This afternoon we had a small dust storm. The farmer across the road from me had turned over his field during the past week. Today the winds picked up the dirt and manure from his fields and ran it straight north.

The wind tunnel was an interesting sight. So I decided to Video tape it for you. I was really glad the wind didn’t shift and come out of the west and head east. That would have brought all the dust down on me. 

 Check out the video. I add a short poem.

Last Tuesday morning I was talking on the phone and surfing the internet, while checking hundreds of emails.  When I decided to pull up the Tails web site, which is the Pet rescue place where we adopted Sanosuke in February of this year.

 I had sent Tails a copy and link to my Blog story about Sanosuke,  the one where I wrote about his adoption.  Soon after that Blog posting, Sano’s litter mates were adopted and their pictures disappeared off the adoption site.  So when I pulled up their site I was very surprised to see a kitten that looked like one of Sano’s sisters. Her name was Hershey.

I was curious about her history.  Why was she still there? Was she brought back?  Maybe I was wrong!  Cats look very similar, right?

I pulled out Sanosuke’s file and compared the litter numbers; they matched except for the last two digits. Which made sense each kitten would have their own number.

Biting my nails I clicked off the site and went about to reading emails.

Then my curiosity got to me and I called Tails and asked if any of Sanosuke’s litter mates where still there. I gave my phone number to the woman and was told I would get a call back.

Within thirty minutes Tails called back. I was told; one of Sano’s sisters had never been adopted. When the other kittens were adopted they moved her out of the cage into the cat room.  It wasn’t a good place for her. She was placed in a room that was being closed off due to a fungal infection.

Ooops!

I was told she was never ill. She never had an infection! Yet, she had to go through the incubation period of nearly two months while she got dipped; physically held down under water with only her eyes and mouth showing. The process can make a cat crazy and this kitten was in a room with a lot of other cats that needed help. They only had two wonderful people to take care of them physically and mentally. Hershey wasn’t given the attention she needed.  So her mental health was set to the side while they dealt with other cats, seemly, more stressed than her.  

I felt claustrophobic just hearing about it.

Now if you had read my original story on Sanosuke, you would know that he and his litter mates had very little human contact, besides getting medical care and being fed.  We were warned he was nearly feral.

Now, here I was hearing that she may never be just right, ‘and’ she will need a lot of one-on-one care. ‘And’ she wasn’t very social. ‘And’ she would freak when someone came near her. I thanked the woman for calling me back and hung up.

Then I hunted down Michael and told him the story.

Michael asked what I was going to do. One more kitten would be an expense. But then again cats are very clean and social animals. But this one may be broken.  Then he walked away from me…

It took me ten minutes of thinking.

The cats I had for years were from a mama kitty. She was my daughter’s first animal rescue.  My daughter was ten years old at that time.  I had been very surprised when that little cat gave birth, in the closet, within a month of coming into the house.  Her kittens never left my life. The last one, Sandy died at eighteen while I  held her.   

I grabbed my keys and headed for the car. Michael laughed and called out the door. “Don’t come back without her!”

When I entered Tails, the receptionist looked up and smiled and asked me if, I was there to adopt Hershey?

Laughing I asked, how she knew? She told me Michael had already called and informed them I was coming for her.

I filled out some paperwork while she located someone to help me.

A wonderfully patient volunteer took me in a room to talk. “When you saw, Hershey how did you get along with her? Was she friendly?”

I had to be honest; I haven’t seen her since we adopted Sanosuke and I told her so. I did ask, if Hershey was the kitten that had been staring at me though the glass wall?  She had spotted me when I walked in and we had ‘a moment’ through the glass. I cooed. And she stared.

I was told that was her.

Then, I explained that I was taking, Hershey home to her brother.

The woman looked at me quietly and said. “He may not remember her.”

“He will!” I said with a smile. “I have fed and observed feral cats for years. They know a family member when they are reunited.”

I don’t think she believed me…

She was trying to stop me from being disappointed.

When I said, “They just need to be shown to each other gently and with love.”

The interview was over and I finished signing the papers.

Hershey was placed in a room for me to observe her, and allowing me time to change my mind. I was warned not to enter the room.  I was told; she would freak due to her history and lack of human contact, and may hurt me or herself.  I needed to wait before I entered the room. She had just clawed the technician who brought her to me 

I waited a few minutes for the kitten to move away from the door. Then I entered the room.

I sat on the chair and waited.

