Harmony (2/52) (and the story of Oz)
My second painting took a detour from my original plan. The inspiration for this is none other than my cats, Oz and Willow, who would often be found cuddling not too far from this. They were such a great pair that using the yin-yang imagery felt perfect.
As I briefly mentioned last time, 2015 did not get off to a good start for me. It almost derailed this project before the first week was up. But, I managed pull myself together and continue on doing the only thing that felt right.
Meet Oz. The bestest cat there ever was. He brought much joy to me and my friends. In the mornings he would come and paw at the sheets until I lifted them up and let him wiggle in next to me. When he wanted to be picked up he would brush against my legs and then flop over on his side meowing at me. He was a very social cat.
Relaxing under the sheets in the morning. It made it very hard to want to get up.
Sadly he tragically passed away much too early on January 4th, the last day of my 30-day staycation. It was the worst end to a vacation ever and the worst start to a new year. Thankfully I was on a staycation and not out of town so I did get to spend plenty of time with him. I don't actually know what happened to him but he was showing signs of having crystalluria Friday morning so I assumed that was what was wrong with him. He's had issues with this for over a year so it wasn't new. I was waiting to see how he was doing on Sunday to decide if he needed to go to the vet but sadly he did not make it through the night. I now have to live with the guilt of not taking him to the hospital the night before and discovering him lying on the floor... But, enough about that, let me share the rest of his happy existence.
Oz was my very first cat who came home with me on March 31, 2012 when he was only about eight weeks old. He was the sweetest thing who wanted to do nothing more than eat and play.
About a month later I started talking him with me to work multiple times a week. He wasn't a fan of going in the carrier for the car trip at first, but he eventually accepted it and was happy to go in the carrier in the mornings. It was great being able to spend so much time with him while he was still a kitten and he loved the attention from my co-workers. He lived quite the spoiled life. However, he wasn't much of a fan of the dogs at the office.
One day at lunch he even got to be a superhero, thanks to what would soon become TinySuperheroes. Photo credit: Robyn Rosenberger
In December 2012 my work moved buildings and the new landlord only allowed dogs on site so Oz sadly had to start staying at home. Having grown up around so many people he was definitely lonely. I wasn't sure I was ready for another cat though but by the end of summer I finally caved and brought him home a buddy.
After a couple weeks they were best buds. It couldn't have gone better. Thus began the great friendship of Willow and Oz.
I did a lot of other things with Oz too. During the summers I would take him out for short walks. He didn't really like going more than a couple blocks from home though but he enjoyed getting out. There was one patch of grass outside a neighbor's place that was his favorite.
Out for a walk last summer.
His favorite spot to chew some grass.
One day this past summer I decided to try taking him to Greenlake. We spent the first 30 minutes chilling under a tree and he spied people and dogs between the low hanging branches. Eventually I got him to header over to the water edge, only took about an hour. I was hoping to take him out more.
He even went out in the snow.
The best part though, was how big of fan of Christmas, Oz and Willow were though*.
*This might be an exaggeration :P
What is this thing on my heeeeaaaaad
Does this outfit make my head look big?
Christmas 2014 with Santa and the Xmas Dragon.
But don't forget Halloween!
TriceraOz
Ok, clearly this has just devolved into me simply posting Oz photos. If you've made it this far, thank you for indulging in my trip down memory lane. If you would like to see more videos (who wouldn't?!) you can go to my YouTube channel.
I'm not sure what next week's painting will be, but I'm certain Oz will be popping up in some future paintings when the inspiration hits me.
Willow and I miss you buddy, but thank you for all the joy you packed into your short time.