CW: This post contains a kitten death. Much sadness.

It’s only natural, when you think of mountains in Antarctica, to think of early twentieth-century writers of cosmic horror, like H. P. Lovecraft. So you can imagine the chill that went through me when I pulled out today’s papercraft piece from its envelope and unfolded it in front of me. A mountain range! In Antarctica! Assuming these are Antarctic adventures, of course.

The narrative that accompanies today’s papercraft mountains say that mysterious creatures are said to live there. Well, I think I know what creatures they are! Shoggoths! Elder things! The great conical beings of Yith! Ia! Ia!

Ahem.

Anyway, I fear for the dark turns that this tale of Pancake and Pep will take.

Here is a song that encapsulates the feeling precisely:

In other news, we lost a foster kitten the other day. Lyric was a sweet little thing. I have warmer hands than Jennifer, so I was holding her close to my chest while she gasped for breath occasionally, ice cold, trying to warm her up. We fed her Karo (which sometimes helps with kittens in distress), gave her fluids, rubbed her little belly, lay her on top of heating pads. I whispered to her, telling her it was okay if it was time to go. So eventually, she did. I had very little interaction with Lyric while she was with us, but still, I found myself weeping just a little.

Jennifer has a much better written post about this here.

‘Tis a maddening, harrowing, and very sad season of Holidailies!

Today’s Episcopal Advent Calendar is about bless. It reads, “Call or write a letter to a family member with whom you would like to have a closer relationship. Make plans in the new year to chat on the phone or meet over Zoom or in person. Let them know how much you love them and look forward to knowing them better”

I’ll do that later today. I have a hard time keeping up with friends and family when they’re not actually in my presence; this time last year I made a promise that I would actually call someone who was close to me (friend or family) every Sunday. Did I actually follow through? No, of course not. So I plan to make that promise again this year.