She hid behind a chair and stared.

She had a look in her eyes similar to the animals on the commercials that have been abused.  So sad and scared!  I started talking telling her about her brother. She wasn’t listening to me at all.

Cats need to form a bond with humans in order to see them. Otherwise they have eyes only for other cats. Here she was, stuck in a room with a human.  And the only other people she knew would grab her and give her medicine and didn’t have time to play.

Carefully I moved the chair she was hiding behind and picked her up. She was stiff and extremely frighten. I started to rock her like a baby, and then she leaned against me without relaxing.

During this time I could hear the sound of the puppies and dogs from the doggie area. I wanted to go see them, but not today.

So many animals calling out for someone to love!

When I brought her home, Michael grabbed the carrier from the care and carefully set it down in the living room.

Tomoe hissed and hid.

                                  Kenshin glared and hid.

                                                                         PJ walked up and said, hello.  When she hissed at him, PJ looked like his feelings were hurt.

                                                                              Then

                                                                                    Sanosuke, slowly

                                                                                                            walked up

                                                                                                                          to the carrier.

They touched noses, and made happy sounds. She reached through the bars and gentle touched Sano’s head. He rubbed against the cage as she cried loudly from inside. Sanosuke sat and watched, as we set her up in a cage in the living room. He never stopped taking to her!  

They remembered each other and both are very happy. We changed her name to Kaoru…

Helping an animal doesn’t mean you have to adopt. You could volunteer, or donate money, or cat and dog crates, or baby blankets or new toys.   

If everyone can save just one animal, just one..   Just think how wonderful that would be!

I was able to grab the camera and take pictures without waking up Tomoe. She slept for three hours before she had to hit the litter box. Tomoe owns the bed after I get up. It was very early and I wasn’t ready to get up.  She didn’t care.

Then Uriah needed to go.

 I resigned myself to the day starting very early and set off outside into the early morning sunshine. Birds screamed at me as I carefully walked around spider webs and newly opened dandelions. Uriah barreled under the pink crabapple blossoms and stepped on the greenish-reddish stalks of unopened peonies. I noticed the Lilac’s flowers were still in the small budding stage in a few more days I will smell their fragrant perfume. I probably won’t bring them indoors, Sano eats everything. I don’t believe they are poisonous to cats.  But he will make a mess of them.

When I came back in I noticed the coffee was already brewing. Michael had gotten up when I took Uriah out and set up the coffee pot. In a daze of complete coffee bliss I told Michael he was like a God to me. Bad move! He kept repeating that all day. Very irritating! 

Yesterday I had heard on the radio that the Tick season has started in Illinois. Great! Ticks love me! Any Tick, in a ten mile radius, will jump its way on over to me.

Michael thinks it’s hilarious, when Ticks leap from the grass and trees towards me.

We are not amused! Heavy sigh!

Well, yesterday evening I took Uriah for a walk and came back inside. Not thinking about Ticks at all… It was a cool evening, not summer cool but that spring cold where you’re wondering if it will snow by morning, definitely not insect weather. I walked into the kitchen to get a drink of water and noticed a slow moving black bug on my arm.  I brushed it into the sink and called Michael to tell me what it was.  I didn’t have on my glasses, so it could have been a spider or a piece of dirt.  I was surprised he said it was a Tick and quickly washed it down the drain.

I asked him if he could see any more. Arms out, I did slow turn.

Leer, leer!  Wink, wink!  

“Just look for Ticks!” I grumbled and rolled my eyes.

Michael announced I was Tick free. He was wrong…I was wearing black pants and Ticks love dark colors. I sat down and noticed a shiny little body crawling on my pant leg. Then another and another…Eeek!

*

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If you’re interested here’s a site about ticks:

http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/pccommonticks.htm

It was two AM on Tuesday. I woke up to the cats boisterously running through the hallway and sliding into the bedroom.  They bumped into the bed, the walls, and the vertical blinds. I rolled over and drifted back to sleep.

Michael sat up and started talking, “I wonder what’s going on?”

Without looking I muttered, “They’re just playing behind the vertical blinds”

Michael crawled out of bed and carefully stepped in front of the bed, searching the shadows.  “No! Something’s up.”

He came around my side of the bed and flipped on the light. “Look at Sano?”

I sat up and Sano was sitting all pretty and proud with a mouse dangling from his mouth.

“It’s fake!” I muttered and tried to lie back down.

