Loki lies in my arms, wrapped in a towel, purring in halting starts and stops. The growing masses in his brain that affect his ability to walk and see also impair his vocal chords. The purr is no longer steady but sporadic.

Still, our neurologically-impaired kitten seems at peace as he lies in my arms. The towel calms him down and also protects my lap from his occasional loss of bladder control.

Brisk morning air hit me full in the face as I walked down the driveway this morning, resuming a too-long-ago abandoned practice of morning walks. Frost-covered grass crunched under my feet as I headed across the lower lawn towards Sandy Flats Road.

The weather station readout said 20 degrees when I got up this morning, much colder than the last few days but still not that cold by February standards. We approach the end of February and the end of a winter season where the thermometer has yet to go below zero.

A few days ago I put on my best self-righteous face and climbed on my high horse to bitch and moan because fellow blogger and friend David St. Lawrence called my writings left of center.