Farewell, Sweet Daisy

I had not been looking forward to April 28th as it was the first anniversary of my Mom's death. I had been doing pretty well lately, so I planned to just 'lay low' for the day and deal with my emotions. The day certainly took a turn I could have never imagined. When I woke up, I discovered my cat, Daisy, (now 14), who had been fine the day before, couldn't walk. I didn't know if she broke something jumping from the bed or had a stroke. It was so sad to see her try to walk and stagger. I rushed her to the vet's office. Without a lot of testing, he wasn't sure what was wrong, but she didn't break anything. I didn't want to see her suffer, so I had to make the decision to put her to sleep. I was with her the whole time. I got to say goodbye to her as she passed, and I was an emotional wreck - I couldn't believe that she would die on the same day as my Mom. I hope they are both together now. I miss her, but am glad she didn't have to suffer long. She was a great cat. She had a good long life and was loved. The bunny and I really miss her.

SURVIVING ICE STORM

The ice storm that hit several states near the end of January is an event I, along with many other people, won’t soon forget. I live in a semi-rural area, so I always keep plenty of food, pet supplies, etc. in case I can’t get out. The roads are hilly and it’s hard to get out if we have bad weather. I had my emergency water, matches, batteries, and radio when the power died. The radio said the storm was massive and they were unable to determine how long folks would be without power. The ice was several inches thick and covered everything. I had plenty of propane, but my furnace won’t run without electricity. By midnight after the power went out in the late afternoon, the temperature inside my house had already dropped to 55 degrees. The phones were dead. I felt really isolated. All night long, I heard the ice pelting down on the roof and trees snapping and falling in the woods around me.

I have a neighbor about a five-minute walk who has a wood fireplace. I couldn’t get down my driveway because it is all down hill and there were fallen tree branches blocking it. I tried to walk around it, but decided that it wasn’t worth the risk. If I fell no one would find me, and the temperature was below freezing – I decided my best bet was just to stay in the house for now until the temperature went up a little. At the end of day two, the house temperature was in the 40’s. I felt so sorry for my pets (14-year-old cat and 9-year-old rabbit). I made them little “pup” tents out of blankets, etc. They seemed to understand we were in an emergency situation.

Day three the ice had melted enough to get out. My neighbor came by and it was so good to see another person! He had only about one day’s wood left for his fireplace and his water pipes were frozen. I helped him get his next-door neighbor to his house – an 88-year-old lady who lives alone. She had no lights, heat or water - I was amazed she was OK. I got her something to eat. We put her in front of the fireplace and went in search of some wood to buy for his fireplace. We couldn’t find any, so we got water from my house (I had left my faucets drip when I lost heat) and worked on clearing the tree limbs and ice from the driveways to our houses. I went home to be with my pets for the night, and the 88-year old lady stayed with my neighbor for the night.

My plan was to go to my sister’s house about 75 miles northwest of here as soon as the roads were more melted. A friend with a generator came by to check on the old lady and I asked them to take her since I had no heat, and my neighbor was almost out of wood. I asked my neighbor to come along to my sister’s house. All the phones were still out even in town. I couldn’t call my sister, but she has a wood stove, so I knew even if she had no electric, at least there would be heat. My neighbor declined – typical guy – more worried about not being able to watch the Super Bowl than having heat or water!

The next day, my house was down to 38 degrees. I loaded the pets and left for my sister’s house. When I got to a town that had electricity, I called my sister from a payphone. She said they just got their power back, but that their private road (about 1/3 mile of dirt and gravel) was frozen solid and I wouldn’t be able to drive up to the house. It’s a real hilly road through the woods. So when I got there, my sister and her friend helped me carry the pets and necessities up the road. They had some snow, so we were able to hike up and down the hills to their house. They carried the rabbit cage and I carried the cat in her carrier. I was so glad to be with them and their wood stove! I said, “I feel like I have been on Survivor and just won a cold endurance challenge – and this is the reward!”

My cat settled by the wood stove and the rabbit was her usual silly, happy self. I was so glad to be with them. My sister is a gourmet cook, so the eats were delicious. I was there for five days. I am in the process of getting one of those vent-free propane heaters for emergencies. The whole experience had really made me appreciate family, friends, electricity, phones and all the other things we sometimes take for granted. I feel very blessed.