“No, that is real” Michael laughed and Sano nodded his head so the mouse, who was being held by his tail, swung upward  then came down and was hit against the rug.

 Sano’s eyes narrowed; when Tomoe walked up to him and sniffed the mouse, which I need to point out was very much alive. Then Sano growled.

Tomoe glared at Sano as if she wanted to smack him. Michael immediately told me to do something about that growl.

Sorry, I have had one too many mice dropped on my chest while I slept. I am not fond of the critters.  To show how much of a chicken I am, I pulled the covers over my head and told Sano to stop growling and take the mouse to his brothers, downstairs.

Instead Sano dropped the mouse. The mouse ran in a circle. Tomoe hates getting bitten so she stood a healthy distance away and just watched.

Sano played with the very fat grey and white mouse like he was playing a pinball game. He wouldn’t allow the mouse to run under the dressers, but he did let him disappear under the bed.  The one I was cowering on.

I jumped out of bed and ran in a circle flapping my arms yelling at Michael, “Get that mouse out of the bedroom!” Then I headed out into the hall and called Kenshin and PJ.  They recognized my frantic, Oh my!  A mouse is in the house!  Hysterical call and ran up the stairs to see what they were missing.

With the two older males now trying to find the mouse, I crawled back under the covers. Tomoe crouched on the edge of the bed, hanging over the side and stared at the floor and at Sano, who was carefully scooting out backwards from under the bed.

Michael muttered something I couldn’t understand. So I peeked out from beneath the blanket.  He held Sano up for me to see. Sano had that mouse clenched in-between his teeth and once more swinging by its tail.  Michael held Sano over the waste basket, and asked Sano to “drop it” -the mouse- into the wastebasket. Michael had to repeat his request three times before Sano opened his jaws and the fat mouse plopped into the plastic bag.

Sano was confused as to where his mouse went to and searched franticly with Kenshin and PJ’s help under and around the bed. Tomoe kept an eye on Michael and followed him out if the bedroom.

At this point, that mouse was out of my sight and I hoped Michael had given him a first class ticket to the moon…

Or, maybe toss him out the door.

The last mouse that was tossed out the door had been caught in a sticky mouse trap.  Michael was afraid the cats would get into the garbage and get stuck in the glue. So he had chucked that sticky mess out the door.  He figured on scraping it off the grass in the morning.  Instead it landed right in the path of a coyote.  Yapping loudly, that coyote raced across the fields with a rectangular piece of plastic and a struggling mouse stuck to his nose…

The ground is littered with dried left over leaves, brittle and grayish brown, crunching under foot. Even as the grass makes an attempt to turn green, as the moss pulls on its most brilliant lime  green coat  of the season. The main show is taking place above ground; branches are turning colors as spring moves through them. Don’t miss the show!

“In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours.” ~Mark Twain

Within the past two hours, I have seen heavy fog, thick dark grey clouds, and a bright blue sky, that shifted to a pale whitish-blue.

A bellowing cloud of smoke passed through my house as the farmer burned off the dried grass around the creek bed. The thick heavy smoke made it a little uncomfortable to breathe. So Uriah and I headed off to the mail box and I took pictures of the blooming, Pussy Willow as Uriah disappeared to wade in the pond.

Uriah  came back out of the cold  pond and  pulled his fat tummy across the grass, this is his way of toweling himself off…

This morning the snow was gone. Not totally! There are still patches sitting in the shadows, under a bush or tree, and along the shaded area on the deck. For the most part, the snow melted as the warmer air and sunshine moved in.

Barely a breeze this morning, I stepped outside ready for my morning walk. I called to Uriah and headed along the path. Birds were fluttering from tree to tree, and screaming at my intrusion into their lives. How dare I!

This morning my walk was uneventful, or was it? Did I miss the rodents scurrying under the evergreens? Or the red-winged black birds flying over head then stopping to watch me as they perched on the highest point of the tallest tree..

I saw them all. A powdery blue sky, void of clouds, crowned above me as the beautiful green scent of spring drifted along my walking path. I was very relaxed and at peace with the day.

