No plants were harmed in this picture

I am housing the Garment District Family: Mother Velvet and her kittens named Lace, Denim, Chenille, and Mink.  Velvet was abandoned at a veterinarian’s office fully pregnant, and the animal shelter I volunteer at took the family in shortly after the births. I have been fostering them for a month, with another month to go before they can be adopted.  Those are the facts, but my Garment District Family, like any family are full of much more substance.  If their tragedy was unique, their happiness is the same as other kitten families, with lots of scampering, mock fighting, eating and sleeping.  They are fully living their lives, each with personalities that differ sharply from one another, but personalities which might be shed as they grow into young adulthood.

Minke is the runt, and I add the “e” because I live in a town whose waters are visited by whales, and Lace is the eldest, the beauty.  Chenille  watches me type and tries out some keys, managing to find an umlat, and Denim of the silvery fur is bathing. Ma, as all mothers, is asleep, exhausted.

We are falling into a pattern. We are dreaming similar dreams.  We are living together success-hey, no biting–fully.

Chenille