Nicholas Joseph Purry turns one year old this month. The official celebration will be held on July 4^th. We won’t be supplying any of the fireworks as our neighbors will be more than happy to do that, as will Universal Studios, which is just five minutes away from our neighborhood. Something to keep all our four-footers calm over…

I’ve been more concerned with Nick’s growth than with any of the other cats. He came to us at eight weeks, having lost his left eye. I was concerned that somehow he wouldn’t have the necessary depth perception to do normal cat actions, such as climbing and leaping. And at first, as a little guy, he was a bit clumsy. But over time he’s learned to compensate and he now is totally capable of moving anywhere around the house, much to my shock and surprise at times. I’ve been careful to treat them all equally, and I believe that has helped to build the clowder so that Nick isn’t treated as an outcast.

At one year Nick is as long as both Luke and Beau, although not as heavy as those two. I suspect that he’ll fill in over the next two years, just like Luke and Beau. In the meantime Nicholas is as happy as a ginger clam, hanging out in the most popular spots around the house. The Blue Chair in the kitchen is a very favorite spot, as you can see with all the ginger hair that’s been shed onto it. I’m constantly vacuuming it out.

And here we have Beau staring intensely at… who knows. Perhaps the intense stare is for Nick, who he chased out of the Blue Chair so he could sit on, and shed into, it. And so it goes in this household full of cats.