Whenever I have blog writer’s block, which is today, I fall back on my go-to topic: books. I read so many books that I forget most of them the second I have finished, but a few stick in my mind.

Here is a list of great ones that I have read recently:

• You Should Have Known, by Jean Hanff Korelitz. This is a new author to me, and she writes brilliantly about smug people, and then brings them DOWN. Now being made into a series (HBO, I think) featuring Nicole Kidman.
• The Wife Between Us, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. Beach reading–such a great story!
• Eligible, by Curtis Sittenfeld. I resisted this for a long time, as it is the retelling of Pride and Prejudice, set in Cincinnati. But it is so good.
• Have You Seen Luis Velez, by Catherine Ryan Hyde. You cannot miss with her books, and her latest is the usual tremendous story and renewal of one’s faith in humanity.
• Kissing Games of the World, by Maddie Dawson. I love all of her books. So just pick one, and then read all the others.
• The Mother-In-Law, by Sally Hepworth. Twisty and fun.
• Ghosted, by Rosie Walsh. You make a real connection with a man, and then he just disappears. Another great vacation read.
• Someone, by Alice McDermott. Literary fiction at its best.
• Watching You, by Lisa Jewell. Oh, boy. Where do I begin? Plotty, twisty, weird folks. Loved it.
• Sometimes I Lie, by Alice Feeney. She wakes up in the hospital, locked in. Need I say more?

Happy reading. See you next week.

Last week’s post was confusing. What was supposed to be about my cat was construed to be about my husband and me. Looking back at it, I can see the confusion. We do take things slow–but sixteen plus hours of sleep a day is too much, even for us.

Let me continue with my observations about cats. Note: I am truly an expert, as I have had cats virtually my entire life, and I have had but two dogs. Dogs and cats are certainly different, but I think cats get a bum rap from the world at large, and social media memes have enhanced this “fake news” about cats.

• Cats are not standoffish. They are bundles of soft, purring calmness. They are sedatives that you can become addicted to. I am sure there are aloof cats. But I have met many an aloof dog. So there.
• Cats are heat seeking. So having them in the winter time is a cost effective way to lower your thermostat. They will keep you warm.
• Some cats enjoy conversation. This is especially true for Siamese, who love to chat.
• They say dogs are good judges of character. I will give them that. Cats mostly just like their own families. However, there are certainly “hail fellow well met” cats.
• Oh my gosh. Cats are SO easy to maintain. No walks. Just scoop the litter. Done.
• Cats love the indoors. I hate the outdoors. A match made in heaven.
• Cats don’t need baths. They never stink unless they are ill or have run-ins with neighborhood unsavories. Keep them inside, and this will never be a problem.
• Cats are beautiful. Graceful. They land on their feet. Egyptians worshipped them.
• Kittens are way cuter than puppies.
• Cats hang around you. Just like dogs. Try doing some exercises on the floor, and just wait until the cats arrive to supervise.
• You can train cats to do tricks. I can’t, but you could.
• Cats catch vermin. Dogs don’t do that.
• Even the tiniest of tiny homes can host a cat. They don’t need much room.

The above photo is of one of my two cats. His name is The Keeper. He was dumped on the side of the road. He is the fluffiest cat in the world. He likes to sit behind me on the sofa and purr in my ear. I lean back against him occasionally and rub my cheek against his fur. He seems to appreciate that. My other cat, below, is named Macintosh. He was rescued right after a truck ran over him narrowly missing him. He was a tiny kitten. My daughter Annie pulled over to the side of the road and ran into a field after him. He came to her, running and purring. He was near starvation. He is the most loving and appreciative small soul. But sometimes, he thinks he is an owl…

We take it easy around here. No hustle. No bustle. As far as we are concerned, too much activity is harmful to one’s mental health. Everything in moderation. Exercise is fine, as long as it is interspersed with resting. Stretching the muscles afterward is a must, so that one does not cramp up.

Sun is also beneficial to older joints. Soaking it up at least fifteen minutes a day is recommended. Napping in the sun is fine also.

After this, one should go upstairs, find a cozy corner, and take another nap.

Tuna is also a good thing.

The first time I went to New York I was seventeen. It was also the first time I had ridden on a plane, and the first time I went anywhere by myself. I was visiting a friend. It was January, snowy, and I had to walk to meet him what seemed like twenty miles. I was carrying my suitcase and freezing. Nevertheless, I was enthralled by the city. He took me all over. We visited another, older friend and her husband in their loft. It was barren and huge. I bet that same loft today would be worth millions. I wonder what happened to that couple. I never heard of or from either of them again.  The boy I visited became famous as a musician and lyricist. He had shows on Broadway.   Ever since that trip and multiple trips after, I have (as you know if you read my blog) had a fantasy of living in New York.

