WARPATH

I am very angry this morning.  I hope that someone reads this post today - I don't usually post on Saturdays.  I pulled up to 330 Central this morning, and there was a huge dumpster in the driveway.  Now, its one thing that I cannot feed there anymore - the bank or whoever owns the property is obviously cleaning out so that the house can be auctioned off, or rented, or sold.  But its another thing when the monster who flailed my TWO wooden huts, and a very large plastic dog house into the dumpster, without a thought that maybe they could have put it aside into a large pile, as a sign that I need to move it. But no, they threw those in without a care. 

I took down the number, and left a short and brief message.  I am asking everyone who has a nerve, and who is tired of people doing such stupid things when its OBVIOUS that these are shelters for animals and mean something not only to the people who crafted these, but to the cats! - to do the same.  I said that they have my property, and that I wanted them.  I left my cell number.  The company is called METALICO Transfer station? Their number is 254-3840.  Metalico Rochester is another name mentioned, and I also left a message there - 436-0713.  I ask that anyone call just to implore them to call me at my number 319-1900 and allow me to get my shelters.  The CAT's shelters.  Those wooden huts took a lot of time for people to make, and they cannot be discarded or trashed like that.

Of ALL DAYS - of all times - when the weather is terrible out this morning, and we are due for below zero temps again this week.  WHAT is WRONG with people.

THANK YOU for calling.

 

The Creeps!

It was an eerie morning out there. It started at my first stop, where I could see a young black male walking toward me, with a slight limp (kind of like the way the Hunchback of Notre Dame walked in the old movie).  I went up on the porch to ready the food and water, and looked up as he was going past, and said good morning!, and he stopped and said hello, and at that point I knew he was mentally handicapped.  I asked him a few questions, and he came right up to me, and I introduced myself, shook his hand after he told me his name was Jazz.  I felt very sorry for him.  He seemed lost.  I told him it was going to be warmer out today, and that the sun would be out.  I always try to be positive around people.  I wished him a good day as he walked off.

I decided to skip the next spot because I would have to do it all over again, as its not far from where he was headed.  At Stout, the bastards took my board again.  I must think of something to do here.  Its going to be very cold next week, and the opening faces the north, so its going to get the brunt of the next storm.  Damn that inspector who boarded up the garage.  As I was pouring food here for the regulars, I looked over and could see this young black man down the street watching me.  Again, just an eerie feeling.

On to my next stops where all the cats were waiting and hungry.  I am missing a few here and there, and pray for their well being.  Larry, and Gordie, and Sargent (who has been renamed by her foster mom Gail to TEDDY because he is like a loveable teddy bear) are all waiting for their forever homes.  I have Gordie in my home and I have been observing him as he becomes more comfortable being indoors with his brothers and sisters.  I now believe he isn't much over a year old.  He is extremely loving and playful, and wouldn't hurt a fly.  Well, maybe a fly.  All cats do that.  But he likes to fake bite while he kicks his legs, and grabs your arm in a stronghold with his arms.  He is the cutest thing.  Immediately after that you can pick him up and kiss him on the nose, and even though he is in a rowdy mood, he won't swat or harm you. He takes it on the nose like a man! 

Please spread the word about these loving animals.  They need a home, and all it takes is for you to open up your heart to them.

More pics from yesterday:

Baldwin Kitty

Hayward Kitty

Lucille - Chamberlain & Garson

Stout - board missing right here...

Stout

Stout

Don't forget you can click on the picture to zoom in.

I must get in touch with Nate to get pictures of the kittens he has in his possession, and to ask him if I can move my stuff back into the garage on Sixth.  I am walking on so much broken glass in the back there where I had to move the shelters to, its bound to hurt these cats.  And its very dark and creepy back there.  I am not happy with this shelter.