Uriah ran up to me, wagged his tail and ran to the tree line. He gave me a backwards glance and disappeared. I wasn’t concerned until I was back at the house, then I wondered where he was. I whistled! I called out! I walked next to the Bog Willows and tried to peek inside. I couldn’t find Uriah anywhere. I headed towards the barn and kept walking towards the north until I hit the empty field. Carefully maneuvering myself over the thick brown, flatten grass; I glanced to the east taking in the rolling waves of black dirt, empty of movement. I had thought, just maybe, Uriah was taking a stroll in the field looking for something repugnant to roll in. He wasn’t there…

I walked back south, turned and headed once more to path towards the east. I walked to the far back.  Carefully I avoided holes and barbed wire and stared along the farmer’s air field, first towards the red barn, then to the grove of trees, south.  

By this time anger was being replaced by fear. The farmer is known for shooting dogs.

I started to walk back towards the house.

 Suddenly, Uriah appeared, his tongue hanging out; tired he flopped at my feet and looked up as if he wanted me to give him a few minutes to recover from his run.

“Where did you go?”  I rubbed his face checking his fur for animal dung.

Uriah hung his head and stared at the ground.

With a heavy sigh, I started walking back to the house. A Blue Jay appeared and screamed at us. Uriah jumped up and walked along side me…

The rain poured down this morning, an attempt by Mother Nature to clean off the winters sludge from the roads, buildings and ground. Most of the snow surrounding the house melted off this morning. Before this winter will be official over it will take a few heavy rains, then some sunny days to bake everything clean.

I walked over to the Bog Willows and peered inside their tangled branches, I saw where the snow was hiding. Every bit of ground in the shadows was snow covered. White and icy, refusing to let go of winters bite.

Uriah was very disappointed when I refused to walk in the cold water, which covered the low end of the path. He carefully inched along the un-melted ice and drank from the water.

The skies above us were heavy with moisture. The clouds were a deep soft grey, they moved quickly overhead. I looked up at the motionless tree tops. All the wind was high up in the clouds, the winds pushed them into rolling mountains that swiftly changed shape every second.

With our walking path blocked I turned my attention to the vegetable garden. This past October I had covered it with a tarp and wooden fencing, and an occasional pizza box. I had stuffed a large plastic garbage bag full of autumn leaves and set it in the garden. My intention was to dig those leaves into the newly turned soil and pile them around tomato plants. Right now that bag sat, bloated, in the middle of the garden waiting for me, and spring.

 I walked around the covered area. Stopped and called for Uriah.  

Uriah came over and sat next to me and stared at the garbage bag like I had commanded him to, and then looked up at me waiting for a biscuit.

I pointed to one of the tarps. “You think we can uncover one part and set up a cold frame?”

Uriah actually looked as though he were thinking. He stood up and stepped into a section that was not covered and slowly tried to dig in the dirt. Then he looked up at me with mud stuck to his paws.

“Okay! I get it too mushy to play in, maybe next week!”

Uriah looked at me, sighed, then walked over to a hole and stuck his nose in it, and then he stood back and sneezed. 

“Right! That last rat has to go!” I backed away. I am not crazy about rodents!  “You get right on that!” I raised my eyebrows and kept inching backwards.

Uriah isn’t fond of rats! This rat has taken his biscuits, food and chew toys over the past few months. Whenever I mention that fact, I am told rats bite, hard!  Uriah gave me a look and went into the kennel and slipped into his dog igloo and left me standing there, alone.

 I looked up into the sky, I could hear the high pitch scream of the Red Tail Hawk.  

“Hey, Uriah maybe the hawk will get that last rat for us!”

I turned my attention to the birds. I could hear Blue Jays screaming. The Black birds were congregating in the tree tops and a Robin chattered angrily at me from a Mulberry tree.   Cardinals flitted in and out the branches of the leafless Crab Apple trees.  Somewhere on top of the barn, Doves cooed in a rolling Scottish accent:-)

I pulled my camera out, fully intent on capturing a picture of that Robin. I haven’t seen one since December. I started snapping pictures of the clouds and the lack of snow.

Uriah decided he was bored and followed me to find that Robin. Except every time I pointed the camera he decided to bark at the birds. I gave him a biscuit, or three.  He was trying to protect me from the, big mean Robins. How dare they chatter at me…

Uriah was very happy; he raced around me and kept looking at my pockets. I nearly tripped over him. He acted like I was playing and tried to race around me that lasted a whole minute. He is getting older.

“Come on, Uriah! Let’s just walk. I can’t see!” I reached out trying to grab the air. “Stop trying to trip me!”

Uriah sat down to watch me. I blinked and tried to clear my eyes. It didn’t work. I gave up and shielded my eyes with my hand, and slowly walked into a snow drift. Snow poured over the top of my boots. I dusted it away and kept walking.

