Monday, November 25

When we bought the house we found this homemade step behind the house, where Hilka used to stand on it to wash the back windows.

One day, after Sunshine had arrived, we brought it round the front and he immediately commandeered it as a seat and scratching pole. We left it under the overhang of the roof and he used it almost daily. When it rained he would sit on it, dry, watching the garden.

Now, because the bus drivers have gone on strike in support of the postal workers, I will work from home. Almost exactly a week ago Sunshine died and now I will spend thirty minutes chopping the step into pieces. It will not bear my weight anymore and Sunshine has no further use for it.

It will take longer than I expected. Maybe it would still have borne my weight.