I left work early yesterday to go to Parsells to say hello to Bob, but missed him, but met the neighbors living next door.  Two brothers, Donald and Ronald, twins, both in their 50s, both toothless with a crazed look in their eyes, but totally harmless.  They were real thrilled to see this pretty girl (well, I don't think I am totally ugly!) in a skirt and boots pull up and make conversation with them.  :) 

Make it a great weekend everyone!

Tragedies

Well, I received a call shortly after I got into work Wednesday morning from the man that owns the property on Parsells.  What a great guy.  Nice.  Really nice.  He told me the inspector was coming at noon that day, and he had to move the shelters off the porch or it would be considered 'clutter'.  These inspectors....   hmmm... what can I say.  They should all ride around with me on my route some morning as part of their training and then they would think twice about not allowing people to have these shelters on their property. Anyway, 'Bob' told me I could move the stuff back on the porch tomorrow if I wanted to, until a new tenant moved in, but he also pointed out a covered porch in the back, where he said I could set up shelter there also, if I wanted.  I am going to go meet him today or tomorrow - leave work early - he said he is there every day until around 4pm.  I just want to shake the man's hand.  He said he already knows me from the Simpsons - the Crazy Cat Lady.  Ha.  Very funny Mr. Bob.

I also wanted to mention something to all of you who have ever donated anything to me.  Whether it be your time, a shelter, a towel, a financial donation, cat food, fostering a cat for me, adopting a cat from me, paid a vet bill, pasta and sauce (Maria - :)), wine - Nancy (:)) or gift baskets (Jill and Sharyn :)).  The kindness you have shown for the cats is immeasurable to me.  You may not be going out there each morning, taking your life in your own hands in the darkness, getting up at 4 am. to be awake enough to go out there with a clear head at 5 am., to fight the rain, snow, blizzards, thunder and lightening or whatever the weather that is occurring at the moment.  To see each of these cats - some frightened, some sick, all hungry - you may not do what I do every morning, but your donations are just as if you are out there with me.  You don't turn your back on these poor homeless animals.  You are able to see them through my eyes, and feel compassion for them. And you DO something about it.  So please remember, every little thing you've done for me, you've helped these animals JUST AS MUCH as I have.  So thank you thank you thank you. You are the best.

I have a friend that has end stage prostate cancer, and he just went into a hospice called the Journey House on Tuesday .  He was told he had less than a month to live.  He never told his mother that he had cancer - a battle that he has been fighting for 10+ years.  He didn't want his mom to go through the pain of knowing this, or to see her son die before her, so she wasn't told.  His mom was elderly - 90 years old yesterday. She was the sweetest little Italian woman.   She was to be picked up that evening and was going to be told.  She was found dead in her home by her other son when he came to pick her up.  My friend's partner had to tell him.  Two very very sad stories there.  I guess my point is, there is a lot of heartache that we have to go through in life.  We do our very best to muddle through,  The human was blessed with two great tools; a heart with which to feel, and a mind with which to think. In order to process tragedies and make peace with them, a third tool is needed, one which we do not possess. God is so infinitely great, and He controls His world in measures which we can usually use our minds and hearts to process. Sometimes though, he uses tools beyond the senses He has given us.

In Judaism, death is not a tragedy, even when it occurs early in life or through unfortunate circumstances. Death is a natural process. Our deaths, like our lives, have meaning and are all part of God's plan.

Sorry to be such a downer today, but as I've explained before, this blog is a little like my daily diary and these are the things on my mind.

So, go out there, live your life, and have a great day.

"When you are sorrowful look again in your heart,

and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that

which has been your delight."

― Kahlil Gibran

Baby Steps

Jess, thanks for your comment yesterday.  I have a friend I call Sunday Sheryl because she goes with me nearly every Sunday on my journey in the dark.  She is hoping to someday relieve me of my duty for a day, someday.  Sheryl actually scans the ads on the internet trying to match up missing cats, and has watched carefully the ones I've rescued, making sure they aren't one of the kitties that are missing.  She's had some close calls, but no luck so far.

