Quiet

Quiet is very important to Smokey. We had a mini disaster in our bathroom where the plumbing apparently had been leaking for at least a month and a half. We just didn't know before because the vanity was holding in all the water and the rest flowed into the boiler room below. (We are directly above the boiler room which explains why the hot water comes so hot and fast!) Finally the vanity just couldn't hold the water in anymore and water flooded all over the bathroom floor. Everything is fixed now, thank goodness, without too much damage, but the plumber recommended that we run the fan for at least a day or two to prevent mold. So, our tiny apartment was filled with the loud whirring of the heater and a fan set on full blast for two days.

Even before the plumber arrived, we noticed Smokey was in a restless mood. He kept whining pitifully to get out of the house. After the plumber left, Smokey was in an even weirder mood. We could tell he just wasn't his normal self. He wasn't as playful. He only wanted to get out of the house. He stopped his usual ritual of waiting outside the bathroom while one of us was in the shower. He did not sleep in our bed but worse he didn't even bother going into our room. Even worse, he did not get into his own bed either. We turned off the fan at night but he just seemed disturbed.

I turned off the heater earlier on the second day because the weather warmed up. I almost immediately saw a difference in Smokey. He was almost back to normal when I turned off the fan for the night. I found him waiting for me outside the bathroom as before. And then, as I sat writing this entry, soaking in the lovely quiet that had returned, Smokey contentedly made bread in his bed.