Words

WORD OF THE DAY:  Redolent

Definition

1 : exuding fragrance : aromatic

2 a : full of a specified fragrance : scented

b : evocative, suggestive

DIXIE!

BEAR! (adopted)

MOOKIE!

I love words.  I am starting a word of the day!  :)  Hope you like it!

Is a Monday.  That’s for sure.  Mondays always FEEL like  Mondays.  Don’t they?  The moon was high in the sky this morning as I headed out at 3:45.  Beautiful.  Scattered clouds drifting past, but still a dark morning.  Thank God for my headlamps I’ve had over the years.  Batteries need constant changing, but when they are fully charged, they illuminate the darkness for me – so I can see if there is anyone lurking in the shadows.  In all the years I’ve been doing this, there hasn’t been anyone, but you still check.  I was on Garson Sunday morning when, as I finished up feeding in the back of the lot, I saw a police cruiser sitting there by my car on the road.  I walked up, explained that I was feeding cats in the back, and he said ‘you know your car is running, and I said yes, I know, and he said, you DO know where you are?, and I said yes, and I said ‘ good reminder, thank you officer as I slinked my way back to the car…  I don’t usually leave the car running at this particular spot because if someone WERE in mind to steal it, I wouldn’t be able to run to it fast enough.  The other stops I go to are much closer.  Regardless, with summer coming up, there will be more people out there lurking, although as I’ve said before, this is the SAFEST time of the day to be out.  Its quiet.  People are sleeping.  

 All I can think about as I drive to my first stop is going back to bed.  Sleep.  I am so deprived.  But there was a ton to do over the weekend, that’s for sure.   Saturday Sheryl and I rearranged shelters, replaced tarps, refreshed straw inside the shelters.  I am so grateful for her help.  There are still shelters that need to be done, and will continue to do more each weekend.  We pulled up to a Parsells location, where the city came and trashed my stuff last week, and found the shelter we had just replaced was moved.  I noticed the tree was cut down.  Whoever cut that tree down moved the shelters down a ways and kept the food dishes there, etc.  Whoever did that had COMPASSION.  I would love to do a shout out in the Democrat and Chronicle, or whatever vehicle most Rochestarians would see it.  Can anyone think of how I could do that?  It was very kind who ever did it, knowing cats were depending on these shelters and the dishes of food.

This morning I pulled up to the first Garson spot, where I think I will discontinue stopping there after the encounter I had.  So for weeks now, the @#E%$#% who bought the place and is fixing up and threw all my stuff to the curb, and all the other garbage he had, including glass that shattered all over the place, the guy has been trashing the food I am leaving there for this one cat.  This is where I recently rescued Elsa.  There was a male standing there in the dark next door, and I recognized it being the guy that lives there.  I said hello as the kitty that I still feed there ran to me.  He came over and it was Michael, as we reintroduced ourselves.  I think Michael was a bit intoxicated, but that’s OK.  He talked about the ‘Jamaicans’ that bought the place and how they said they would kill the cats.  He said not on my watch.  He also called the cat I was feeding Beyonce.  I laughed.  He said it was his cat and yes, he feeds it.  She really is a sweetheart.  I would have ‘rescued’ it long ago if she was on my list of rescues that needed to be done.  I figured she was safe for a while so I never did it.  Michael said they would not be killing anything on his watch.  I thanked him for his kindness, and said I would keep putting down for her regardless.

Speaking of Saturday Sheryl, redoing the shelters obviously took time, and by the time we were half way into the second half of my route (the Back Nine), it was getting light.  I could now see the surroundings in which I feed these cats.  I couldn’t believe the trash.  There is so much trash!  People live like this.  They just don’t care!  To not go out and clean up the refuse and debris in your own tiny yard!  It is my mission to pick up the trash where I have shelters.  Not only to deter rats, but to keep the city happy.  I don’t want them complaining about the lots that I have my shelters on.  Not that it made a difference on Parsells though.  Bastards!  (oops!  Pardon for my French! – I really meant’ Batard! Which means bread in French).  J

The following is an excerpt from an article I read on litter and poverty.  Interesting:

A broken window in an abandoned car conveys a sense of deterioration which appears to breaks our codes of coexistence, as if there were no publicly acceptable laws, rules and norms. A dirty city, too, creates the image that it is suffering from neglect by people or authorities. If a glass window of a building is broken and no one repairs it, soon all the others will be broken as well. If a community shows signs of deterioration and no one seems to care, then there will be crime. This is well documented as the 'broken windows theory' which states that visible crime and vandalism will lead to more. 

With that said, this is another reason I feed in the dark.  I can’t see these conditions that these cats have to live in, let alone people.  And there are CHILDREN in these neighborhoods that have to grow up with this too!  Sad, so sad.

On a happy note, Swirly and Stripey have been adopted!  Their transfer from one country side to another went smoothly.  I continue to get good progress reports – they are still hiding, but their new parents can hear them zooming around their new space, their BIG space, upstairs, and love the sound.  They are finally out of their cage, and into a big room!  With windows too!  As I drove off after leaving them in Sodus, I looked up at the windows, and there was Swirly and his little face peering out.  I am so happy.  Thanks to Sue, his caregiver, for all she did for these sweet angels.  Without the Sues in this world, we wouldn’t be able to save them all, one cat at a time. 

Have a great day!

"The future depends on what we 

do in the present."