Insomnia, Aash, And A Cat Named Asghar

Blossoms in Hamadan, Iran, March 26, 2008.

I have been working myself ragged again this week, working hard during the day at work while I concentrate on some exciting projects, and unable to sleep well at night. I am also volunteering to help out with an event in April, and so much work has to be done on that project between now and then. It's a good thing this is a short week for me as Friday is a State holiday.

I went to visit my younger sister on my way home tonight. She gave me a bowl of aash to bring home with me. It was a relief not to have to make dinner tonight! I want to go to bed early tonight (we will see about that!). I will tell you another story about Asghar and then I go.

So, I should have known better after the incident which had landed him in the third floor neighbor's balcony, but it hadn't occurred to me that this might happen again. The week following that incident, when my kids and I arrived our apartment complex, we thought we heard Asghar in the parking lot. This was surreal, because Asghar had been left inside a locked apartment on the fourth floor and there was no way he could be in the parking five floors below! Right? Wrong! My older son followed the cat's meowing and soon found him and brought him to us. Asghar's entire face was covered in congealed blood and his claws were injured as he had lost all his nails, taking a flight from the fourth floor into the parking lot! Oh My God! He was subdued and quiet and didn't respond very well to our calling his name. We rushed him to his vet in Amanieh, and he instructed us to take him to a pet hospital emergency room in Vanak for X-rays. As it turned out, he must have tried to fetch one of the birds on the tree branches just outside the balcony, and had taken a free fall five floors below, declawing himself while trying to hang on to the tree and the walls around, breaking his nose and fracturing his skull! Can you believe that?! He was heavily medicated to stay calm and we were told he had a 50-50 chance of survival. My kids were beside themselves with grief. The next day I had screen walls installed on the balcony (toori), and while he recuperated, we stood vigil by his side for a few days. He recovered soon enough, getting back to his "no good" state, but his tiny nose bore a very small crook where he had broken it! I miss Asghar, the cat with the crooked nose! He now lives in Karaj with a man who loves cats. Be good and have a good Wednesday you all.