Roger Zee Memoirs
Adopting Zoe 4 10/26/20
After Zoe's foster parents settled Zoe back into her Yurt and left the apartment, I faced a huge challenge. How do I make a man-fearing, abused four-year-old street cat fall in love with me? Though I've connected with a lot of women in my life, it usually starts with those "predisposed" to me, LOL! Unfortunately, many times I find it hard to sustain a relationship due to my fiery, never satisfied, tempestuous, Aries nature. Usually just easier or simply necessary for me to suck it up and move on. Not sure that works in the Covid Pandemic. Never experienced much success in trying to "win over" a lady who initially wants nothing to do with me. Just seems easier to go with the woman who wants me and becomes mine to lose. But with Zoe, I determined to man up and shower her with all the love I've got! Welcome to another episode of my memoirs, "Life and Times of a Pandemic Musician."
But first I had to find her! It can take hours. Often I just give up, despairing that she just doesn't want, like, and trust me. Eventually I figured out her favorite hideouts -- behind the two CD racks, back of the doorless TV cabinet, the additional CD shelves, on top of the kitchen cabinets, on top of the refrigerator, under the couch or kitchen table. The list goes on and on. I must always remember to close all the living room closet doors. I'm a door open kind of guy as my ex's can attest to.
But day after day, my relentless, loving pursuit of Zoe begins to break down her resistance. She starts to narrow down her hiding places. Easier for us to hang when I know where to find her. Cats sleep anywhere from 12-16 hours a day and Zoe tends to the upper limit! Like most felines, she lives for the night. Basically she's unconscious from 9A to 6P. Wakes up for dinner, then goes back to sleep until 10 or 11P. Many times she doesn't begin prowling until I go to sleep around 12-1A, LOL!
But recently, she's begun paying me what I laughingly refer to as a booty call -- usually between 3:30-5:00A. Sometimes I wake up to pee and she's lying there right next to me. Other times, she's a little more forceful and insistently head butts my side. So I play with her for about twenty minutes while carefully protecting my hands and arms from her razor-sharp talons. I can't clip her nails because I can't yet hold her... And lately, she takes her 7-11P nap in my spot on the bed. I guess she's bonding to the old man urine smell, LOL! She also feels more comfortable walking around the living room while I'm watching TV or playing the bass. Occasionally even sits on the couch.
Her continual harassment of my two parakeets while standing on the windowsill and batting around the cage put me in a predicament. Zoe can't really hurt Eli and Nyssa. But do they really deserve that continued punishement? So I just raised the cage closer to the ceiling much to Zoe's chagrin.
There's another issue I don't know how to deal with -- her constant clawing at the area rugs. She's got two large cat scratching posts but prefers the mats. Like with the bird issue, I don't want to yell at her at this sensitive stage of our bonding, but the scraping noise grates as well as harms the rugs. Hopefully when Zoe trusts me more, I can finally figure out how to clip her nails.
I share all my Zoe progress with my savior, Leigh. She takes great joy in it. She's got quite her own menagerie and continues to foster animals for different shelters. Leigh only gives permanent residence to pets no one else wants -- mostly those with serious disabilities. She greatly admires my persistance with Zoe and my attempt to give her a good home despite all the trials and tribulations. My daughter Charlos, pictured above, agrees with her.
So on yet another brisk, mealy gray, rainy day in the Apocalypse where New Yorkers wait in line for 2-4 hours just for the privilege of voting while Soulless Superspreaders continue to infect the nation, I think positive thoughts and pray for a more peaceful future. My time's short and I don't want to waste it hiding out. Fortunately, a good friend organized a limited, mask required, social distancing jam for this Friday and I can't wait to play live again. So for the next few days, I'll put on the Allman Brothers "Greatest Hits" and work the bass lines over but good. You see I yearn for "One Way Out" for both me and "Elizabeth Reid." Maybe Zoe and I, two of God's damaged creatures, can finally find peace. One <3
YouTube - One Way Out - Allman Brothers
©2020 Roger Zee
