We are gathered here today..... - Originally posted July 2006

Yes, it’s true. We have lost another member of our family here in Spain and I would like to dedicate THIS update to her. On Monday, July 17th our little peugeot 106 died (several times) on the highway into town. She was a tough little car (or golf cart masquerading as a car) and we miss her. She carried us through most of southern Spain with not too many complaints and endured the 33,000 km we put on her in a matter of 7 months. That’s right! 33,000 km. We put more kilometers on her than Miguel’s mother has put on her car in the 6 years she’s owned it. I don’t know what’s sadder. Our 30,000 km in 7 months or her 30,000 km in 6 years.

On a happier note we have made several new additions to the Espigares family here in Spain. One is a new Peugeot. It’s brand new (thanks to that wonderful invention they call financing) and black and quite the machine. We’re both loving it! The other addition is a kitten that I picked up at the pet store. They were giving them away because nobody would in fact buy a cat here in Spain. They all think we’re nuts for shipping two of them over here. Cats are not appreciated here in Spain. More times than not I’ve seen dirty emaciated cats walking the streets. I’d love to take them all home, but then where are we going to live?

So I took this one for Miguel so he could have his own cat. Poor thing. She was pretty small and hungry when we got her home. She’s put on some weight and is very happy to not be living in a cage. Miguel named her Hyperbola because 1. He’s a math nerd and 2. She’s very hyper as most kittens are. I think she was taken from her mother at a very early age because she nuzzles up to my neck and kneads my head and tries to get milk from my hair. Hm, that would be interesting. She’s tried on Tosca a couple times on her tummy, but Tosca has never been a mother and really can’t stand other cats so it never ends well.