We thought we had this down

but we were wrong. The feral momma (Pattycakes/Pancakes/Patty/Hey You) is still eluding capture, and the third of her three kittens has been in Jackie's room now for going on ten days but still remains in hiding.

Discouraging. A word I hate, because it sounds just like what it means.

Kittens One and Two, I'm happy to say, are doing great in their new home. So, there's that, and that's an accomplishment. But momma and #3 haunt us, and believe me when I tell you that neither Teri nor I need any more sources of anxiety.

I wonder how much of this is just what it appears to be - two cat-lovers trying to do the right thing (well, three, counting Jackie, but I don't think she's as disturbed by all this as we are), and how much is transference.

I remember that when my mother was approaching her last days - though the process took months - I had recurring dreams about the fish in the aquarium we had in Jackie's room at the time. I dreamt that the fish were in danger, and at one point dreamt that the one big gold fish had escaped from the tank altogether and was flying around the room, gasping for water.

But this is what we signed up for, whether we knew it clearly or not.