10/30/2008

Three Weeks in October (I)

My friends were going to Japan for three weeks. They asked me to look after their house and their cat, Ray. I had been feeling tired and stressed out, needing to take a break without having to get too far from my life. I agreed. I figured since I really love cats and miss my cat, Asghar, whom I had left behind when I moved from Tehran three years ago, I would have a good chance to bond with a furry feline and re-energize.
I have known Kerry for more than twenty years and was fortunate enough to attend Kerry and Mark’s wedding many years ago. Kerry, is the epitome of an organized individual. Her beautiful house perfectly clean and tidy, her house cat, Ray, a dream of a cat, and her binder full of typed instructions on EVERYTHING about her house and her cat, were welcoming and encouraging signs that I was about to arrive at my oasis of sanity and peace for three weeks. I went to get introduced and oriented to the cat and Kerry and Mark’s house three times prior to their departure. I learned the elaborate lighting, sound, and alarm systems of their gorgeous house near Berkeley. Ray seemed shy but he did warm up to me some during my visits. Kerry even took me and introduced me to a few of her neighbors who had all been informed about a woman who would be living at her house for a few weeks.
I told Kerry I had prior plans to have dear guests on the first Sunday they were gone and whether it was alright with her if I entertained my friends at her house. The sweet woman was happy at the prospect of a party at her house, even if she wasn’t in it! I had invited my friends to our usual monthly get-together which I regularly host, except this time a dear friend of mine, Jahanshah, who was planning to leave the area was our low-key “guest of honor.” I call it low-key because he had made it clear he didn’t want a farewell party. I knew and everybody else knew that this would be the last time we would get together like this for a while.
Kerry and Mark left on a Thursday and I moved in and became house-mate with Ray, the cat. Everything went very well, including our bedtimes, when Ray would sleep at the bottom of my bed, just like Kerry had said he would. Things were going on really well with the two of us.
I returned to my house on that first Saturday night, cooked up a storm, and the next day, on Sunday, I took all the food and a lot of other things with me to my friends’ house where I expected my friends. A couple of days before the party, I had received emails and phone calls from a couple of my friends whom I hadn’t invited to the party. They said they had heard about the party and wanted to come, too. This is not unusual among my friends. I have many many friends and it is not possible to invite all of them to my house at the same time, so I take turns on whom to invite. All through my life, though, it has happened that I would get calls from people just before a party, inviting themselves over. It gives me great joy to accept and welcome my friends when they really want to come.
(To Be Continued...)

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

سلام هنوز کامل نخوندم ولی خواستم بگم که عاشق عکس آقا ری خوش تیپ شدم.الهی چشاشو بسته و چه حالی می کنه دستت درد نکنه برای عکس هنرمندانه ات.مرسی از احوالپرسی نازی جان

شکر خداهمه چیز خوبه. این جا هوا خیلی سرد نمی شه.امروز باران مفصلی بارید وفرداهم منتظریم.باید یاسی خانم را ببرم مال برای تیریک وتیریت!!چه خنده دار شد به فارسی...یادم اومد به تیریت!
شبت خوش و ایام به کام

مرضیه

Anonymous said...

تو با من که هرگز ندیدمت این قدر مهربونی و صمیمی دیگه با دوستان نزدیک چه جوری هستی؟من هم باشم زنگ می زنم و میام بی دعوت که در خانه دل تو همه دوستان جا دارند .
راستی این مدت تنها بودی؟ فقط با ری؟ نترسیدی شبها! ماشالله به تو! :ِِ)

فعلن بای
مرضیه

Anonymous said...

سلام نازی جون
خوبی ؟
بابا من که همیشه وبلاگ رو می خونم تو سرت خیلی شلوغه ...
وای گربه گربه گربه
موجود ناز و ملوسیه ولی حیف که خیلی بی وفاست خوب اینم رسم زیبا رویانه دیگه
;)
منم دلم برات خیلی تنگ شده ، تو فیس بوک واست انویتیشن فرستادم اگر اسکایپ داری هم ادم کن باهم حرف می زنیم هروقت بودی...
درس ها هم شروع شده و خلاصه حسابی درگیر ارشدم
موفق باشی دوستم

Anonymous said...

اوه راستی یادم رفت بگم من اگر چیزی نمی نویسم اینجا چون نمی خوام مجبورت کنم یا تو دردسرت بندازم که حتما جواب بدی وگرنه نوشتن اینجا که یکی از سرگرمی های مورد علاقه ی منه نازی جونم
شاد باشی

Nazy said...

Dear Sweet Marzieh:

Heeh! You are so easy to please, my friend! Yes, it was just me and Ray. Wait until I tell you the rest of the story! I think you might like it.

Happy Halloween my friend! Did you and Yasi enjoy trick or treating? It has been raining here since yesterday, so it's been hard on the little monsters!

Be good azizam!

Nazy said...

Uni-Far, Uni-Far:

Thanks so much for coming back. I have missed you very much. Thank you for the beautiful photographs of Kish. I plan on using them soon.

I have been doing some volunteer work for the past several months which has taken entirely too much of my time. I always read all the comments, but have not been able to answer them the way I like and I used to do.

I hope all is well with you and your family. My best regards to Alef Shin and Shobeir and all our other friends in Tehran.

Take care.

Nazy

مسعود said...

سلام
ای صاحب سلیقه از جای جای خانه
کن میهمان به عکسی یاران منتظر را

Nazy said...

Salam bar Masoud-e-Mehraban:

How have you been? I miss seeing you around here my friend! How is beautiful Ahvaz and how is your wonderful family?

I showed one picture of the house with Ray here:
http://nazykaviani.blogspot.com/2008_10_01_archive.html#3314696981979143457

I'm telling another part of the story tonight. Please come back again soon!