This morning was dreary, with the rain turning to ice so I had to be very careful with my steps.  Baby steps.  You have to or you risk falling, and breaking something, which I cannot afford to do with so many cats depending on my feeding them.  I reversed my route this morning, starting on 7th, so that I could pick up a board behind the new spot on Short to replace the one taken on Stout.  When I came to my very last stop on Parsells (which is usually my very first stop), all my shelters were removed from the porch and placed in front of the house on the ground.  Food bowls, everything.  What a huge disappointment.  The guy that bought the two houses allowed me to feed while he renovated, but now threw me out in the cold.  I left a note to call me, asking for some alternative.  I must also leave him a copy of the article done on me, hoping for his compassion and to allow me to continue to feed SOMEwhere on his property through the winter.  How sad.  Why do homeless/feral cats get such a bad rep.  Why can't every human see that they are living breathing loving beings, just like us, and they need to be better taken care of.

Again, I am running later than usual due to changing very wet towels, etc., and taking the time to pet a cat or two, so I leave you with pictures I took this morning. 

7th Street

7th Street

7th Street

Pennsylvania & 4th

Waterlogged shelter behind the house

Kristin will help me to figure this out - it is allowing water inside 

Sick kitty on Baldwin

I cannot rescue until I have another foster

Finally allowing me to trust him

Stout Kitties - an extra red showed up this a.m.

Stout kitties

New shelter on Short (from Sixth) (no, that is not my artwork behind)

New Shelter on Short (from Sixth)

Have a great day everyone!

MUD!

Here is an update on Sargent, who is being fostered by Gail:

"His lip looks better.  I can't tell if it's growing back yet, but it's not as red.  He's using the litterbox and eats and drinks good.  Yesterday he weighed 11-1/2 lbs.(about a pound less than Gracie (Gracie is Gail's dog)).  He should probably lose a little weight, but a vet could determine that.

He is loose a lot of the time.  If I go out I put him in the spare room.  He's prefectly happy being in the tent.  He knows I feed him in there and he can see us and hang out while we're watching TV.  Sometimes I put him in there so I can hold Gracie on my lap, because if he's loose, he's on my lap if I'm sitting down.

He follows me everywhere, comes when he's called and answers me if I talk to him.  So far he doesn't seem to have any interest in going outside, which is good.

Loves being held, and just being around people.  He loves being brushed.  I love fostering, but I'm not sure if Gracie is ready to accept a new permanent member of the household.  We'll see what happens."

It was very muddy out there this morning.  I don't know how cat's paws are able to keep the mud off - they never seem to look that dirty - whereas my boots sink in the mud.  I was spared the rain we've been having on and off throughout the night, and its quite balmy out there.  Its a nice break from what its been.  This is one of the worst winter's I can remember, but then again, my memory function is not the greatest.   The only thing we haven't had so far is a second blizzard.  We've had only one that I can think of, and that was when it was bitter cold also.  I can define a blizzard if the snow gets into the shelters I've built.  Speaking of, I forgot my camera again today, so I can't show you the shelter I had to rebuild behind the garage on Sixth.  AND, someone was back there messing around, they moved a tote shelter.  Its not the safest spot really, its dark and its behind a house that is surrounded by abandoned houses.  I need to call Nate and ask him if it might be OK to move my stuff back in, tell him that its dangerous where I had to move the stuff.  I can see the cats are eating the wet food that I've left the past two mornings, but not much else.  I am not sure they know the shelters are there.

As I turned the bend onto Central from Second, there was Seven waiving me down.  She always has a motive, but she tries her best to chit chat first before the ask.  You can tell she's been drinking, and she is always with a guy.  He stays back while she comes to the passenger side window.  I was corrected, it was her four month old baby girl named "Kimari" (not sure of spelling) who passed a few weeks ago of SIDS.  I didn't even know she was pregnant.   She said her baby boy "boo boo" Henry was fine.  I told her again that her baby was in heaven and that she was in a better place than us.  She agreed and thanked me.  I noticed she cut her hair, and colored it, and I remarked how pretty she looked.  She was thrilled that I noticed.  She said she needed something different.  You think about these kind of people, and how sad their lives are to us, but they have find their joy in different ways that most of us, and thank God they can do that, because for all of us, sometimes its very hard to find joy in life, but we manage, and get through it, one day at a time.  One foot in front of the other.  Speaking of... off to my second job.