The Icicle

Here I am at the age of 10 in December, 1962. My family lived in an upstairs apartment of a building built just after the civil war ended. The building was huge and had great icicles.

Junie Rabbit's Favorite Leaf

A few weeks ago, I discovered that Junie Rabbit loved the very large leaves from one of the trees near my house. I always give her one when she goes out on the deck for her daily romp. The tree has huge leaves. I did a little research and found out it is a Basswood tree. Some of the leaves are even bigger than the Bun! So sad to see them all gone now. A friend told me that rabbits also like acorns, so now that is her daily outside treat! There were so many acorns this year, I even put some in the freezer for winter treats - I call them bunny 'peanuts.'

Angel Cat

A few days ago, I opened by back door and was surprised to see a small cat lying on my back deck. “Well, who are you?” I asked. The cat got up and trotted off. I live in a wooded area and there are no houses near to mine. Later, when I went outside again, I noticed the cat was sleeping in the grass. I did not disturb it, but checked later and it was gone. It may have been a stray that one of my neighbors said lived in the woods. Hopefully, it belonged to one of the houses further down the road and had returned home.

Several days passed. I was out on my deck watering my potted chives. I noticed that some of the mulch in a flowerbed by the back of my house was disturbed. I went over to smooth it out. There is a window well there and I noticed that the white cat with black spots I had seen earlier was asleep in the window well. It did not move as I approached and spoke to it, “Kitty?” This was not good. I got very close and it did not move. I found a twig and gently touched it – nothing. I realized to my horror that the cat was dead. I freaked. Mom died less than two months ago – now this.

I realized that I had to get it together and bury the cat. I got my shovel and dug a hole near the edge of the woods. The hardest part was going to be lifting the cat. The little cat was stiff and did not change position when I lifted her. I knew then that she was really truly gone. I cried all the while I buried her. When I had returned her little body to Mother Earth’s bosom, I found a large rock and rolled over her grave.

I named her Patches, in case she didn’t have a name. Rest easy, little angel.

In Memory of Mom

On April 28, 2008, at 12:32 P.M., my Mother passed from this world. She passed peacefully with her two daughters by her side, as she had requested many years ago.

She was born on May 29, 1925 at Beach City, Ohio, the fifth child of John and Effie . She spent her early childhood years with her maternal Grandmother and her Uncle Ed – she loved them both very much. Although she was not raised with all her sisters and brothers, she was grateful to get to know them as adults. She lived with her mother and stepfather during her later childhood years in Dover, Ohio. In 1943, she married my father. They were married for 30 years and had two daughters. She has three granddaughters.

She was a sweet and kind woman, liked by all who knew her. She was always optimistic and open-minded. She loved life and was always very accepting of all it dealt her – always looking on the bright side. Some of her favorite things were ice skating competitions, Elvis, music, cats, and most kinds of desserts. She was a wonderful home-maker, cook and mother. She said people wouldn’t need to join fitness clubs if they would just clean their houses and take the stairs instead of the elevator!

She survived being thrown from an automobile in a head-on collision in the 1950s, several surgeries and two types of cancer. I am sure all the angels in heaven are enjoying having her there. I hope they are serving her angel food cake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream, as I know she would like that very much!

We were blessed to have her in our lives. She will be greatly missed by those who loved her. Please remember her in your thoughts and prayers and do some small act of kindness in her memory.