 Just as I reached the path, Uriah raced off into the trees. First I heard the deep squawking, and then I watched that elusive Pheasant fly awkwardly between the trees.  No camera, again! Heavy Sigh!

Later that afternoon we headed out again, this time I remembered the camera. The clouds had cleared, and the sky was a Cornflower blue. Instead of going around to the back, I wanted to see the pond in front. I believe it was January we had a thaw that inundated the land with water. During the past few weeks the water has evaporated and left ice connected to tree trunks, similar to a picnic table on top and Stalactites forming underneath.

I carefully stepped into the deep snow surrounding the pond, and felt the ice give way under my boots. I eased as close as I could to the ponds edge, trying to judge where I thought that edge should be. Stupid? Yes I am!  I didn’t get that close. Besides I was wearing my normal walking garb, a bright orange coat, grey knit hat, while dragging around ski poles. Almost forgot to add, I didn’t have on my normal blue jeans.  So the people passing on the road, there weren’t a lot of cars, saw me wearing my flannel bright green PJs, with a design of coffee cups and candy pieces.

 I looked fabulous! Just like an escapee from psych ward.    

I didn’t slip onto the frozen pond, nor did I get stuck in the deep snow. Not for the lack of trying by Uriah. He kept trying to see around me, without walking around me.  Instead he pushed me closer to the pond. I won that game by sitting in the snow. Uriah gave up and chased a rabbit he found. That didn’t last very long, the rabbit took off to the south, and Uriah ran to the north…

Last night the snow started. I stood outside under driveway light and watched the misty rain change to snow as it fell. The blacktop was coated within minutes, a slippery mess only Uriah hazarded to walk across. The air was filled with dampness, and fog from the frozen ground and warmer air.  Even with the heavy darkness blanketing the house, sound wasn’t muffled and I could hear the coyotes racing across the farm fields, closing in on us.

“Uriah, hurry up and pee! We have to get inside!” I held tightly to my ski poles and tried to peer into the darkness. 

Uriah moved slowly, his arthritis was acting up with the dampness. Still, his hackles rose when we heard the howling start. He puffed his chest out and scraped at the ground with his back legs.

“Ok! You’re a big, brave dog! Let’s get inside!”

Uriah turned and raced into the open garage door. All bark and no bite…

This morning, everything was covered in bridal white.

Heart attack snow covered the driveway and deck. It’s the snow that one small shovel full can make a weight lifter grunt. The snow thrower will have a hard time with this mess.  Underneath was a grey slush, which will strain both me and the snow thrower. I walked down the drive to the road, where the snow plow had sprayed extra snow on the mouth of the driveway. I kicked at it and decided we are snowed in till spring.

The deck had about four to six inches of snow waiting to melt into the outside kennel. Uriah and I checked it out. I was able to kick around a four by four foot patch so it didn’t drip on Uriah’s head. The rest will be a waterfall if the temperatures keep rising, which according to the weatherman, the warm-up isn’t here, yet.

Notice the large pile of snow on the outside of his kennel. That should melt in mid-summer.:-)

Beneath the Willow

I lay inaccessible and supine beneath my Willow

Her naked branches pull me upward

in a flurry of color, waves of light

She drops her clothing to cover her roots

Her muse once led my soul

Now, She whips at my stone

Dancing in the timbre of sunshine

Fire amidst rustling autumn foliage

I drift deep into the cold ground

Shimmering fall leaves bury me

fighting the march of winter

Prelude to the intake of biting air

Willow will sleep quietly

raining bitterness and delight

Blending…

of dried leaves, verdure and decay

Tang of freshly turned mud and dusty soil

She taunts me, coating my name with leaves

Burning embers, flashes of destruction

Move closer, She will burn

Does She Understand this…

Having no choice I am inside the flame of colors

Staring upward spinning blue, against white

She crashes to earth in a storm of orange…

Arcing, vivid orange, photosphere, blindingly

A searing prism

A golden illumination

An autumnal equinox

Her aroma full of passionate ecstasy

Willow, whispers of the changing winds

Listen you will hear her laughter at my entrapment

Roots dig deep, tearing into my sides as She reigns from above

I am… This volatile collision

A menagerie swept together of bitter green and biting hot

All but a memory of light and life

Shifting beneath a path of sweet promise

Willow worries not for me

She will feed off my flesh

Ripping into my marrow

Until I disintegrate into the cold ground, forever supine…