Hole in the heart

There's a vacant spot in my heart for our recently-deceased cat Claude. Kerri planted some flowers on his grave, and I can't look at them without thinking of our beautiful brown Burmese boy. There are other holes for other pets, and I mourn for them. Why aren't the dogs and cats that brought such joy to my childhood still part of my life? Why do things have to change?

Kerri wondered whether cats, with a shorter span of years, experienced the same sense of time as we do. Or do they live at a faster pace, to cram a full life into a reduced frame?

Thinking of Claude curled up on a cushion in the sun, I offered my opinion that it might be the other way around.

Kerri and DD are gone up to Sydney now. We've settled on two replacement cats. We'll get them as kittens and they will grow up together in companionship. That's the plan.

Stage one is a Burmilla girl. She'll be home in a matter of hours, assuming Kerri managed to locate the breeder.

Stage two is a Bombay boy. He's still in production, so it will be a couple of months before he arrives.

Pictures in due course.

Not quite locked in

I've made four round the world trips (and two halves), but this upcoming one to Charleston is as exciting a prospect as ever. I'm getting my full value just dreaming about it.

I'll be going alone, and I'll be working at maximising the airmiles from an xONE4 Oneworld Explorer ticket. Not quite as efficient as some dedicated frequent flyers, but on a ticket that allows just one transcontinental passage of the USA, I'll be flying from one side to the other five times.

I've yet to book the ticket - I'll do this on Monday - but here's what I'm looking at:

Canberra to Sydney to Auckland to Hong Kong and then to either Tokyo or Singapore to sleep.

Back to Hong Kong to Heathrow to Dublin. Two nights in Dublin. I'll find a hostel on the banks of the Liffey, maybe release a copy of "Ulysses" into it, and presumably get to see Yokospungeon's baby daughter if we can arrange a meetup.

Dublin to Heathrow to LAX to Dulles, where I'll be spending two nights in Washington - a day of walking around with a camera revisiting some of my favorite spots from 2005.

Drive down to Charleston with ResQgeek, Crrcookie and Lilgrovers. This should be fun - a BookCrossing road trip is always a hoot.

Three nights in Charleston for the Unconvention, where I shall meet many of my BookCrossing friends, and hopefully make a few new ones.

Then catch the mid-morning flight to DFW and onto Seattle for two nights. Fly to New York for a night and a day wandering the streets, and then catch the Qantas flight to Sydney via LAX. Onto Perth for a night and home to Canberra.

That's the plan, but whether I can fit all this into twelve days is another question. We'll see what the travel agent can do. One possibility, probably a remote one, is extending my stay in the USA after the convention to fly Qantas's new Airbus A380 - the big superjumbo - which enters service with the LAX to Melbourne leg on 20 October.

Mostly up in the air at this stage, but already I'm dreaming of takeoffs and landings, glittering oceans and sparkling snowfields, islands and deserts, terminals and transits. And taxis. If I don't get a few taxi adventures along the way I'll have to do it all again.