Irony

Why do we kill people
Who kill people
To show people that
Killing people is wrong?

Whining

Beautiful, sunny day in Michigan. The birds are singing, flowers are blooming and I'm stuck in the library researching a paper for a summer independent study class.....can't get suckier than this!

A Different Kind of Toad

I'm almost a little embarassed to post this....oh, well.

Our home sits on a city lot... 80 x 100. About 10 years ago, I decided to become eco-friendly and started converting all our back lawn into garden space. Along the east side is a large shade garden, the north a conglomeration of bushes (currants, honeysuckle, dogwood, forsythia), the west side is a mixture of flowers (black-eyed susan, roses, spiderwort and red raspberry bushes) and the middle has been converted into a sun garden. The only grass left is under my clothes lines which are infrequently used and may be used to begin a grape arbor....I've gone nuts but I love gardening! In order to be certified as a natural wildlife habitat, I added a pond, wood pile, and native plants. But in all the 22 years we've lived here, I have never once seen a toad or frog.

Now I grew up in the country....frogs and toads were a part of the ecosystem. In fact, my dreaded fear when I was cutting the grass was running over one of the little suckers and killing or amputating legs...which unfortunately I did a number of times. So living in an area without toads was different. At one point, I considered 'appropriating' a few from a park and seeing if they would live in our yard, but decided that wasn't a good idea. If they didn't live there why would I import a few to die?

Well, last week Bob called me over and there in the middle of my lily of the valley plants was a little toad...I was ecstatic! I smiled most of the day. I know, you're thinking....simple pleasures for simple minds! (me, too!)

This morning, I went out to feed the fish (that's another story entirely) in the pond and what do I see?? A toad swimming around in the pond! Unfortunatey, it had no way of getting out.....so dressed in my work clothes and already 15 minutes late for work, I begin to build a 'toad ramp' to make sure my new found friends don't croak (sorry) in the water!



Nice to know the eco-friendly features are starting to pay off!

Toad

Since Libby is no longer with us, our cat, Toad, has been going through an 'adjustment' period.

We adopted her about 12 years ago. She was found in the Meijer parking lot wearing a pick collar and since our cat, Shady, had died two weeks prior, I brought her home.

Originally (the first week) she was a very sociable cat. Allowed us to pet her and generally was easy going. I didn't want the kids to become attached to her so I told them to call her "Toad" until we determined if she was lost....evidently she was not. She had been abandoned. So we took her to the vet and found out she was approximately 10 months old and in relatively good shape. I brought her home, took off the pink collar and she seemed to change before our eyes. No longer sociable and hissing became a part of the sounds of our house. Libby was the dominant female and Toad happily kept 'under the radar'. Her place was upstairs and Libby's was downstairs. Toad slept in the girl's room and Libby slept in our room or Michael's room.

Well, she has been an 'interesting' cat. I have never in my 51 years years NOT been able to win a cat over.....until Toad. She wants nothing to do with humans....except to sleep on Melinda's back at night or sit on their laps in the winter (but don't pet her or she jumps off and runs away). I have always been the manicurist for our felines, but after a failed attempt (with Bob's help) and lacerated arms, I decided to let the veterinary assistant keep her trimmed. After many months of trying to acclimate her to human touch, we basically have given up and make sure she is safe, warm and fed....and she's been happy with that....until now.

Now that Libby is gone, she doesn't know what to do. The first week, she walked through the house as if Libby would jump out at her at any minute. Now she is slightly more settled and has taken to sleeping on our bed or jumping up on the cat perch outside. Yesterday, she joined me in the garden while I was weeding and proceeded to get high on catnip and hiss at me. Last night, I woke up to feel her behind my legs on the bed.

