of decorum and showed us an ugly election, a great city broke a sad record, and many cultural icons left us.

That was just the big world.  In our own little world, Querido and I lost Fermi and Cassie.

Cassie at the beginning of the year, Fermi at the end.  Both were ill, but neither was old.  I say they were our cats, but really they were Querido’s.  He had them before he met me, and while they decided I was an acceptable human, Querido was their person.  His cuddles were better, his presence more interesting.  I was not him, and furthermore, they knew I was responsible for the dog and the kittens.

In spite of that, I loved them very much.  They were smart, dignified cats who made me think that all cats were restrained and decorous.  Each had their own personality.  Fermi liked his tummy rubbed, Cassie liked to be held like a baby.  Watching them fall ill, being unable to make them happy any more, knowing that you will have to say goodbye sooner rather than later hurt terribly.  It hurt knowing that they were in pain, it hurt knowing that the only comfort I could give Querido was that he had given them good lives.  Each goodbye hurts as bad as the first, and knowing they won’t suffer any longer is a small comfort when you know you will miss them forever.

Goodbye, kitties.  Wherever you are, I hope you are cuddled together in a nice sunny window.

And goodbye, 2016.  May there never be another year like you.