|
Journal of a Sabbatical |
|||||||
|
October 25, 2000 |
|
of cats, milkweed, and coffee spoons |
|||||
|
|
|
|
|||||
|
Adopt these cats at Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society Today's Bird Sightings: Today's Reading: Coming Home Crazy by Bill Holm
Plum Island Bird List
Copyright © 2000, Janet I. Egan |
|
As always, there are bunches of new cats, including some adorable kittens in the office. Some of the ones I photographed today are the same ones I did last week and messed up in copying the floppy to my hard disk. That would be Cyril and Mitzy.
Bob and Roy were talking about tattoos and naval disasters this morning as all good ex-Navy guys should. They talked a lot about the USS Cole explosion. Bob says when he was on active duty in the Navy his ship docked in Aden, Yemen and it was dangerous then. And destroyers traveled in fleets then, not by onesies. Clearly the Navy was less vulnerable when Bob and Roy were in it. All the talk about tattoos made my skin itch. I guess I'm not a good candidate for one. Bob has one on his arm that he got when he was in the Navy. Me and Roy tried to talk him into getting a piping plover tattooed on his other arm but he wasn't buying it. Oh, and the consensus among the guys was that Roger Clemens should have been ejected from the game and suspended for the rest of the World Series. Not that the commissioner would do that. Nope. Clemens is too big an attraction and it might affect the outcome of the series (news flash - Yankees are going to win with or without Clemens).
Oh, I now know where that coffee spoon went. I found out the hard way. When I was making dinner tonight I turned on the garbage disposal to get rid of some avocado peels (something about a month in China makes me willing to pay $2.69 for an avocado again). It ground for a second or two then stopped with a crunch and an ominous hum. I shut it off and reached inside. I just ground up the coffee spoon! Arrrrgggh! Oh well, I can live without the garbage disposal longer than I can live without the coffee spoon. |
|||||
With
Stormy still in bite quarantine, Sandy has regained control
of the big yellow bucket without any effort on his part.
He's enjoying every minute of it until somebody piles the
clean laundry on top of the bucket during a brief absence.
Sandy goes to jump back up and is frustrated by the mound of
laundry. Roy obligingly folds the laundry and puts it away.
Sandy has us all wrapped around his little orange paw. We do
his bidding. Roy even brought him a donut this morning. OK,
so Roy really brought the donut for himself to snack on, but
he ended up sharing it with Sandy as we all always do.
Somebody please adopt Sandy before we spoil him rotten! Oh
wait, we already have!
Cyril
is a 2 year old male lap cat. He's very affectionate with
people and likes other cats. He needs combing as he's prone
to developing fur balls. He keeps telling me he's ready to
come out of his cage and mingle with the other cats, but
he's still got a red card so he hasn't had all the requisite
vaccines yet. Any time a person gets near his cage, he meows
for attention. He really, really, really wants to be with
people. He's wicked cute too.
Mitzy
is an 8 year old female surrender. She really is as big as
she looks in the picture. Another huge cat on the order of
big Buddy Brigham or Buddy the big black lump. For once a
giant not named Buddy. Gee, did people surrender her because
she was too big to fit in their house? She's gorgeously
colored and has a very expressive face. Everybody that comes
in remarks on how pretty she is.
Heather
II is a female coon cat, 2 years old, whose owner died.
She's eager to find a new home so she can sit on someone's
lap. Heather is very affectionate. She's another one who
meows every time a human walks by today. I feel so sorry for
her. I want to just sit and cuddle her. She's adorable. She
needs a lap! I'm willing to bet she's found a home by next
week. Coon cats are wildly popular, and she's such a love.
The perfect combination. I start getting the feeling I'd
like to just take them all home and cuddle them. Of course,
there's only one of me and Wilbur definitely doesn't want to
share me! Y'know I don't think I was this fond of cats when
I first started working here. I mean, I liked them, but I
wasn't a maniacal cat person. I feel myself turning into a
maniacal cat person...
Juliet,
a former feral, is about 7 to 8 months old. She requires
some patience because she's timid. She does enjoy being
petted if you approach her slowly. She posed for me quite
willingly, fascinated by the dangling lens cap. Unlike a lot
of the younger cats, she doesn't try to grab and bite the
lens cap she just follows it with her eyes kind of like the
way Wilbur watches the juncos out the front window. The
right moment to strike will come along, but this isn't it. I
love that white stripe on her nose. It makes her look
thoughtful.
Chip
keeps rubbing up against my ankles while I'm washing the
dishes. I think he's trying to claim me for his own. I love
his thumbs. He's got giant thumbs. He's evolving into a
creature with opposable thumbs right before our very eyes.
When I finish the dishes and litter boxes and photos, I sit
down at the conference table to jot down notes on the cats
I've just photographed. Chip jumps up onto the table,
stretches out to his full length, and immediately goes to
sleep. He's unfazed when a woman comes in to look at the
pictures of the foster kittens on the bulletin board, and a
couple comes in to fill out an adoption form - I think
they're deciding they can't live without Cyril - yay! Chip
just sleeps through it all. I guess it was hard work
tripping me up at the sink all morning.
Miss
Newburyport has been dozing on a chair next to me the whole
time and I haven't noticed her. The woman looking for
kittens comments on how pretty she is but she's looking for
a kitten who gets along with other cats. Miss Newburyport is
an old curmudgeon who has decided late in life that people
are probably OK but those furry felines all over the place
here have got to go. Miss Newburyport's ideal world would
feature her as the only cat. That and a comfy place to
sleep. If you look closely at the picture, you'll see one
eye is open a tiny bit so she can make sure nothing is going
on that she should know about.
Gee
but it's good to be back home where there's Angelina's
veggie subs and Fowle's coffee readily available after a fun
morning cleaning up feline body fluids. Good birdwatching
opportunities too, without having to hire a guide and a Land
Cruiser. It's amazing how much stuff is still in bloom on
the refuge: asters, fleabane, hawkweed, red clover, butter
and eggs, and even some
goldenrod. The sumac leaves have turned brilliant red. Man,
is there ever a lot of sumac! Some cabbage whites and
sulphur yellows are still flitting around too. I didn't see
any of the monarchs that were so much in evidence a week ago
though. They're probably well on their way to Mexico by now.
Snow geese are very much in evidence as are greater
yellowlegs. There are other shorebirds around too, but once
again too far away for binoculars and I didn't bring the
scope. The light on the water shimmered like bright white
jewels on a pale blue background. Autumn really sparkles
here.
The
milkweed pods have opened since last week too. With the sun
behind them they look like silvery blue threads. The seeds
look like they're just waiting for the right gust of wind to
launch them. It's so calm out today they'll have to wait a
little while I think. I could've spent the whole afternoon
just photographing milkweed. I don't remember ever
appreciating it this much before. Must be the light. Today's
light is just gorgeous. Makes me want to buy a new camera
right away (the Mavica, fantastic though it is, just doesn't
compare to good old fashioned film.)