Tires & Bananas

I am taking care of my Mom in my home, so I don't have much of a life. I got Mom down for a nap after lunch. I thought this might be a good to time to have the tires rotated on the Buick because I have not done this for about 10,000 miles. I took it to a tires only place. I figure they will do a better job with tires since that is all they deal with, right? Well, the owner tells me that he can rotate them, but they must be the original tires because they have dry-rot. I know this can happen with old tires even if the tread is still good. I make them show me the dry rot. I said how long do I have? The guy says if I were his mother (doesn’t say girlfriend or wife), he would not want me driving around on them as they are dangerous. I am disgusted, but I decide that I might as well just go ahead and get new ones and get it over with since I am already there. $393 (includes 70,000 mile warranty, free rotations and flat repair for life). What a pain in the ass. I have a 2001 car that I rarely ever drive and my tires go bad anyway! I saw a piece on the news tonight that in India some guy is going to produce a new car for $2,500 and people are lining up for them. It was cute and makes a Geo look like a limo – but wish we had them over here. Goes up to 60 mph and get 50 mpg!! Ok, so I get the new tires on and head to the nearby grocery store to get some bananas which are on sale. I was lucky because they are almost sold out, but I manage to get some. On my way out of the parking lot, I notice that there is a light on my dashboard saying “Low Tire!” What?? I just spend $400 on new tires and I have only gone about two miles and already I have a problem!!!! I am pissed. I go back to the tire place to say “wtf!!” The owner says, “Oh I put 30 pounds of air in them, they must take 32.” YOU OWN A TIRE PLACE AND SELL ME THESE TIRES AND YOU DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH AIR THEY TAKE!!!! Here I thought by going to a tire store I would avoid any problems since this is the only thing they do. Guess I might as well go to Wal-Mart after all!!!! So, I get home (praying Mama hasn’t fallen or had any other mishaps). Well, at least I got the bananas on sale. The handle on plastic bag (with) the bananas in it tears off while I am carrying them into the house and they plop on the concrete!

MY CAT OBSESSION

I have loved cats as long as I can remember. The soft, luxurious fur – the melodic rumbling purr – the steely claws hidden in velvety paws – the eyes that seem to hold the wisdom of the universe. I adore cats.

Over the eons of time, other creatures have evolved and changed, but not the cat. Wild cats, big cats, even the prehistoric Saber Toothed Tiger – they are all basically cats! I once asked a cat of mine why this was. My cat replied, “When you are already perfect there is no need to change!”

I have wondered where my extreme fondness of cats was rooted. My mother has always loved them, too. In fact, cats were the only animals we were allowed when I was a child. My mother’s mother also liked cats. It probably goes even further back in my ancestry. There was probably some cavewoman ancestor who befriended a Saber Toothed Tiger and slept with it in her cave.

One day, though, it all came together for me when I was a teenager. My mother and I were cleaning out a closet. She came upon a scrapbook that she made for me when I was a baby. I had never seen this book before. It contained some baby cards, my footprint, pictures and various memorabilia of my infancy. One page was filled with a large color picture of the most beautiful calico cat I had ever seen. It was sitting with all four paws together, tall and proud. The cat’s paws, collar and belly were pure white; it’s face, back and tail were splotched with brown, black and white. My mother told me it was a picture of a cat she had torn from a magazine. She said that she couldn’t afford to get a mobile to hang above my crib, so she taped this picture on the wall above my crib.

It now all made sense. The first thing my little eyes ever focused on was a glorious cat! As an infant, it was the first thing I saw in the morning when I awoke and the last thing I saw when I closed my eyes to sleep! Now I understood my obsession with cats!!

Daisy's Letter to Mr. Bigglesworth

I am a big, beautiful black and white female cat named Daisy. I love your profile - you are such a handsome boy! And what purrsonality!!! I, too, spent time in a shelter. I was just a young thing and was in the shelter for about six months. One day, Marilyn came in and took me home with her. Boy, was I glad to get out of there!! It was in the winter in Ohio, and I caught a cold (it was going around the shelter). I have had Marilyn for my person now for almost 9 years. She is pretty clueless most of the time, but I have invested a lot of time training her; so, I guess I'll keep her for my human. We currently live in Arkansas. I like to watch the deer and squirrels that visit our front yard. I also like to take long naps in various places around the house. I understand about your food issues. I am currently on Iams, but my favorite treat is any kind of turkey. I also have Marilyn bring me blades of grass from outside (it helps with those nasty hairballs that plague us glamour kitties). Anyway, I think I am in love with you. If you don't mind an older kitty, please be my friend.

P.S. I'm not fat, I'm just fluffy!

Hello World

I have always tried to have a sense of style. Since moving to the country, I have learned how to dress a rabbit!