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Journal of a Sabbatical |
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April 26, 2000 |
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oh no! snow! |
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Adopt these cats at the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society Photos of Emily and Teddy courtesy of Bonnie Buckley at Adopt Homeless Paws Today's Reading: April 26 1855-1858 from Thoreau's journals at the Thoreau Home Page., Discovered Alive: The Story of the Chinese Redwood by William Gittlen Today's Starting Pitcher: 2000
Book List
Copyright © 2000, Janet I. Egan |
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Snow is in the air but not on the ground, or should I say on the marsh, at the cat shelter. The water is still high, and has actually made it onto the pavement in one spot. A flock of redwinged blackbirds is trilling away in the marsh despite the snow.
Sandy is being devilish today, instigating conflicts among the young cats when he's not watching the action from on top of the big yellow bucket. He was actually rubbing up against my legs while I was at the sink, and later on when I sat down and tried to get Chloe to sit with me on the bench in the socialization room, Sandy cut her off at the pass and jumped up next to me instead. I've never been this popular with Sandy before. Maybe he just wants whatever Chloe likes so she can't have it? Who knows? He's a feisty boy, quite personable and lots of fun to play with - he'll chase anything that moves.
We got two new cats since Monday. Stacy just brought 'em in. People are calling and just showing up with more and more cats to surrender. We've got a waiting list. 'Tis the season.
I had some notion of looking for birds in the snow after lunch. I've done that before. The short drive over the bridge to Newburyport dissuaded me of that notion pretty quickly. I couldn't see the river on either side! The fog was so thick over the Merrimack that the bridge seemed to float in the air. For a brief second, I felt like I'd left the earth. If there are any gulls out there - exotic or ordinary - I'm not going to see them.
A special message about two special cats. These cats belonged to "Mad Martha" the late owner of Mad Martha's Cafe on Plum Island. They need a special home. I received this message from Bonnie Buckley: Emily and Teddy, two "insulin dependent" diabetic cats surrendered to a Salisbury, MA vet when their owner passed away are in need of new homes or "preferred" a home together. These cats are sad & depressed without their owner...can you help find a "great home"????
And on this day in 1858, you guessed it, Thoreau woke up to snow. Boy oh boy, floating aliens, three day rains, rising rivers, massing blackbirds, and April snow. There's nothing new under the sun - or under the clouds. April 26, 1858. A little snow in the night, which is seen against the fences this morning. See a chewink (male) in the Kettell place woods. _- Henry David Thoreau Is it possible there's some hitherto undocumented connection between aliens rescued at sea, three day rains, rising rivers and unusual behavior of blackbirds? |
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I
scraped an inch of snow off my car this morning. Was it
supposed to snow? Last I heard it was going to rain. Again.
Pajama Woman's new tulips look jaunty in the snow. It's a
heavy wet snow and I can't believe we'll get much of it,
though I just heard a forecast for 3 inches in some
places.
Somebody
has applied to adopt Chloe and is coming by to meet her
sometime today. I hope Chloe acts like the nice Chloe
instead of the nasty Chloe! She's been entertaining herself
today by burrowing into the clean laundry. She really likes
to be covered by nice warm linens fresh out of the dryer.
Hmm, warmth seems to be a theme with her given her
preference for hot beverages.
Risky,
that huger than huge one, is in the office for exercise
(she's not fully vaccinated and ready to be let out with the
other cats yet, so she gets rotated into the office). She
walks right up to me and starts talking in little short
chirps, then howls when I don't follow her to the desk. I
finally give in and pet her some. She starts rolling over
and looking up at me with this pleading expression like "get
me out of here, please!" Before I came into the office she
was sticking one paw under the door trying to get Chloe to
play with her. Chloe was fascinated by this disembodied paw
but didn't want to touch it. And of course 
Sandy
had to investigate this too. I think he wants to be top cat.
Anyway, Risky seems to want lots of attention and does not
seem to want me to leave without her. She meows pitifully
when I go back into the main room.
It
continues to snow. In fact the snow looks a little worse
here with that steady wind from the northeast. And it's cold
again. I guess that goes without saying if it's snowing. The
guy who drops off George for an afternoon of folding laundry
and pre-filling litter boxes says it's 37 degrees F out
there and he already planted his lettuce. Lettuce can handle
temperatures in the forties, but he's not so sure about
37.
Instead
I had lunch at Angie's diner and read huge chunks of
Discovered Alive: The Story of the Chinese Redwood by
William Gittlen. Somehow reading about redwood trees over a
veggie burger seemed a little Californian or even newage -
except for the snow melting out of my hair onto the pages
and onto the veggie burger. Definitely not newage snow, nor
Californian snow. When I walked over to Fowle's, I got even
wetter. The girl who poured my coffee wanted to know if I
needed a towel or windshield wipers. I managed to wipe off
my glasses with my shirt. The coffee remained relatively hot
while I walked back to my car. That Lands End jacket is good
for something - like keeping my coffee hot and my book dry
while I foolishly traipse around Newburyport in the
snow.
