Journal of a Sabbatical

July 7, 1999

relief

Today's Starting Pitcher: Pedro Martinez

Today's Reading: The Storm Petrel and the Owl of Athena by Louis J. Halle

Alice

These cat pictures are from last Wednesday. I didn't take any today as there weren't any new residents to add to either the shelter's web page or Bonnie's. Alice got adopted already, the cutie!

The humidity and unbearable heat finally let up. The sky is actually blue instead of that weird milky haze color. I feel like I should feel even more relief than I do feel. I think I still have a residual heat-induced bad mood.

Somehow I got myself scheduled for plover warden duty at 11:30 today, which I know I wouldn't have signed up for since I don't get done at the cat shelter until 11:30 or 12:00 (sometimes even later). At first I thought, oh I can do both, I'll just let Roy finish the dishes and I'll skip lunch. Unfortunately, I overslept and skipped breakfast and felt overwhelmed and over scheduled so I called in to the refuge and just said I couldn't come and then went into the cat shelter late and stayed until done.

Faye

Jazzpurr was harassing several cats as usual and for some reason this upset Joey even though he was safely in his cage. Joey gets really disturbed when he hears other cats fighting and he howls and hisses. There wasn't any flying fur today because Cubby managed to stay out of Jazzpurr's reach and like I said Joey was safely shut in his cage, just lots of hissing and meowing and spitting.

Midgee has taken over Joey's spot on top of the big yellow bucket and she was not about to let anyone get any litter out of it. She gave one of the new staff people quite a scratch. Good thing we have that first aid kit, 'cause this was pretty bloody. Midgee is normally very sweet-natured with people and edgy around other cats. Now her edginess seems to have spilled over onto humans. She settled in for a nap in one of the empty litterboxes awaiting washing but as soon as her nap was over the big yellow bucket was off limits again. Cats are so weird.

kittens

The rages of Jazzpurr and Midgee even extended to harassing Whiskers in the laundry room. Everybody usually leaves Whiskers pretty much alone and it's rare for her to budge from her spot on top of the boxes until it's time to back into her cage for the night, but today she was running around the laundry room trying to defend against the intruders. Meanwhile, the humans were rejoicing at seeing the bottom of the laundry basket for a change. I made a perfect three-point shot with a dirty wash rag from the sink right into the washer as Kendra was loading it. Both Whiskers and Kendra were impressed.

By the time I got done cleaning, my lack of breakfast was making itself felt so it was off to Angelina's for a veggie sub. One table had chairs stacked on top of it, so I stayed clear of it. Two other tables were pushed together by the window and covered with rose bushes in green plastic containers. Several varieties, judging by the labels. Looking out the window, I see the place is even more covered with vines than it has been and the phragmites are continuing to advance right up to the side of the building. Plants are going to engulf it from the outside any day now. I can just see the rose bushes engulfing it from the inside. There are at least a dozen of them all neat and tame looking in their green plastic containers. But they could turn sinister any second.

The construction on the New Angelina's is proceeding. It actually has walls and siding. When I pointed out the New Angelina's to Nancy a couple of weeks ago, she asked "Do they think it will be less weird across the street?" Of course they don't. Especially if they're planning to bring those rose bushes over there, where there are already plenty of phragmites.

A group of landscapers comes in and picks up a pizza. They say nothing about the rose bushes. They leave with their pizza. Two men, one about my age and one who looks about 20 sit in silence at the other table that has neither chairs nor rose bushes on it. The younger man is reading the car ads. Their pizza arrives. They say nothing. The younger man puts the car ads aside and takes a slice of pizza. The older man takes a slice of pizza. Not even a look passes between them. By the time my veggie sub comes, they still haven't spoken a word or looked at each other. I decide to take my sub to the boat ramp for an al fresco lunch.

I lean on the sea wall with my sub and a cup of coffee from Fowle's and stare at a flock of shorebirds flying low over the river looking like black specks. Somebody with a sandwich from Teaberries climbs onto the sea wall at some distance from me and communes with her lunch privately without looking at the river. A snowy egret flies by looking very white against the green grasses, with its comically bright yellow feet trailing a little like it was about to drop the landing gear but was hesitating until it found the runway. I spill coffee and hot peppers on my T-shirt. The egret doesn't land in front of me but over near Joppa Flats instead. It occurs to me that maybe Angelina's is planning to open a plant nursery business: Angelina's Subs, Pizza, Fried Things, and Garden Center. Buy two large pizzas, get a free rose bush. Buy a dozen rose bushes, get a free pizza. I clearly need more sleep.

Having begged off the plover warden shift, I feel embarrassed to go over there to look for the red-necked stint that's been reported at Stage Island. And besides that, I really am tired. I think sleeping to the roar of the air conditioners as they feebly attempt to cool and dry the air enough to make it breathable just isn't restful enough. The lack of sleep has definitely caught up with me. Despite the perfect weather for outdoor action, all I want to do is sleep.

On the way home I decide to get another coffee at Starbucks and see if any of the gang is there, so I drive past the entrance to my condo complex and on to Andover. The first thing I notice in Starbucks is that the air conditioning is broken. It's hotter and more humid inside that out. The espresso machine is broken and whatever they had for coffee of the day is not very flavorful so I order a mango citrus tiazzi - basically a slushy with a little herbal tea in it. It tastes fine but does nothing to wake me up. I warn the baristas that Dan & Geri will be upset that they can't get espresso. Just as I say that, they enter. The baristas all want to hide. Finally one of them tells Dan. He takes it well and orders two Coffee of the Day. Geri takes one sip and can't stand it. She asks the barista to give her the light roast of the day instead. She doesn't like that either. She puts milk in it. She still can't stand it. Dan drinks his and Geri leaves hers.

We watched the police attempting to deal with the fact that a car that's been booted for unpaid tickets seems to have moved and not only that but moved into an illegal space partly blocking an intersection. I thought the point of the boot was to immobilize the car?

The heat got to me and the lack of flavorful coffee got to Geri, so we all left well before my parking meter ran out. It was a relief to go outside.