Our recent trip to the Big Apple only intensified my desire.

At the same time, my publisher has asked me to write my fourth novel. He has major expectations, and he and I have been working on a plot. The characters are all alive: their names are Orla, Edward, Letty, and Bink (her name is Aurelia, but she was dubbed Bink as a baby, and it stuck). I begin the real work of writing next week, once the holiday is over.

And guess what? I took a huge step. I booked an apartment on the street above in New York for two weeks in September to work on the book. By myself. All alone. It took me 60 odd years to work up the nerve, but I will finally experience living in New York. I am both excited and a little scared. What if I sit down to write and nothing comes out? What if the book is trash? What if I get lost on the subway? But then again–the shopping, the High Line, Central Park, and bagels. New York bagels. 30 Rock and pizza.

Wish me luck. Send up a prayer to the fiction gods to be good to me on this one. A lot is riding on it. I will keep you posted.

I would like to reinvent myself. First of all, the name. Let me introduce myself: I am Norah Henderson.

I am thirty, single. Lithe, with perhaps spiky, lavender hair. I ride my bicycle everywhere, as I am so concerned with the planet. As a result, I have very firm calves and could crack walnuts between my knees. My eyes are keen, and my teeth sparkle.

My Abyssinian cat, Harold, resists walking on a leash, but I keep trying. Harold and I love tuna, and we have it for dinner once a week. Harold and I binge watch Game of Thrones. He hides his eyes with his paws during much of the violence.

I am a poet. Non-rhyming variety.

Although I hate to garden, I have very good luck with orchids. The windowsills in my New York apartment are lined with them. Just an ice cube in the pots once in a while does the trick, and my friends are dazzled by the display. I have dabbled in African Violets, but with little success. I have two pots of edible grass in the window by the tub in my bathroom, for Harold. He nibbles away at them, and then he barfs. Good for the digestion, I hear.

I almost got married last year. However, Bart’s dog Skid seemed to want to eat Harold. It was Bart or Harold. A no-brainer. Actually, Bart’s obsession with veganism was starting to wear thin. So Bart loaded his mushroom collection and Skid’s memory foam dog bed into the back of his PT Cruiser and headed out of town.

I love New York, but the noise and grime does wear one down. Harold wants to move to the country, where he would consent to leash walks. I think he is lying about that. But I have been scanning the listings, and there is a small, gray bungalow with moss green shutters that I keep coming back to. It says “cozy, all furnishings included.” The pictures of the living room alone are a riot of chintz and polished hardwood. The kitchen has a soapstone sink and a fireplace. The price is within my range.  Also, Harold’s soulful staring from the living room window at the park below as he mutters to himself–that bothers me. I think he might be right. I dream now about cross ventilation and bird feeders.

I told him that if we moved, I would want to get a small dog. Harold is considering it.

The moment I met each of my own daughters, I was swept away with the wave of love that came wrapped up with them. It was like a tsunami that with my first, was so unexpected I nearly went into emotional shock. I expected it with my second and was not disappointed. Instant, overwhelming love.

However, actually raising a child isn’t all joy. Any parent will tell you that at times, the desire to get away from one’s own children is almost as strong as the love they engender. I had too many days of exhaustion, frustration, worry, and impatience to count.

I know I am not the first grandparent to be astonished by this one: having grandchildren brings floods of joy and love that you feel guilty about not having had in terms of their parents, your own children. It’s a fact. Grandchildren are even better than one’s own children. Ask any grandma, and she will confirm!

The first time I was referred to as “Bee” by little Charlie, I was so thrilled that he knew me as a separate person in his life, important enough to name, my heart nearly burst. When he got older and added “Grandma” in front of the “Bee,” it was as if I had been given some sort of very special commendation. I never once questioned or cared where the “Bee” came from; I just loved my new name. Hearing a small piping voice call out “Grandma Bee? Where are you?” was music. Sheer music.

We are going to New York in a couple of weeks to spend time with little Charlie and his adorable baby sister Birdie. We will be the babysitters as their parents conduct business there for a week. There will be an apartment, picnics on the floor, hilarious bath times, maybe a tantrum or two, but certainly more joy than I can even imagine. We will be worn out, I am sure. But the fact that my husband will be the person to take little Charlie on his first excursion to see the Empire State Building? Priceless (also, thank God I won’t be included in that one–fear of heights–whew). Central Park. New York pizza. Hot dog vendors. Strolling around Gramercy Park with the two of them.  Watching Frozen at bedtime on the iPad for the thousandth time. These will be the things I am sure I will revisit and relive as I am on my deathbed, thankful for my life with my own children and so grateful for the children who called me “Grandma Bee.”

