It’s been a beautiful florida day. And finally we got our old tent up for Hubby’s shop area. Now when someone say’s tent, one thinks of what you get at the camping store or CostCo. No. This is steel girders, 20′x30′. We got a deal on it years ago when we needed to replace a vendor tent. Got a deal cause this thing is so heavy and well structured it wore a crew out to put it up. And putting it up is easy but for the weight.
It served us well for years. And didn’t move in storms that wiped out other tents set up in the same area. During all the years we had it in use, most every weekend, we used to sit as we took a break, just looking at it, structure and all talking about someday. Someday we would set it up permeant for a barn, a garage, maybe both.
So Wednesday good friends from the gulf side came over for a few days. And between them and the neighbor John across the street we got it up! Even Myrtle came out to watch. Which really tripped everyone that Myrtle is so, active, curious and somewhat friendly. We tried to tell them, Myrtle’s cool.
It’s so sweet to be able to sit once again under our tent and now, it’s the someday come today. The culmination of years of hopes and plans. It does have a couple legs up on the pool deck by a couple inches, but I’ve chosen to be forgiving.
Now I’m suppose to turn the little tent area into an outdoor area. I can do that. That is what Pinterest is for after all. And planning a Bike Week BBQ.
Losing our beloved Macy is one of the hardest things we have faced. And we’ve taken a lot over these wonderful years. No more hearing her bitch at me that it’s time for bed, her food bowl level is absolutely unacceptable, wanting outside, impatient for us to let her in. No more finding her constantly on the neighbors roof. Not being able to sing her favorite song to bring her in as kitty-kitty was just beneath her dignity. I can’t even start to sing Soft Kitty without falling apart.
Her lil side kick she adopted is just lost. Howling, checking every door and window constantly lost.
Macy came to us a very young cat. Already spayed but still growing. I wanted to name her Penelope, but I have trouble sometimes pronouncing that. Which is what happened that Christmas Eve when she became ours. All I could think about was that awesome commercial on tv about Macy’s believe in miracles program they had that year. And being over dressed (she was a full Tuxedo cat), I blurted out Macy!, when asked what I was gonna name her.
She started out on a custom Harley-Davidson trike for the first weeks. She didn’t trust anyone and we don’t blame her for that, circumstances at the time. So we fixed her a bed and fully sheltered area in the stake bed of the trike and fed her faithfully day after day. Till we moved her bedding to the top of the refrigerator by the RV door. We bought her a cat tree, the day we brought it in we ignored her so she wouldn’t move, got it inside and poof!! Snatched her up and into the house/RV.
She started sleeping with us that night. And did forever after that. She liked sleeping right between our pillows for the ease of touching us and being petted all through the night.
Then came the day we stuffed (y'all have to understand the size this creature was, lol!) her into a cat carrier and headed across the nation. She. Was. Pissed! Vowing to Never forgive us for making her leave home, put up with her Uncle (who adored her), and then…wouldn’t let her outside! The horror!
I wish we could have videoed that day we finally opened the door at our newly purchased home and let her out for a bit. Can you hear paws stomp? Could that day, and I do believe her language was absolutely unacceptable. Until she stopped and looked around her. It was, take me from my home, drag me who knows how far, lock me in that..that..Place and now, Oh My Gosh its paradise! They brought me to, bought me..Paradise! A water bowl so big it takes minutes to walk around it! A fence to scale, grass! Green, green grass! And trees! And squirrels! We were out of trouble.
The water bowl she liked so well we call an inground pool. She didn’t like us swimming in it but humans. What can ya do? Her first summer was spent just enjoying and introducing herself to the neighbors. She had cat friends in no time at all.
Last summer she couldn’t contain her ways, so somewhere she found a kitten. And enlisting the help of her trusty Pekingese Mulan, those two adopted the kitten. Keeping it secret for a few days. Then showing it to us and both being very clear it needed food. We’re not sure how old the kitten was,Mae thought perhaps 6wks at most. The Vet has been clear we over estimated his age. Seems he was 10-14 days younger.
She took such good care of him. And wouldn’t you know, made a kitty nest for him under one of the race trikes. Took a couple weeks but we got the lil critter tamed and put him inside. She acted like that wasn’t what she wanted, yet they were inseparable.
Till the night of the 16th of October. When on that very dark night someone missed the shape of black crossing the road.
I was sitting out on the porch when it happened. I had just been talking to her as she sat in front of me.
