The crisis of kitty litter

There are a lot of things I imagined I'd worry about as a New York resident.

Kitty litter wasn't one of them.

It's always been a given -- one of those things you pick up at the grocery store, lug to your car and bring into your apartment. Sure, the 21-pound boxes can get a little heavy, but what's a few steps?

I never realized how heavy 21 pounds gets when you're lugging it from the grocery store four blocks away. And I never thought about the fact that my favorite kind of litter -- you know, the stuff that's scoopable and odor-free and actually does its job -- wouldn't be available at my local grocery store. If I wanted that version, I'd have to trek about 14 blocks to the good pet-supply store.

I guess some New Yorkers have their litter and other pet supplies delivered, and I can see myself going in that direction eventually, but I'm still non-native enough that getting kitty litter delivered seems just plain wrong.

So for now, I guess I'll deal with the flower-scented junk and consider my trips to buy litter my daily dose of weight training.