Awake

I managed to get up early today, around 7:00 a.m., which is a relief. It was hard not to with the new kitten climbing on my head, and purring loudly in my ear. He also has a very annoying habit of nibbling on my extremities, and sometimes on my chin. I can only hope he will grow out of this. For a cat who was given to me in the most pitiful, malnourished state, he really is incredibly frisky and naughty. Probably the naughtiest, most energetic kitten I’ve ever had actually! His eyes are much better, but there does seem to be some recurrence of the feline herpes virus, as his eyes are running a little now. New flare-ups are apparently common in cats who’ve had this disease, especially at times of stress or with a change of environment. I need some new antibiotic ointment for his eyes, which I was gratified to learn I can get online without a prescription, thus saving me an expensive trip to the vet (hurrah!). For those people who find this blog while searching for information about cats and the feline herpes virus, let me just add that giving cats a regular dose of the amino acid l-lysine is supposed to help prevent flare-ups. I’ve never tried it myself, but I might get some this week.

Right now, I’m feeling not too bad because it’s good to have some food in the house. It’s very depressing to have empty cupboards. I’ve enjoyed my several cups of coffee. It’s amazing, isn’t it?, just how important the simple pleasures in life are. When I have plenty food, and tea or coffee, it never occurs to me how lucky I am. Then, when they’re gone, life is a small misery.

Yesterday at the grocery store, I noticed that there was coffee for sale containing whole vanilla pods. Apparently you just grind around 1″ of the pod along with the coffee you’d need to make a full pot. I nearly bought this coffee, but then I thought ‘Why pay more for them adding the vanilla pods when I can just buy my own later and add them myself?” I’m very excited about the idea of adding vanilla to my coffee. I just looooooove vanilla. It makes things smell so warm and soothing. Nearly all of my beauty products have vanilla in them.

I’m somewhat interested in Ayurvedic Medicine, and it’s just fascinating to me how all of the food stuffs I naturally gravitate towards, such as vanilla, are the ones which are apparently good for my body type (“Vata” I think). There are things I enjoy which Ayurveda says are bad for me (coffee and alcohol are the ones which spring to mind!) but, oh, I know they’re bad for me. It’s crazy. I used to always feel bad, as a vegan, for despising raw vegetables. There’s really nothing I would rather eat less than a salad! According to Ayurveda, though, this is because I get chilled easily (oh, yes!) and cold vegetables are not warming, and are hard for me to digest (oh, yes!). There’s no way in hell I’ll ever be a raw food vegan. Oh, my God, no. The torture!

Sometimes I really wish I could become a herbal medicine practitioner. I’m most interested in Western Herbal Medicine, and Ayurveda. Chinese Herbalism doesn’t interest me so much. As a Western European, it doesn’t make sense to me that so many people of European-extraction here in the US study only Chinese Herbalism. Why not study Western Herbalism as well given that it also has such a long lineage, and that’s where your roots are? It seems that the two systems really complement each other, and that it would be best to learn both.

However, now I’m waffling so off I go to start my day. Take this quiz if you’re interested in finding out about your body type is according to Ayurveda!

Tagged: Ayurveda, cats, coffee, feline herpes virus, food, herbal medicine, l-lysine, stray cats, vanilla, veganism