Have a GREAT day!

 

"Believe that all the good and bad things God allows to happen are for a good purpose in your life."

The Weekend

First off, I got the dreaded call Saturday morning from the man that 'adopted' Gordie.  He said it just wasn't working out.  Apparently he read Kim's notes, and also hopefully the comments from all of you, but it made no difference.  He didn't think it was fair to his older female cat  - she just didn't like him, and he really didn't have the time to put into it, I think.  So, sweet heart Gordie is back in my fold - Leo is stalking him, so I have to separate them, which is hard to do - locking one cat away while the other can roam fear free...  ridiculous - and sad for the cat to have to live that way.  All the more reason I have to get him adopted.  I will get some new pictures.  I did tell this man that he shouldn't get another cat until his cat passes.  Its just not fair to the other cat that is brought in.  Gordie was the perfect cat to be with another cat - totally non-aggressive, playful, easy going.  That's that for that cat.

A board was taken from Stout Street - it covered one side of the porch where I now feed the kitties there.  I need to get a replacement for it.  I am running out of boards.  It should be somewhat dark, so that its not that noticeable.  It sheltered the northerly winds from underneath this porch, where three cats reside.  What is wrong with people.

I got a call from the man that moved my stuff out of the garage on 6th Street after I had left a note asking for 'mercy for the cats for the winter'.  His name is Nathaniel, and he turned out to be a very nice man.  Its a long story, and one that I have questions about due to our rather awkward and brief conversation, but all in all, he had an inspector coming this Thursday, and asked that I move the stuff until at least then.  He even pointed out a few houses just around there that I could move it to.   My friend Sheryl came over Sunday afternoon and we moved the two wooden huts and a couple of plastic tote shelters, some bricks, a few boards, and the water and food bowls to a house just around the bend.  It was sad because a red cat was sheltered inside one of the huts, and he had to jump out just before we moved it.  This morning was sad because I don't think these cats knew where I moved it to, despite my constant kissy noises that I made.  Its not easy for these cats to move to another location.  They come to depend on one certain area.  They know the sound of my vehicle and these were the cats that come running down the street after me.  It made me very sad thinking they were sitting in that garage waiting for me this morning, not knowing my cat calling.  I can only pray they find the new spot.  I will get pictures of it tomorrow.   Nate, as he said his friends call him, told me he would talk to his wife about me hopefully moving my stuff back into the garage, after they assess whether they should park their car in it due to its wretched condition.   I told Nate I would call him in a few days and we could talk more.  He also told me his wife rescued four newborn kittens during the very cold snap we had, and that he had to get rid of them quickly due to his very large cat hating dog. 

I need to get moving to get to work, so will post updates on Larry, and Sargent, tomorrow.

Have a great day.

Larry Part Deux

I wanted to show you how Larry looked when I decided to rescue him in 2012.  What a mess.  He is so so pretty now.  He deserves a loving home.  Please spread the word.

Larry - June, 2012

Larry  - June 2012

Please see Friday's post for how he looks today!  :)  He has been to the vet, is being treated for tapeworm, and is now good to go!  Poor baby!!

Magic (new name Charlie):  I rescued him and his brother Pumpkin from Pennsylvania Street with their Mom Vanessa, when they were babies.  Here is a great pic of Magic, and another that shows how fluffy his tail is!  Thanks Jessica and her mom Sharyn, for adopting them!

and remember Pumpkin?  Can you imagine, these babies were born outside on the streets!!!