Cat Yard Back in Action

I zip tied the cat yard wire back together this morning, because the cats are unhappy with confinement and driving me nuts, to be honest. So I took it slow and did it, using my ladder.

I am building some outdoor litter boxes, too. I got two big plastic storage containers quite awhile ago, when they were on sale, and now just have to build a roof to go over them. This is to keep the cats from using the fresh dirt, that never has grown grass out there, for a litter box. I'm using scrap wood, painting it to seal it from the moisture, to build the covers. I got the outdoor paint at the Habitat Store for almost nothing. It is an odd color, however. Who cares?

In news on Angel, when I stopped by there the other day, to let them know why I had not returned the two kittens, I saw the two boys I believe are the ones the former boondoggie told me had both beaten Angel and been evicted. It was then I knew she was lying about something, and maybe about it all. So, I no longer trust at all the validity of that story concerning how Angel was injured. It could be true. It is rare, if a cat is hit by a car, that one leg would be broken in the rear on one side and another on the other side, in front. So I do believe his injuries came as a result of human abuse. I don't know who did this to him or what really happened.

I went to Kmart to get some silicone sealant, for the outdoor cat house that is leaking and my gosh, the store was over run with shoppers. The clerk said, when I checked out, "You didn't buy any of the big sale items." I said, "I know."

A Walmart employee back east was killed in a stampede of early morning Black Friday shoppers who broke down the doors early. That's just sick.

I'm glad the terrorists have finally all been killed or captured in India. What a horrible thing. What is up with these disgruntled people training to kill in mass. According to accounts, they were ruthless, showed no mercy. We sure live in a violent world filled with a lot of unhappy people.

Speaking of which, I ran into an unhappy woman at Kmart. I recognized her because I've helped her with some cats. She is very religious. When I ran into her and asked, just in conversation, if she was there to get bargains for Christmas, she became very downcast looking, even sadder, and said she didn't believe in Christmas and would not celebrate such a pagan holiday. She said then "Do you know, in pagan origins, Santa Claus represents the devil?"

I didn't know that, or, if it's true. But I said, "Almost all our holidays have pagan origins. Did you know the symbol Christian culture has come to recognize as that of devil worship, actually once was the symbol of fertility and the woman?"

She said, "I knew that and those people worshipped humans, so it's just as bad."

I said "But do you see what I mean, that many mainstream patriarchal churches have deliberately assigned new diabolical meanings to old symbols, in order to not only control women but distort religious belief from truth? And so, we can make these holidays mean whatever we want them to mean. Good things even."

She conceded but told me again, there was only one true church, the one she belongs to, and that Jesus is coming soon and I better be ready and "back in the fold".

She ignored that big elephant in the living room--her own depression and the fact she is living unmarried with some guy who makes her unhappy, solely because she fears being alone. I thought briefly of saying something like "You're living in sin. Remove first the mote from your own eye." Instead, I said nothing, and encouraged her to find a way to happiness. I hope she can find a way to be happy.

Well anyway, nonetheless, in full knowledge Christmas is a total mishmash of distorted pagan symbols, meanings, and Christian belief, I am going to the Christmas parade tonight in Corvallis. I cannot forget the one year and the group that made me laugh so hard, I think hot chocolate was coming back out my nose---the dancing librarians.

They were just marching along in the parade, pushing book carts. UNTIL....the lead librarian turned to face her fellows, and blew a whistle. Suddenly the librarians began a drill dance routine with their book carts that was both amazing and drop dead funny. They weren't there last year, but I keep hoping beyond hope to see again the dancing librarians in the Christmas parade.

I had some old soft tomatoes in the frig, too old to use for anything but making salsa, so I made some. I didn't have enough tomatoes to make much. And I didn't have two ingredients I like to use to make salsa--fresh cilantro and fresh limes. But it came out just fine, with what I had to add--a few garlic gloves I cut up, a jalapeno, fresh, and onion. I prefer to use green onions, added late, so they retain some crunchiness and at least one bell pepper, but I didn't have these things, so I made do. The salsa is great!