Warm fuzzies (and other things)
02 Dec, 2020
Today we take paws to reflect upon the little things that have helped us through the year. Our family, friends, critters, and self-care are all important to our well-being and happiness.
We asked some of our Chief Investigators and COO to provide a picture and a story about a pet (real or imaginary) or a self-care ritual that helped them through the year.
‘Gotta catch them all’ when they are this cute!
“There is a resemblance here. She is Eeveelution – or Eevee for short. She has a home-made haircut for summer as we couldn’t get her into a groomer before Christmas. Eevee is always reminding me to take a break from my desk to play with her when I work from home. She knows what is important!”
Tessie, Monet and Matisse (cats) and Indie, Romy and Jesse (birds)
“They have all kept me sane during 2020! Monet the cat (top right) is definitely a physicist. He’s always in a box, but he’s smarter than Schroedinger’s cat because he only likes open boxes, so I don’t have to keep guessing! Indie the budgie (blue, bottom right) is an international conference organiser. There are very few Zoom meetings from home she has not participated in and corrected my statements in the background.”
A bottle of good wine (as opposed to a good bottle of wine)
“Good wine gives me the warm fuzzies. A glass makes reading a thesis or a manuscript easier, improves communications skills, and improves social cohesiveness in the group. Need I say, with all the lockdowns, being cooped at home and seeing too much of your kids (and partner)…it’s simply marvellous!”
The many modes (including Zoom) of Cake the Siberian cat
“Cake enjoys sampling water or tea, and occasionally beer if he can get his head into a glass unsupervised! He is an absolute snuggle fiend and is never far from me when I am at home. Cake assists around my apartment by attacking the robot vacuum cleaner, stealing socks from the laundry, shouting empty threats at birds that land on the balcony, and killing innocent spiders.”
An eight-legged Australian walks into a home…
“I don’t have much in terms of pets at home but my six-year-old son is fascinated by all spiders and everything that crawls in general. For the past couple of weeks, our pet is a pretty big huntsman spider that appears every morning in different corners of our house to the great amusement of my son. While it is difficult to wake my son up in the morning, especially on a school day, the suggestion to “let’s go find where the Huntsman is today” wakes him up in no time.”
Pi the cat – he is Figure 8 famous
Lola, avian ecologist, working from her home office
“Pi is very much into his food science. However, he featured in Figure 8 of our paper published in JOSA A in 2018. Pi is still pretty frisky at about 19! He decided to attach himself to us about 13 years ago when he turned up in our yard with no chip or ID. When we brought Lola home as a kitten Pi was instantly besotted. She helps with typing %^(**(^%&ssssssssssss$ when required. Both of them provide emotional support and ensuring the house is furry!”
We don’t actually like to eat peanuts
“This is the TMOS Elephant. I must give credit to YouTube for the instructional video that I used for this elephant picture. I have been painting for about two years now.”
“I move slowly but nothing can stop me. I also have very thick skin. This is good for all fields of research. My big ears make me a good listener. Everyone likes a good listener. Remember, an elephant never forgets!”
Giving us a good example of healthy eating ahead of the holiday season “Here is our little Freckles posing for a photoshoot.”