Journal of a Sabbatical

November 17, 1999

how can i be two places at once when i'm not really anyplace at all?

Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society

A Happy Kevin's Birthday to You All!

Today's Bird List
Plum Island
15 black ducks
70 Canada geese
2 American crows
1 northern harrier
12 mallards
12 snow buntings
1 greater yellowlegs
2 tree sparrows (i think)
1 coyote

Salisbury Beach
10 black ducks
2 northern mockingbirds
2 common loons
8 horned larks
1 rough-legged hawk under attack by a herring gull

Today's Reading: Wild Fruits by Henry David Thoreau

First thing I did this morning was ask Bonnie to check Chloe for signs of ringworm. Fortunately, she exhibited none. So at least I didn't get it from Chloe and she hasn't caught it from me. I let her have a little of my coffee but didn't try to touch her.

I worked with two layers of gloves on, plus a Band-Aid over the spot, and lots of bleach in the dishwater to make sure I don't spread the dreaded fungus. I was quite popular among the human staff who all wanted to know what ringworm looks like on a human (kinda like it does on a cat - Nancy says I should photograph it with my digital camera and put a photo in the journal.) I wore a latex glove to pet Jaguar, which he didn't seem to mind. I tried to keep my right wrist away from cats and cats away from my right wrist. Y'know, back in my previous life as a high-tech manager I never had to worry about ringworm as an occupational hazard. Repetitive Strain Injury, yes. Ringworm, no.

Roy brought some Liquid Plumber today so we gave the sink a dose of it. It's draining much better now so I guess we don't have to get Giggle Girl to put a snake through it after all. Things are ever so much easier when the sink is draining right.

We seem to have a constant supply of black kittens. Every time I come in there are new ones. I'm getting better at photographing them, but it's still hard with the digital camera. I just don't have the control I do with film. I've got to study up on digital photo technique I guess.

I skipped lunch and went right to the refuge without even a second cup of coffee. It was pretty darn windy and cold, but I took a long walk on the beach - maybe I secretly want frostbitten ears to take my mind off the itching. There were not a lot of other people around. It felt almost like my private refuge. I ran into one of the law enforcement guys at Lot 6 and he wanted to know if I'd seen any interesting birds. There were plenty of birds around but no rarities, not even the mystery goose.

I stayed out until I got good and cold. It felt perversely good to be shivering - kind of refreshing. I think I'm ready for it to be winter. There's ice on the salt pannes, and a little bit around the rocks and clumps of grasses in Stage Island pool. I found myself smiling at the way it glinted in the sun.

Nancy thinks the blonde coyote looks like Richard Gere. I guess he kinda does. I had to stop for him to cross the road after some creature I didn't see - visible only to coyotes I guess. The coyotes seem to have divided up the refuge into territories, because I almost always see the Richard Gere one near Hellcat and the grayish, scruffier, more coyotish one further south. When they were pups I would frequently see all three together. Now I seldom see more than one on a visit, and not always the same one.

Skipping lunch caught up with me and I started to feel a little shaky so I left the refuge and went to the Tannery Cafe. The veggie stew was just the thing to thaw me out. My intention was to go right home from there so I'd have loads of time to shower and change for the thing tonight at the Custom House Maritime Museum - Chamber of Commerce mixer sponsored by dept. of elder affairs featuring the opening of a new photo exhibit of portraits of Newburyport elders, prime opportunity to talk up Purrfect Companions. But as I crossed the river back toward Salisbury, I felt a pull toward Salisbury Beach. A little more birding ... just a little more...

I scanned the pine trees for crossbills and the marsh for owls but found none. Two common loons were diving just off the boat ramp, within easy naked-eye identification range. A flock of horned larks in the parking lot delighted me. They're just so cool looking. There were a bunch of gulls too, and I scanned for interesting ones but didn't see anything right off the bat and started to feel like I really should get home and get changed.

On the way out of the state park, I spotted a rough-legged hawk being attacked by a herring gull right near Donald's house actually - if he were home and had his telescope pointed toward the dunes in back of the house instead of the beach in front, he'd have had a spectacular view of the drama. The hawk ultimately drove off the gull, which wheeled off toward the beach while the hawk went its separate way out over the marsh.

Must have been a good day for raptors. This morning on the way to the cat shelter I saw two hawks - possibly red tails - at the model railroad in Salisbury, one standing over some kind of prey with its wings spread out and hunched forward - I think they (ornithologists - I have no idea what hawks call it among themselves) call this hooding - the other one was just standing on the ground staring - almost spilled my coffee - no room to pull over and get a good look not to mention a picture.

Meanwhile, Martha had asked me to substitute for her at the board meeting tonight, which overlaps with the thing at the museum. I had some notion of stopping in at the museum for 20 minutes on my way to the cat shelter for the board meeting. Instead I got stuck in traffic on 495. It wasn't moving at all. That tempted me into a big mistake: getting off at the Mass Ave exit having forgotten about the Mass Ave construction detour. I crawled through the streets of North Andover for 20 minutes, ending up further away from my destination than when I'd started out. Once I finally escaped from the winding line of detour traffic, I headed for an alternate route. I missed the thing at the Maritime Museum, but arrived on time for the board meeting.

I told the board to imagine me as taller and less organized so I could effectively impersonate Martha. It was good to get a chance to update the board on Purrfect Companions, 'cause they don't always get to hear about that part of our outreach. I kept having to laugh because I was seated across from Saleen's cage and she was chasing her tail with great vigor for a good part of the meeting.

Oscar got up on the table during the board meeting, being really friendly to everybody. I wished I'd brought the camera to get a picture of such a typical MRFRS meeting. When everybody laughed at some cute Oscar behavior, he got a little spooked and flung himself off the table. He bounced himself off the wall in an attempt to get up on top of the cages. Typical Oscar hijinks. Cats 'R Us.

One final thought: Note to self: do not order hot peppers on veggie sub until ringworm lesion on right wrist is healed. One little drip from that fat veggie sandwich and OUCH!