And now it is New Year's Eve, time for making resolutions. Another fresh start, which--since I fell off this blog three weeks ago--I am in sore need of. We had a great time with the girl grandchildren on a visit to their place for several days. Now we are back and unpacked and I have brought order from disorder, in the main rooms at least.
I got stuck when trying to decide whether to finish the story of Miss Bianca, tell about the Bike Build of Turning Wheels for Kids that I went to on December 13th, or tell you about a recently found Robert Bly poem, or a list of poetic qualities by Marvin Bell I discovered in an outdated book I was throwing out--and ripped therefrom. If you can stick it out, I will return to all of these, but it will have to be in 2009.
In November of 1999 I retired, and the most of the resolutions made at that time are still far from complete. But I have been having a lot of fun, and this blog has been a big part of it. Apologies for the long absence, and HAPPY NEW YEAR. I'll be back, and plan to make this the first year with more than 300 posts. It should be a good year for both Photography and Poetry!
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Miss Bianca's most elegant white whiskers
For many years we all lived happily together. S called them in in the evening and fed them, and they slept in the garage. Another untouchable feral kit, half Siamese by the look of her, came to their cat buffet and joined the family. I began to call this one Friskers, I don't know why, except it's some sort of amalgam of frisky and whiskers. Don't you think it is sort of a unisex name? We had to trap her, too, for the spaying.
One night, S. went out to the garage and four kits were feeding from one large shallow dish. He looked more carefully and one was a skunk! S. tiptoed back into the house, and I peeked out to verify. The shape and the white stripe were unmistakable! We were advised that leaving a light on in the garage all night would discourage the skunk. We never smelled him and never saw him again.
We hired neighbor kids to feed the cats when we were away. And one time when we came back Buster had disappeared. There was a nasty rumor that the dog on a rope at the corner house had killed him and other unwary felines. There will be two or three more installments of this gripping saga before we are through. And I have found some great new poems, too. But it is an odd time of year to be blogging; everyone is so busy and both reading and writing of blogs may suffer. Good night.
One night, S. went out to the garage and four kits were feeding from one large shallow dish. He looked more carefully and one was a skunk! S. tiptoed back into the house, and I peeked out to verify. The shape and the white stripe were unmistakable! We were advised that leaving a light on in the garage all night would discourage the skunk. We never smelled him and never saw him again.
We hired neighbor kids to feed the cats when we were away. And one time when we came back Buster had disappeared. There was a nasty rumor that the dog on a rope at the corner house had killed him and other unwary felines. There will be two or three more installments of this gripping saga before we are through. And I have found some great new poems, too. But it is an odd time of year to be blogging; everyone is so busy and both reading and writing of blogs may suffer. Good night.
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Miss Bianca: her story continued
After she came to live with us, we were worried because our younger son had cat-aggravated asthma. There was no question of bringing her in the house, although she must have formerly been a house cat because she tried to come in with us. The black kitties were wild and uncatchable, especially one of them. We caught the other, and our son's girlfriend took it home with her. Some time later, her brother accidently ran over it in their driveway. And that part of the saga ends there.
I began calling the other black kitty "Buster." I think I did this, because I feared we could never catch it to be neutered and would thus unleash a mini-flood of kitties in our garage. We could pet Miss B, as we came to call her and she was eay to catch for her trip to be spayed. We continued to live in this fool's paradise until S went out for the morning paper and caught Buster in the act of love, and occupying the female position.
Then began the campaign: we borrowed a trap and began to feed Buster a small dish of canned cat food in it every day, with the door open. Then S sat nearby and very still. Then, S. had a string in his hand; after a couple of tries Buster was trapped. We carried the trap to the vet, and Buster's early pregnancy was interrupted. It took several people and probably some knockout drops, but they mananged it.
I began calling the other black kitty "Buster." I think I did this, because I feared we could never catch it to be neutered and would thus unleash a mini-flood of kitties in our garage. We could pet Miss B, as we came to call her and she was eay to catch for her trip to be spayed. We continued to live in this fool's paradise until S went out for the morning paper and caught Buster in the act of love, and occupying the female position.
Then began the campaign: we borrowed a trap and began to feed Buster a small dish of canned cat food in it every day, with the door open. Then S sat nearby and very still. Then, S. had a string in his hand; after a couple of tries Buster was trapped. We carried the trap to the vet, and Buster's early pregnancy was interrupted. It took several people and probably some knockout drops, but they mananged it.
Monday, December 01, 2008
After the rain
It rained today. I visited Donnalynn's garden. I need to ask her the name of this plant.
Portrait of Miss Bianca
I came upon a small cache of photos last night while I was moving things around to try and set up a wireless printer.
The Story of Miss Bianca
One rainy day in the early 1980s, I looked out the window in the laundry door while I was taking clothes out of the dryer. What I saw was so striking that the image is still clear in my mind. (I have been thinking today that I will try to draw it.)
In the rain, only slightly sheltered by a small tree, a white cat sat upright, nursing two adolescent black cats with white markings. All of them were thin and elegant looking, reminding me of Egyptian statuary. The pose was very unusual to me, I had always seen cats nursing lying down. This would have been very uncomfortable in the rain, and these "kittens" were tall enough tp nurse standing up. They really looked too old to nurse.
I called my husband to come and see. He immediately went out with a bowl of milk and invited them into the garage. And thus she came to live with us. (to be continued.)
The Story of Miss Bianca
One rainy day in the early 1980s, I looked out the window in the laundry door while I was taking clothes out of the dryer. What I saw was so striking that the image is still clear in my mind. (I have been thinking today that I will try to draw it.)
In the rain, only slightly sheltered by a small tree, a white cat sat upright, nursing two adolescent black cats with white markings. All of them were thin and elegant looking, reminding me of Egyptian statuary. The pose was very unusual to me, I had always seen cats nursing lying down. This would have been very uncomfortable in the rain, and these "kittens" were tall enough tp nurse standing up. They really looked too old to nurse.
I called my husband to come and see. He immediately went out with a bowl of milk and invited them into the garage. And thus she came to live with us. (to be continued.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)