Bad Weed has a name....

SAGE
"Little" Bad Weed, isn't so little anymore. I can't believe how fast this kitten has grown. He moved into the house the last of August, and I think he has tripled in size! He is almost as big as Meshach (although maybe not as 'bulky':-), and I think he will outgrow him before its over. Mesh is not a little cat either--he weighs in at about 11-12 lbs.

After much, much thought and looking through books and other sources, I've settled on a name... I think. Names are very difficult here. Sometimes I have a name picked out years in advance, just waiting for the right individual to match it. More often then not, its a long drawn out struggle, leaving the new critter nameless for awhile. I finally had to decide on a name for Boone, because I was ashamed to keep taking him back to the vet as 'stray dog'...... Anyway, with any luck I'll be saying this name for years to come, so I always want the name to be a good fit. Okay, okay.....here it is----Bad Weed is officially named-----SAGE. Yep, Sage. Not because he is wise (he is smart, but definately not wise at this point), not because he is an herb, but because I like the short sound of it, and his colors remind me of a common native grass in this area....SAGE grass. It really would be considered a 'bad weed' by some, but I think its quite lovely--at maturity it is a golden, orangy color and is most beautiful when there is an uncut field of it and the day is grey and dreary. I'm not sure why, but it heightens the colors and makes a common 'weed' breathtaking. Now to Sage the cat.... he is a kinda sandy orange, but has lovely little swirls of different orange shades through his coat. Actually he also reminds me of a creamsicle...so I think he is lucky to get the name Sage....:-)

Sage is scheduled to have his nueter surgery Tuesday, so it was imperative that I have name by then, so as not to have to face the vet staff, with 'nameless'. I think at least they will be able to spell AND pronounce this one! I really dread taking him in. I will worry all day and pray things go okay. I know that it is a 'simple' nueter, but I also know that sometimes there are adverse reactions to the anthesia.....so I fret. I think he is just under six months old, but it could be a few weeks off either way. I know that many kittens are nuetered and spayed much younger than that anymore, but I like to hold off til six months if possible.

After Sage had been here a few weeks, he went through a terribly ornery stage, which I call his 'terrible twos', where he was into everything and quite mean to me and Meshach. Then he calmed down a bit (not his frenetic activity, but his mean output) and it had been somewhat peaceful for the last few weeks. This of course over looks the constant spilling of water (deliberate), knocking pictures off the wall (no I don't know how he does this), getting on the table and the bar, falling into the washer, the toliet, and a bucket of mop water, mauling and maiming rolls of toliet paper......you get the idea.... Anyway, it was nice, that his attitude was nicer. Now I think he has hit puberty and his rebellious teenage stage. The pure meaness is back in force, and the frenetic activity has actually been notched up. Actually I'm a pretty patient person, so most of this I know he will outgrow, so I try not to scream no at him all the time... ya know--pick your battles, but I do get quite upset when he tries to pick fights with Mesh. Mesh is a very gentle soul who refuses to fight (I did see him actually bite Sage's head one night and cheered him on! :-), but Sage is quite bratty and is spoiling for a fight. I'm hoping this too will simmer down once he is nuetered and gets a little older....I hope....

Lest you think Sage is a total brat (okay he is), he does have some very sweet moments---generally at 3:00 a.m. in the morning. In fact he is so regular with this 3 a.m. bid for attention, that I found myself getting up at 3:00 a.m. this morning--looking for him, because he wasn't aggravating me. Sheesh. (he was fine, sacked out in the clothes hamper) Okay, so at 3:00 a.m. he starts walking up and down on me, purring loudly, flopping over, sticking his feet into my mouth, while I try and pretend I'm fast asleep. If this fails to get a movement out of me, things will get quiet and then I feel 'someone' staring at me. He usually is laying on his side next to my pillow, head held up, staring at me intently with a big goofy grin on his face (I swear its a grin--its bizarre). Since I sure don't want to encourage this nocturnal activity, I ignore him, but sometimes I can't help silently laughing.