TODAY
A Miracle Has Occurred
If I should fail, what poverty!
And yet, as poor as I,
Have ventured all upon a throw!
Have gained! Yes! Hesitated so —
This side the Victory!
Life is but Life! And Death, but Death!
Bliss is but Bliss, and Breath but Breath!
And if indeed I fail,
At least, to know the worst, is sweet!
Defeat means nothing but Defeat,
No drearier, can befall!
And if I gain! Oh Gun at Sea!
Oh Bells, that in the Steeples be!
At first, repeat it slow!
For Heaven is a different thing,
Conjectured, and waked sudden in —
And might o’erwhelm me so!
~ Emily Dickinson (1830-1885)
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| After missing a full week, my little friend has just come home! She thinks I'm very silly to be making such a fuss. She's probably right, but I don't care. |
Isn't this wonderful?
ReplyDeleteI REJOICE WITH YOU!
Is Priscilla happy to be home?
I wonder where she went?
ReplyDeleteSo far, she ain't talkin,' but she just ate a big breakfast, looks perfectly well, and is acting as though she's ever been away.
ReplyDeleteShe's so blasé, and here I am making a perfect fool of myself.
I ought to kill her after what se's put me through! ;-)
I thought you had lost a bird.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I thought the pet may return to warmth and food.
Duck,
ReplyDeleteI laughed when I read your comment. I knew all along that FT had a feline friend.
But I won't make fun of you.
I can understand why you came to that conclusion. After all, didn't FT mentioned something about "a caged environment."
You know what, Duck? You showed a lot of kindness toward FT when the latter's beloved pet disappeared into thin air. Are you an animal lover?
Cats are enigmatic creatures. How I wish Priscilla could tell us the story of her adventure.
ReplyDeleteFor you, Free Thinke.
Cats...
ReplyDelete*shakes head*
It's in their nature.
I've had cats all my life -- most recently, indoor-only or mostly-indoor cats.
ReplyDeleteNever have I had one of those cats disappear for over a week and return. Maybe overnight, but that's about it.
Back in the days of our barn cats -- mostly toms -- the cats wandered out and about for as long as 2 weeks. Our females, spayed or not, never disappeared for longer than 48 hours.
I wonder if Priscilla wandered off and got fastened into someone's garage. Not for a whole week without food, but rather overnight; then, when whoever opened the utility room to the garage, that person loved the sight of such a beautiful kitty and kept her for the week -- only to have Priscilla bolt for home as soon as she could.
The above is presuming that Priscilla returned without any signs of starvation or deprivation.
FT,
ReplyDeleteWere I you, I'd check into getting Priscilla to wear a collar with a name tag -- or maybe some kind of chip inserted by the vet.
Around here, we always check to see if "a stray" has some kind of ID.
Gotta be careful with cat collars, though. And some cats will not wear a collar. All of my indoors-outdoors cats had collars, but I trained them from kittenhood to tolerate that collar.
Thanks, everybody.
ReplyDeleteOn closer inspection the furry one has definitely lost some weight, and has already eaten two dishes of canned food which is most unusual for her.
She picked THE coldest night of the year so far to disappear -- and it stayed cold for three whole days.
She's been napping, so I know she's tired, and her little nose is dry -- not cold and wet as it should be. I think I may take her to be checked out by the vet, if higher levels of energy don't return by tomorrow.
Have to play it by ear.
Ms. Shaw,
ReplyDeleteI too wish she could tell me not only where she's been and what she's been doing, but HOW SHE GOT OUT in the first place? Also WHY she felt impelled to escape this idyllic environment?
It's all a great mystery!
Oh, and thank you for he Eddie Cooley, Mw. Shaw.
ReplyDeleteIt's a cute song.
FT,
ReplyDeleteWhat you said about Priscilla's nose could indicate dehydration.
Canned food will assist in rehydration.
I'm guessing that she got shut inside somebody's garage or shed.
@AOW -- Are you an animal lover?
ReplyDelete--------
Yes, I would say so and it is certainly a partial reason for my vegetarianism.
I grew up with pets and my nieces all have close pets.
My niece in Florida is active in animal causes (NOT a PETA nut). She recently organized a charity event for the local shelter and it earned enough to cover the shelters food costs for a quarter.
Not a big cat fancier if they are left free to hunt due to the bird problem. The neighborhood cat moved a few years ago and the robin population came back.
Glad she's back, we have a lilac point and a seal point Siamese, both indoor cats and neither will generally set foot off our wrap around deck.
ReplyDeleteDuck,
ReplyDeleteBack in the day when we let our cats outside (here and on the farmette where I grew up), the area here was much more rural. We had many, many trees and a multitude of birds. The few birds that our cat and the neighbors' cats had caused little impact on the bird population. Of course, the cats were well fed as they were beloved pets. They weren't hungry and hunted only what invaded their territory -- usually, their inside territory. Those invaders were mice and insects, of course.
In fact, two of our cats were so well fed that they wouldn't hunt at all.
Feral cats are a different matter entirely.
Now that our cats are inside only pets, we have two birdhouses on our front porch. The past week or so, the courting rituals near the birdhouses have been evident.
I also must say that I've noticed that cats have a preference for hunting rodents (mice, voles, etc.) instead of birds.
You said:
The neighborhood cat moved a few years ago and the robin population came back.
Question: Have you noticed an increase in the population of mice or rats?
In my neighborhood the cats are as at much risk of being eaten by birds as the birds are by cats ;)
ReplyDeleteWe have quite a lot of raptors, mainly falcons, owls, and the occasional bald eagle.
Not to mention bigger cats (mountain lion) foxes, wolves, bear, and the odd wolverine...or so I've heard.
Hence, we have indoor cats.
Now where Finntann lives, even I can see the value of owning a gun!
ReplyDeleteQuestion: Have you noticed an increase in the population of mice or rats?
ReplyDelete-------
No, the mouse presence is way down but, yes, I do know for a fact the local cat was a mouser.
Point taken.
Our little prodigal daughter is eating well -- about twice her previous normal amount -- and she's more affectionate than she was before her Hejira -- but she seems low on energy, and is sleeping overmuch.
ReplyDeleteI hope my concern is only that of a neurotic doting parent and nothing more?
Time will tell.
Astonishing how a seven-pound bit of gray fluff can rock your world by absenting herself!
Duck,
ReplyDeleteCats often catch big rats too.
D.C. is overrun with rats in the sections of town that lack roaming cats.
FT,
ReplyDeleteKeep a close eye on Priscilla. As long as she isn't vomiting, I wouldn't be terribly concerned.
Eating well is a good sign!
Well, AOW, I had her running after her little catnip "pillow" this morning after I woke her up by placing it under her nose. She did seem listless yesterday and all last night, but she sure has a good appetite.
ReplyDeleteNot drinking water as far as I can tell. Nose still drier than I'd like.
My cats NEVER seem to drink water out of their water dishes -- just the plant saucers. (:-o
The two cats exchanged positions around 5:00 AM. Priscilla went out, Winner came in.
That's normal for them. They rarely stay in the same room peacefully when I'm around. It's a riot.
I didn't want the little one to be subjected to bullying just yet, so I'm keeping the two cats separated as much as possible..
Funny! I thought most of the rats in Dee Cee were on Capitol Hill.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we should send a contingent of felines to serve in congress?
Might really help. ;-)
FT,
ReplyDeleteSurely there is ample varmint hunting on Capitol Hill. Congress critters and all that.