The River

“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.

The river was cut by the world's great flood

and runs over rocks from the basement of time.

On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops.

Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs.

I am haunted by waters.”

-Norman Maclean, A River Runs Through It and Other Stories 

Extreme Life-Force

I got a late evening call from Na, on the last day of her involvement with the Massage Shop.

"Ray...there is this tiny black cat...just come to the shop...hiding in the plants...very hungry and skinny...girl...long straight tail...big round eyes..."

...[pause]

"Ray...I can't just push her away...she will die...what can I do?"

Clearly a firm, authoritative voice is required here from the Alpha Male of the household...

"....umh....on the way home, Na, you need to visit the Animal Doctor, get treatment for fleas, and check if she is sick, or she might make all the cats sick!"

"OK...see you soon."

Evidently, the correct voice...

So, now, Sooty has joined the family!

ye gawds! What a cat!

About the size of a tennis ball, when curled up...unravelled, an impossibly skinny skeleton on unsteady, knitting needle legs; skin sagging, like a deflated black latex balloon; enormous bats ears; eyes bulging, round as saucers, burning like they have candles inside; numerous scars on ear, scalp, shoulder and tummy; when she moves, it is clear she favours one hind leg...the first 6 weeks of her life have not been easy...

We put some food on a saucer, and place it in front of her...immediately, she stands over it, growling and eating simultaneously! In seconds the food is gone!

We repeat the process...same result!

In 24 hours Sooty eats 6 large meals, doubles her weight, demonstrates toilet hygiene, initiates contact and relationships with 4 reluctant full-grown "sisters", takes control of her humans and their habitation...

And...starts to play and exude the Joy of Living. This is her give-back.

Welcome home, Sooty!

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Our return guest today is Ray Storey, an Australian now living his second lifetime in Bangkok, Thailand.  You can find him over at Thaivillage where you can really get your education on everything Thai.  Thank you, Ray, for joining us again here at V&V.

Almost a Meadow

As some of you might remember, I ripped out our front lawn last summer. Over many weeks I replaced it first with a layer of cardboard and covered that with a three inch layer of compost. Almost 1900 square feet of dirt broke down over the fall and winter into spring. 

Knowing that I can hardly plant the entire area in just one year, I put out seeds of poppies (Papaver), California poppies (Eschscholzia californica) and other local wildflowers over one part of the dirt. Other parts I started to plant in late fall with drought tolerant, native plants. I mixed in some native shrubs, grasses and lavender. And then I just let it rest over the winter. 

Soon after the winter rains had started the first seedlings appeared. The only ones I recognized were the California poppies, but I wasn’t sure about many of the other ones. I even wondered whether some of them were actually weeds instead of wildflowers (which sometimes can be the same anyway). Since I didn’t know for sure I decided to just wait it out and see what would emerge out of those seedlings. 

What I finally got is almost a meadow – a beautiful meadow of orange, pink, red, white, lavender and blue flowers. The California poppies dominate by far; I call them the happy flowers. The loveliest surprise, however, have been the papaver poppies. They came along fierce and strong in beautiful colors, some of them bicolor. I discover new ones on a daily basis, and their exquisite beauty makes my heart sing. The flowers don’t last very long, a few days at the most, but their beauty isn’t gone since the flowers are followed by their gorgeous unique seedpods. 

Hopefully they will reseed and show their beauty again next year.