Next thing I knew, I saw a car stop for some reason, saw the reason, and our world fell apart. I think she may have held on long enough to know she was in the arms that loved her so much.
If it’s not hard enough to learn to live within her, it’s in trying to tell the kitten, who’s not so kitten anymore, that’s she’s gone to heaven to wait for him, for us. He cries and looks for her constantly. I brought in the box tonight for a few minutes that we laid her in till we properly buried her. Even heard an animal scream No!? We did tonight. He seems to know now. We looked for every way possible to tell him and maybe that worked.
We miss her, we all miss her. And will be forever grateful she chose us for her family.
Wait for us at Rainbow bridge Macy. We will each be along for you when it’s time. I love you Macy Mae.
Well, its been a while. A deeply held prayer has been answered. We have a home of our own! Not that our sweet Travel Trailer wasn’t awesome, it was. It was about the nicest one in the park we lived in. One that made you go WoW! inside and out. But we’ve been wanting a house, a home for a long time. And we always paid cash for things. Never ever did the credit card thing. So it took a couple years to wrap our heads around how the world works these days. Not like when we were young. So finally, we did get with the times. And our credit union got us in the swing. Issued me a credit card. And came the day we walked in to see what ducks we need to put where to get them in a row to get pre-approved for a home loan, and my gosh if 15 minutes later they didn’t hand us a piece of paper saying…Go Shopping! We were the 3rd couple to ever get an express pre-approval.
And I had this list in my head and heart of what a house Had To Have. List went like this. Pool, Dishwasher. long list. And we have it! oh my gosh what a nice pool we have! And yard. Great neighbors. Lovely lil house. It’s all just wonderful. And we moved back home. Florida. Who in honor of our return passed Amendment 2 this year. Making Medical Cannibis legal in an Amendment to the State Constitution. With passage of a bill just a tad bit looser than California’s compassion law. Can’t wait to see it go into effect this next month.
Macy Cat and Mulan took the change real well. Macy was fairly upset at having to move. Until we finally let her go outside. To paradise. Now California is but a distant memory to the fat cat. Milan believes she has always belonged in a suburb. And her lovely paws should never Ever leave concrete. Ever. Macy thinks the pool is her water bowl and wishes we would stay out of it. She and Mulan do a stroll around it together each evening.
They have now adopted their own pet. Mr Mittens. A Maine Coon Cat. The tiny waif either showed up in the yard or Macy herded him in. He couldn’t have been more than 6wks old and starving to death. Poor thing. They hid him for a few days then showed him to us so we would feed him, it was adorable. So we did, and fed him twice a day moving his food closer and closer till we had him right by the door. And worked for his trust. He finally let us touch him, and just fell into out arms loving being petted. Last he saw of the outside for a few weeks. Just took him in to get spayed. Thats when we found out he was he. Not Miss Mittens but Mr. Who Knew?! He’s Tabby. Tri-Color! We were all quite floored.
So Merry Christmas everyone! Prayer works, faith is real. And we wish you your hearts deepest desire!
Getting older just ain’t fun. I know how to be young. I had lot’s of experience. And young goes until what? 50? That’s about the time the ole colesteral climbs, the blood pressure becomes an issue, aches & pains just will not take a hike and neither can you. Take a hike that is. Just ain’t right. I don’t mind not being in my 20’s anymore though that was an awesome time. I don’t mind not being in my 30’s although I’d love to relive that! Sweet! I just want to be able to get around. To stop losing friends left & right to disease & bad medical practices.
I do understand so well now those internet/email jokes that go around about sending us old folk off to war & leave the young ones home to live. Not that I didn’t pretty much always get the premise but now they really make far too much sense to me.
Think about it. Sentry’s are far too easy. We’re always going to the bathroom so just place the latrines strategly & you’ve got it (so) covered. There’d be a parade of folks going to & from all day & nite long. Plus we’re rarely in that good a mood with those who annoy us. And of course I’m sure you’ve read one of those so I won’t go into the whole thing but to say it makes a lot of sense.
Nothing I know how to do can I do as well as I used to nor nearly as quickly. That annoys the crap outta me. Then there’s the fact of wearing out to fast. Takes me a day to do what i used to do in a morning while I did several other things too. What the heck?