I am taking my knee brace, ibuprofen, a handmade doll I ordered from Etsy, the Berenstain Bear books, a scary Transformer or two, fruity Tic Tacs, and probably, if I can fit it in my suitcase, the heating pad.

It will be an epic trip.

The dog in this picture is not my dog. I love this dog, and she visits me often. She is my grandpup. Sometimes, well–frequently–I wish I didn’t have to depend on her for all of my dog needs.

I have cats, and probably won’t have a dog as a pet in the future. This does not stop me from imagining what kind of dog I would get. You know, to have in my pied a terre in New York or to take on walks with me along the Seine. Oh yes, and to hang around with me right here in Dayton, Ohio.

A small dog. One that won’t pull a person over when sighting squirrels. I like dachshunds. They are assertive little dogs. I especially like the wire haired variety. But I have been told that they don’t have dachshund personalities, because they have been bred with terriers in order to get the wire hair. So that kind of defeats the purpose.

What about poodles? They mix poodles in with every breed, it seems. This mixing makes a new, cuter version of the original. Who doesn’t love labradoodles? They are taking this too far, in my opinion. I met a woman walking a very odd dog–tall, skinny, and with a curly beard and wild eyes. I asked what breed he was, and he was a Doodleman–a doberman poodle mix. Not a good look. But I would consider a schnoodle. This mix of schnauzer and poodle is very cute.

I see myself, though, strolling down the sidewalk with a small, brown dog of indeterminate breed. This dog would have coarse hair shooting out all over his body, wise round eyes, an eager trot, and friendly wag. He would greet neighbors and strangers alike with enthusiasm, increasing my popularity quotient a hundredfold. He would know a few tricks, and live to a ripe old age. He would be devoted to me and I to him. I would give him an absolutely charming and imaginative name like Seltzer or Toasty, but he would end up with a nickname like Snoots. He would sleep in our bed, adore our cat/s, and my husband would be so happy that I talked him into our having a dog again.

I run variations of this fantasy in my mind on a frequent basis, with the dog changing from small and hairy  to large but lazy. In all of these daydreams, the dogs’ feet remain free of mud, they only need to poop once a day, they go out in the backyard without the need of a fence, they never bark at the mailman, they stay off the sofas, and they don’t shed.

I also have fantasies of being able to eat cake every night for dessert.

Why do people want to move to places where there are no seasons? Don’t they get tired of warm weather all the time? I have nothing against Florida, for instance, but I would think that things would get pretty monotonous around there.

In Ohio, we have snow. We have fog, sleet, rain, humidity, heat, and everything in between. We look forward to winter, when we can hygge around the fire, pop popcorn, put up Christmas lights, and be cozy. However, when that begins to get old, and we have cabin fever, VOILA! It’s springtime, with buds, wafting breezes, pollen allergies, and daffodils. That hardly has time to sink in before it turns into summer, with mosquitoes, wasps, ruined picnics, sunscreen, pool parties, hot dogs on the grill, and Lyme disease.

That begins to wear thin, and we all wish we could turn off the central air conditioning, and POOF! It’s fall, with the foliage, pumpkin spice everything, fun size candy bars, cardigans, and turkey with dressing.

Winter rolls around just in time to take our minds off all of the extra calories we packed in at Thanksgiving. See? We never get a chance to get bored! Floridians must curse the sunshine sometimes and wish for a day cold enough for earmuffs, don’t they? Do people in Arizona get fed up with cactus? Do they miss deciduous trees? Rain?

I am staying put in Ohio. No hurricanes here. A tornado here and there, but gosh, we have to have something to worry about. Oh, yeah. The Polar Vortex. I like a good Polar Vortex, though. And blizzards are exciting. Power outages test our mettle. As long as we have the fireplace and a gas stove, we can make do in a power outage.

Birds. I love to listen for the return of spring birdsong. I suppose they have birds in Florida. And of course, beaches. I do appreciate a nice beach. I can live without one, though.

Because in Ohio, one never gets a chance to become bored with the weather. We have SEASONS. I am not picking on Florida and Arizona, but these are popular destinations for retirees. I don’t know one retired person who has decided to move to the Arctic Circle…