I would like to believe she may finally have given into bonding with her humans...somehow I doubt it. *smile*

"Marni Stories"

Ok, I have a sense of humor. In fact, I make a point of telling people stories about myself...especially what my family refers to as "Marni stories". Those wonderful times when I have embarassed myself or done something really stupid. We've all been there...I just like to share these stories. In fact, one of my favorite sayings is "a woman who laughs at herself never ceases to be amused". I don't take myself seriously...or at least I try not to.

Example One: My husband and I were traveling in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We'd left our young children with family and driven off for an overnight 'adult' trip. We're out in the boonies and drive past a small pole barn with a sign "Superior Fish Market". I scoffed and said "Good Lord, what were they going to call it?? INFERIOR Fish Market???". I was laughing until my husband quietly said: "What lake are we by?". My reply: "Lake Superior". groan.

Example Two: I had not bought a tire from a store in about 15 years. One day, I had a flat and had to go to Discount Tire. I fully expected to be overcharged because I'm a woman but I walked in and told th em size and style, checked all the fine print on the invoice and decided I was getting a fair deal. When they changed my tire, I went out and saw it and proceeded to indignantly tell the repairman: "I didn't order a BLUE wall, I ordered a WHITE wall". Very calmly, in his best imitation of a yokel, he informed me: "Mam, that thar blue wall is a protective coating and if you go through a car warsh, it's darn amazing...it comes right off! Darned if these new fangled things ain't the greatest!" I quietly shuffled to my car and drove home.

I wish I could say there are only a few "Marni" stories, but unfortunately I can't....I swear God presents with me challenges just to see how blind I can be! chuckle

Late Ripeness - Czeslaw Milosz

Not soon, as late as the approach of my ninetieth year,
I felt a door opening in me and I entered
the clarity of early morning.
One after another my former lives
were departing,like ships, together with their sorrow.

And the countries, cities, gardens,
the bays of seasassigned to my brush came closer,
ready now to be described better than they were before.
I was not separated from people,grief and pity joined us.

We forget - I kept saying - that we are all children of the King.
For where we come from there is no division
into Yes and No, into is, was, and will be.
We were miserable, we used no more than a
hundredth partof the gift we received for our long journey.

Moments from yesterday and from centuries ago -
a sword blow, the painting of eyelashes before a mirror
of polished metal, a lethal musket shot, a caravel
staving its hull against a reef - they dwell in us,
waiting for a fulfillment.

I knew, always, that I would be a worker
in the vineyard,as are all men and women
living at the same time,
whether they are aware of it or not.

Tribute to Libby

1991 - 2007

How do you say goodbye to a cat who has been part of your family?

I came back from Wisconsin and Libby was laying on the landing to the basement and I knew we would have to say good-bye soon. The vets tried to help her, but she was weak and it wouldn't have been fair to her to keep trying so I let her leave this world gently in my arms with Michael and Melinda beside me.

Libby came into our lives in 1991 at 10 months old, taped inside a box which had been thrown in the dumpster behind a store. Thrown away to be crushed by the trash compactor. Whoever put here there should burn slowly....

I brought her home and she became part of our family, subserviant to Shady and playmate to Honey, our great big lab who was cowed by thelittle orange cat. How many times they laid together on the living room floor, both on their backs and within inches of each other, enjoying the air from the fan or sharing a patch of sunlight, Libby licking Honey's ears and Honey quietly praying she wouldn't get swiped. Gotta love the cat!

Libby was very particular about her catnip. I bought four kinds of catnip for my garden but she would only eat one plant (right to the ground). Her favorite spot was on the 'cat perch'...an old ladder and platform for the kids swing set. She spent so many summer days laying in the sun....I will miss her.

When she was young, her favorite haunt at night was with Michael, sleeping at his feet when he was younger or jumping up to sleep in his loft bed when he was at school. The last few years, she has shared the pillows between Bob and me as if she owned the bed and was letting us share it.

Libby's favorite spot was Melinda's lap, especially when she was trying to crochet. She was so quiet that sometimes she would be on your lap and fast asleep before you realized she was there.

We will miss you, Libster. Rest in peace, little friend.