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Relearning what is important from a three-legged kitty - Date with fate post 68
This entry was posted on 11/19/2009 1:30 AM and is filed under Cats, Assignment of Meaning, Fate Fairies.
I usually do not pay attention to my wife's morning manipulation of the pre-workday television. She jumps back and forth between WISC "News 3 This Morning" from Madison, and "Morning Joe" on MSNBC. One morning in late winter - early spring 2009 - I just happened past one of the TV sets and there was Ol' Rob Starbuck with a three-legged kitty from the Green County Humane Society.
"How's she get around," Starbuck asked with an incredulous look on his face.
"Just fine," the Humane Society girl said.
I had met Ol' Rob when I worked up in Madison a few years ago. Doubt if he might remember that old college student at the health club discussing politics. And, I had lived in Green County at the time.
Some kind of karma was afoot. We had just lost our beloved Susie to old age, a beautiful and very personable Russian Blue - a very unique breed of cat. And now, in all the lights of the studio, in front of an amused Rob Starbuck, sat a most-matter-of-fact, three-legged Russian Blue kitten.
I looked up and Heide had already left for work. I probably had mumbled good-bye at some point. I waited until I knew she would be in her office and made the call.
"We got to get this kitty I saw on the morning TV show," I said without introduction. "It was so cool under all the studio lights. It is a beautiful Russian Blue. And, ...it only has three legs."
There was a moment of silence, and Heide said without protest, "We can get over there tomorrow."
We made the 40 mile ride to Monroe and there, in their little, well occupied shelter, in the middle of the floor, sat a three-legged gray kitten. You could tell she ran the place. They called her Hop-a-long.
"She has to have a pretty name," Heide said.
Phoebe sat in Heide's lap on the ride home. Once home, we watched her as she inspected her new digs. Other cats we have rescued over the years have hidden for a couple days under the bed. Phoebe went right to the litter box. We held our breath, hoping she would not tip over. She balanced like a iron worker on a ten story building and then neatly covered her deed. We put a tid-bit of food in the bowl and she skipped to the front of the line - to the indignity of the other cats.
Within a couple of days, Phoebe had accumulated most of the neglected toys and pushed them up by the piano on the wood floor. There she sits in the midst of her new spoils. She does have a bit of trouble getting to extreme heights, but I have placed some stools around to help her.
She always is waiting at the door when we come home and before we leave. She never misses her litter box - and, she covers her duty relentlessly.
There are days when my age, blue-collar work, and health just pull me down. Then, I look over, and there is Phoebe, crawling up Heide's chair, to try to get closer to us. She always has an amused look on her face as if to say, "why wouldn't I come to greet you?"
She uses her tail as a surrogate foot and it has gotten muscular. She uses her unique strength to muscle around our boy cat. She always gets the best of him.
As much as I would like to savor being depressed about age, the economy, and life in general, then Phoebe puts herself in the setting. There is no plausible justification for being bummed out, when a three-legged cat shows up the whole of the household every minute of every day.
Wisconsin Military Service Person Special Mention of the Week
(each week Cooldadiomedia mentions a Wisconsin service person killed in Iraq or Afghanistan)
This week's Wisconsin military service person to remember is 24-year-old U.S. Marine Corporal Brian P. Prening. Corporal Prening is from Plymouth; he died while engaging the enemy in Babil Province, Iraq, on November 12, 2004. Prening was assigned to Company F, 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment, 4th Marine Division, Marine Forces Reserve. The unit is from Chicago. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Brian is a graduate of Plymouth High School. He had gotten married on August 13, 2004, and he and wife Amy were expecting their first child. CNN.com lists the Prenings as from Sheboygan. The Journal Sentinel also mentioned Brian went to Lakeshore Technical College in Cleveland, Wisconsin where he got a degree completing the tool-and-die program. Brian worked at Kohler Company. His Marine Reserve unit was activated. Brian is survived by a twin brother, Bill, a younger sister, Ann, 21, wife Amy, a step son, and mother and father Brian and Deborah Prening. Corporal Brian Prening was the 27th Wisconsin military service person killed in the fighting in Iraq.
As of this blog entry's posting date:
94,144 Iraqi civilians have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
9,315 Iraqi Security Forces have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,367 Americans have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
914 Americans have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
317 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
594 Coalition soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
31,571 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
4,529 U.S. troops have been wounded in action in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
101 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
16 Wisconsin soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
139 journalists (several nationalities) have been killed in Iraq since Spring, 2003.
17 journalists (various nationalities) have been killed in Afghanistan since October, 2001.
Wisconsin military service person special mention of the week, military casualty, and journalist casualty information sources: Committee to Protect Journalists; cnn.com; Milwaukee Journal Sentinel; washingtonpost.com; thehighground.org; Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs; iraqbodycount.org; and, icasualties.org .
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