Tag Archives: I am Elwha

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Expert level

No, Elwha has not been found. I have lots of photographs. He was a funny cat. Ate too much and then tried to trade toys for food when I decreased what I fed him. He loved boxes and he loved tummy rubs. He seemed to think about food, tummy rubs and sleep, mostly. He would like to catch birds. He was not sedentary but was expert level at relaxing.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: sedentary.

The song is by the Yes Yes Boys: Everybody’s Crazy About the Doggone Blues. I think Elwha would like it.

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Northern lights

Walt Kelly wrote this poem, which I love.

Northern lights

Oh, roar a roar for Nora,
Nora Alice in the night,
For she has seen Aurora
Borealis burning bright.

A furore for our Nora!
And applaud Aurora seen!
Where, throughout the Summer, has
Our Borealis been?

________________________

A friend named her daughter Nora and I sent her a copy. I especially love the word furore, because it doesn’t rhyme , even though it seems like it should.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: aurora.

Elwha is still missing and I did not see the aurora, though tons of friends have posted pictures. This shot of Elwha is from January. I wonder if he saw the lights in the sky?

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leaves

I am working in Grand Junction, Colorado. There are not as many leaves here as at home, but the leaves are still hiding my cat! I am mad at the leaves and sad. Elwha is still missing and it’s been a week. I have had food and the carrier out for him, put up posters on Facebook, contacted the shelters and vets, and searched and searched.

The carrier failed and the door popped off when I put it down. Elwha ran. Sol Duc was still in it, so I put the door back on as fast as I could! Then I left the carrier and went after Elwha, but could not find him. I kept going out and searching, including at 2 am.

Maybe he will show up at home. It’s only 1215 miles by car.

We had another cat who disappeared and we thought was gone. The hardware store called us a month later and said, “We have your cat.” She was thinner and scared to go outside. Elwha only goes out in carrier or with leash and harness. There are prairie dogs and a canal with low trees and bushes behind the building here. I don’t think he’s there, but I am still putting food out. There is another stray tiger who now comes out to study me from a distance.

Anyhow, I wish the leaves would send him back.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: leaves.

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Comfort?

Mother says we are at a Comfort Inn, but I don’t think so. I am NOT comfortable! Mother packed things for days and took them out to a car. Not the usual one! We don’t like it when she leaves, but this time she kept taking OUR things out. Our privy! Toys! The playtube! Our crate! We wondered if she was giving them to Other Cats, horrors. But then she put our harnesses on and put us in the carrier and in the new weird smelling car. The car went with us trapped inside! And it went and went and went.

We objected. Mother had a net between the front and back, but we both outwitted that easily. Sol Duc went under the seats. I sat on Mother’s lap. She stopped and explained that this was not safe. I knew that! Cars aren’t safe! She put us back in the carrier and moved things around and then we rode in our crate. We had food and water and our privy. We could see Mother and the horrible terrible trucks around us. We complained some but at least we were in the crate. We slept sometimes.

At last Mother stopped and put us in the carrier again. It smells very strange outside and we are NOT at home. She took us in to the Comfort Place. I refused to leave the carrier. She took the top off, but I can hide under the top.

We really do not know what will happen today. Mother can be very crafty. We outwit nets, but the car is more difficult. We do want to stay with Mother.

Last night we used the harnesses to make new art. We are crafty too.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: craft.

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I am Elwha

Mother is cutting our food again. Sol Duc and I would rather eat through the day whenever we feel like it AND out of each other’s bowls. She picks up my bowl sometimes! Then the other bowl is empty and there is NOTHING!

As you can see, I continue to offer my favorite things in exchange for food. Mother took platy, but she just rinsed her in the sink. I got her back when she dried. Sometimes if I drop toys in the puddle, the little ants come. They do not taste good. They are not good food. Sol Duc and I persist, though.

I may put the finger box back on the small noisy sky thing setting. Since Mother won’t give us more food. She did get a new water thing. I am not sure about it. I would rather have food.

Ragtag Daily Prompt: puddle.

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The finger box

Ho hum. Mom is on the finger box again. She sits and stares at it and her fingers tap it all over. Sometimes it is noisy, too and she sings along!

My sister and I know how to lock it with the tiny fly thing, just like they look up in the sky. Much to our dismay, Mother has figured out how to unlock it. She got frustrated the first time.

We don’t want her to spend too much time on the finger box!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: Ho hum.

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Safe/Not Safe

I think safety is an illusion. BUT it is also nice to feel safe and embrace the illusion.

I sleep best in tents, because as a child, I felt safest at our families “shacks on a lake” in Ontario. Cabins, but pretty much one room cabins. No electricity, outhouses, and my family lived in tents. I loved it. I was more afraid of people than bears.

The pandemic, or this pandemic, has made people feel less safe. But that safety was an illusion too. I had influenza in 2003 and was out sick for two months. I had a racing heart and it hurt to breathe. No asthma. Only rest seemed to help. My doctor and I had no idea when it would resolve. It resolved after two months. My partners accused me of malingering and lying.

A fast heart rate can come from a panic attack, but it works the other way too. If your heart rate is very fast, you may feel panicky. When I nebulize people with albuterol for the first time, I warn them that it may feel like adrenaline, it may speed their heart and they might feel panicky. A friend with Long Covid kept saying that maybe they were just anxious. I got them to have an Urgent Care test them: a resting and a walking heart rate. At rest 72 beats per minute. Normal. Walking, their heart rate jumped to 165, very abnormal! Normal is 70-100 beats per minute, though if one is out of shape, 110 or 120 can result from unaccustomed exercise. But there is no way an athlete in their 20s should jump to 165. The Long Covid heart rate was driving the anxiety, not the other way around.

After I had the 2003 influenza, I read a book of essays about the 1918-1921 influenza pandemic. And I realized that we would probably have a pandemic in my lifetime. I thought it would be influenza, not coronavirus! Hopefully the world will learn a little from this one and change a little over time and be a little more sane if (ok, when) there is another pandemic.

I saw this video today. Wow, what costumes (all 1970s) and dancing! Wonderful! And such a sad song about a broken friendship that used to feel safe.

I hope that you have places or people that you feel safe with. Elwha sometimes likes to sit in the cat tent, even if it is partly open. It feels safe.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: safe.