Moscow

" Moscow"© Donna Gross

Original pastel on paper

11x14

Our $4,000 cat, Moscow, put a price on his head the summer of 2014.  My family and I were vacationing in Australia in the North Territory where there is no cell phone coverage.  After traveling the Austrialian country from Sydney up the east coast to Queensland, we were finishing up our adventure with a road trip in a too small camper van into Kakadu and Litchfield National Parks.

A stop at a ranger station closer to civilization prompted me to check for email messages.  One from our trusted pet sitter alerted us to a veterinary emergency playing out back home.  

Moscow had been missing in action for two days only to return bedraggled and quite ill.  Without the ability to contact us, our pet sitter made the difficult decision to take our sick kitty to the vet emergency unit.  Long story short, this little bugger had quite the lung infection and was teetering on losing his last life.  A week in intensive care and $4000 buckeroos later, we brought our little gray troublemaker home and broke it to him that he just bought himself a lifetime indoor ticket!

Now, Moscow begs every now and then to escape to the wilds of our very civilized neighborhood.  No Outback for this guy.  He is often gazing out our bedroom window which is where I captured one of those moments.

My reference photo of Moscow

The framed piece which hangs near the window from where he gazes...