Visiting Hours

Remember the little black feral kitten I had spayed yesterday? She's recuperating out on my deck. She has a family out there, and some of them came to visit her this afternoon. See the little black kitten on the outside? That's one of her littermates:


I think the big black cat here is one of her parents. He/she seems concerned for her and has been sticking around. There is a smaller adult we think is the mother, so this bigger one might be the father. But... do father cats hang around with their offspring? I've never heard of it. This one certainly seems interested, though.

Spay/Neutering, Part Two

This is the little black kitten that was spayed yesterday. She is now resting in a soft cage on my deck.

After I brought her home this morning, we put the trap out again and caught a second cat; we think this one is the mother of the litter. I will bring the second one home tomorrow morning. Next week, I will try to catch the remaining three little black kittens. After that, my neighbor is going to borrow the trap and try to catch the cats that have been visiting her yard.

We think the colony of cats behind our houses numbers about twelve total. We are trying to keep the number of homeless cats in our neighborhood from expanding. So far, I have prevented one female from giving birth to new litters.

Little Black Kittens

This morning I trapped my first little black kitten and took it in to be neutered. I will pick it up in the morning and bring it home. The little black kitten is one of a litter that was born under my neighbor's porch in June. The parents are part of a cat colony that lives in a tree-lined ravine behind our houses. We have more or less "adopted" the four little kittens, feeding them twice a day and watching them play and sun themselves in our yard. It was fun having them around all summer, but now we have to face reality. They are four months old and will soon be mature enough to have litters of their own. So, I found a non-profit spay/neuter clinic and bought a havahart trap.


I must admit I felt a little guilty trapping the poor little thing; it looked so frightened when the trap slammed closed. It was trying to find a way out. It soon settled down though, and was quiet. Now there are three more of the little black kittens that I will have to trap and have neutered. The first one was the most difficult; I really had to talk myself into setting the trap. The first one got caught because it was the boldest, and would come the closest to us. I feel like I might want to adopt it, but I am afraid it might miss it's littermates. There is also the problem of how they will survive through the winter. We took care of one stray last winter by putting up a tent and filling it with straw. We may have to do the same this year.

Oh, the life of a cat lover... you always worry about them!

What Happened at the Playhouse Last Night?

"Three Sisters" by Anton Chekhov is currently being presented at Cincinnati's Playhouse in the Park. My husband and I attended the preview show last night. I am still trying to explain to myself what happened. The play we saw was adapted by a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright. It was directed by a Tony winning director. The set designer is a Tony winner. The costume designer is a Tony winner. The actors were high caliber, having appeared on Broadway, and one a Tony winner.

The photo above was used in the promotion of the play. Maybe that was part of the problem. When we entered the theater, we wondered if we were in the right place. From what I heard from others around me, they were wondering the same thing. The stage looked like a disaster area. It couldn't have been bleaker. A monotone setting, depicting what looked like an abandoned warehouse, with crumbling walls and a debris-strewn floor. There was one bare light bulb for lighting effect. We couldn't tell if it was supposed to be a home, a factory, a military outpost, or an old office building. The room was furnished with a large wooden desk, an overturned desk chair, and a couple of metal folding chairs. Some of the actors were hidden, crouching in dark corners. They all were dressed in torn, tattered, dirty clothes. The whole atmosphere was bleak, dreary, and hopeless; that was the point of the play, I guess.

The characters did not seem to relate to each other at all; each spoke their lines as if they were performing a soliloquy. There really wasn't much of what I could identify as dialogue; lines seemed to arise suddenly, out of nowhere, with actors leaping suddenly into action from their dark corners. Sometimes it was difficult to tell who was speaking, much less to whom.

I have never thought of myself as particularly unsophisticated or dense. I read the New York Times and do the crossword puzzle every Sunday. I am generally well-read. I studied Classics and French literature in college (maybe I should have studied Russian literature). I watch C-Span and listen to public radio. I don't think I am a "dumb" person; but I did not "get" the play last night. It wasn't just me; many others were leaving at intermission, too. I wonder how many were left in the audience for the second act. I thought to myself, surely Cincinnati will be embarrassed at the number of people who failed to appreciate this play. But I was one of them. I'm still not sure what happened.

A Fall Weekend

The weekend before Halloween. The trees have been beautiful and colorful. Fall has been in its glory. Today it rained all day, and a lot of trees were losing their leaves. I thought I had better take some photos before it was all over. So, I took some photos as I was on my way to my sister's house. I pulled over to the side of the road and took the two pictures above.

The picture below is down the road from my house; it's a stone entrance to a long driveway. Sadly, the tree is now past its prime; it was gorgeous a few days ago, but losing most of its leaves now.


The next picture is the playhouse in my sister's back yard:


The girls were putting on their Halloween costumes for a school party. This is Aubrey, as Cleopatra:


And Sarah is dressing as a devil (her braces adding a bit of flash):


Here they are helping Sammy, the dog, into her costume:


Here is Sammy, in her Trick or Treat sweater. You may notice, she's wearing it in off-the-shoulder "Flashdance" style.

Wasting My Life?

If this is true, I have wasted the better part of the last week. I started with my closet. Took everything out and put back only those things I love. Put summer things away. Gave the rest to Goodwill or the consignment store.

Then I started on the basement. We have two storage areas, both full of "stuff". Seasonal stuff, holiday stuff, stuff we brought with us when we moved. I can't explain what happened to me. It was as if a cleaning demon possessed me. Before I knew it, three hours had passed and the floor was clear! Now we can find things! Like things are grouped together! Things are put away in boxes and on shelves!

It seems like I have an alter self. My "normal self" would look at a job like the closet or the basement, feel overwhelmed, and go read a book. But once in a while, I have a day where my "cleaning self" takes over, and it seems effortless; my energy just flows. I actually experience that "flow" state, in which I'm not even aware of time. This week I had several days in a row when my cleaning self took over. It was amazing!

Tiger At Home

Tiger is back home where he belongs... it was so sad seeing him all alone in that little cage at the hospital. Now he is comfy on the sofa with his little straw friends.