The Clive Bundy ‘thing’, has been on my mind since it started. And all in all, I’m amazed many more didn’t understand why the ole boy had so much support from all corners of thought & of the country. It wasn’t that anyone was good with him not paying his fee’s. He needed and still needs to work that out & get it done. It wasn’t about the voice above saying, march thou into the desert and dern near get in a gun fight with the fed’s. It was about being done with getting run over and watching it happen to anyone else either.
Our government has the right to it’s fee’s. They have a right to send the Sheriff to make a person pay up or turn it over to them. What they do in these day’s of ‘post 9/11’ is something else all together. It’s like having the Kings men up our hoo-haa again. Just the very thing that caused that armed insurection that founded us as a country, as a people. Take for instance the young people out here in Riverside Co. at the college, who got pepper sprayed in the face as they sat. Sat peacefully. Now I’m a kid of the 60’s & 70’s. I have seen the powers that be get upset over protests.
But the police, and our governments various force’s have changed. What was Officer Friendly plum pissed off, has become a overwhelming well armed militia of police. What we have now have a military armed, combat force thinking, kill on sight, army of agents of various levels of government. More people have been shot and killed by their local police than died in the 9/11 attacks. That doesn’t even list those who have been disabled, reputations mared, and bankrupted, just among the innocent. And that’s just wrong.
Remembering back to when I first picked up on anything about Clive and his disagreement with the powers that be, was a picture with post on the internet, good ole facebook of course. It asked that anyone in the area with a camera, phone with camera, that sort of thing, to come out to the desert and just film what was happening. Just asking no sides, just use your camera’s. Well, that sounded interesting, to me anyway. I’m a somewhat nosey interested by-stander.
And as we all know the story, things progressed from there. Now one of my questions all along has been, what was so wrong about asking folks to just use camera’s? And when that was such a 'thing’ for the more, usually thinking, peaceful folk, why didn’t your alarm bells go off?! Was simply this man’s faith a good reason to allow him and his family to be walked over at rifle point? We even know that to do many of the things the police and other agency’s have done to be so wrong and stand up for those harmed. But what was it about Mr Bundy? Religion? His politics?
Seriously. It’s wrong to throw a hand grenade (why in the hell do they use hand grenade’s anyway) in to a baby’s crib. No matter how firm your belief, your 'evidence’ of a probationer or criminal activity. So why was it right to aim snipers and sniper rifles at someone who just hadn’t paid their fee’s? And fighting over rock, cactus and rattlesnakes. This is a reason to draw down on citizens like your about to fight the whole taliban in the sand?
When did we become so cold to our own defense that we cannot see that by having citizens come to the, in some cases, armed defense of another we protect ourselves by that action? Or, when does it stop? What is our line in the sand? I don’t want to believe we’ve become so soft that we no longer defend.
Ponder this. If. There had been anyone armed and willing to stand the line for those young folks who were pepper sprayed, would they have been pepper sprayed in the first place? Would police have felt free to use thug tactics if they knew there were others to stand up for right, against wrong?
And sure, it should never be needed. But that is not the way the world is. When I was young, I was taught, life is like a pendulum. Sometimes it swings right, then to the left. Sometimes it lays center. But any pendulum must swing to the furthest point it can before it changes and goes the other. And our pendulum as a country has swung about as far as many can stand, thus force to swing center. Which of course will take us too far in the other direction, that’s the way of it. I have found through my years, that’s an accurate discription.
Thus my reasons for supporting that lil dustup out in the Nevada desert. Had they have come with the trucks and a warrant, most of us wouldn’t have cared. It should be the final outcome of not paying Uncle Sam. Had they wanted and had just simply rounded up the cattle and seized them for lack of payment. Fine. But they didn’t.
They came armed with the feared and hated assault rifles. Full tactical gear, armed with all the resources of a combat unit. With the thought they could even station snipers on people. For fee’s. So, to me, was a heck of a lot more American to allow those snipers to see themselves in someone’s gunsights than to allow them to just take down another family. Y'all did notice, not a shot was fired. By either side. You think that would have happened if folks hadn’t taken the actions they did? More likely our proud fed’s were headed into another Ruby Ridge if allowed to have their way. Show of hands, who’s just proud as punch of a government who shoots children in the back? not me.
So folks stood the line. No Ruby Ridge. No Waco. No more.
Next time the police kill another citizen and your asked to stand up for people harmed, do. But also ask yourself if as a citizenry, if we stood up to the thugs like we did in Nevada, would they feel so free to kill? Or would they find a way to do their job without harming others unnessesarily. The biggest and best way we can all learn to get along. Just play nice.
