Meet Moth. And Walter Gomez.

It's been just over two months since we lost our dear and irreplaceable Emmett - about the length of time, perhaps, at which it's o.k. to go and visit the animal shelter.  Just to look.  And with a pact - just supposing we came away wit anyone, one kitten only, and a boy kitten.  We do, after all, have three female cats.  We'd seen a grey tabby whom we rather fancied on line ... turned out to be very pretty, yes, but anti-social towards humans, all things considered.   Gomez - this is him below - not, perhaps, at his handsome best here, but looking unquestionably appealing from the get-go (the fact that he didn't much want to get off Alice's bag helped his cause, too).  He's now Walter Gomez, the Walter coming from Alice's grandfather.  The Colorado Springs one.  And Moth?  Her shelter name was Phany, which really wouldn't do.  She jumped on me, in the kitten and young cat meet and greet room, and purred and purred and purred.  So much for not wanting another girl.  Could you have resisted her?

Santa Fe Animal Shelter - the All Fur Friend adoption center part of it - was wonderful, and let us sit and make friends with all the kittens and cats for as long as it took.  There's been an upper tract respiratory infection going the round there - so they have to be isolated from our other cats for five days.  Lucy, in particular, is wandering up and down the hallway, wondering what EVER is going on inside.

And no, this isn't one for my parents' ears.  My mother's fears that we're turning into loony cat ladies ... well, no comment.