2,000 Words

Tis the season I don’t have time for 2,000 words, so their equivalent will help me touch base. This is what is  going on in my wildlife garden right now. At least six Monarch caterpillars have hatched on the broad leaf Monarch plant that grows as high as the eves out front. It’s a caterpillar condo with the finest acomodations. These guys hatch on the leaves, then start munching them for substance. The ones with finer tastes take a table by the beautiful blooms and have a regular luau.

One has already begun his new cycle. He’s formed a “J” and will soon create a beautiful, gold crowned crysalis, after which he’ll emerge in a week or ten days as a Monarch butterfly to start the cycle over again. I could not resist taking the Jesus candy cane off my lapel to hang beside him. The similarity smacked me in the face.

A glance up the well lit street and my house looks pretty bare of decorations, but then on closer look, nature has added trim no store could match.

Playing in the Salvation Army Band

Don’t we all have an unrealistic, totally off-the-wall dream? Tell me I’m not the only one. Mine has been since early childhood to slip a cape over my shoulder, tie a bonnet under my chin, and play in a Salvation Army street corner band. Guys and Dolls when it came along decades ago did nothing to dampen that yearning. But there I was playing only a clarinet instead of a brass instrument, and playing that none too well.

In defense of the shallowness of my wishes, Jerry and I have long supported the Salvation Army. They do wonderful work with great humility. In nosing around the web I found this unattributed fact sheet and learned many facts I didn’t know. See if you do, too. And when you have finished, think about making a donation “where it will do the most good.”

Revised 2/08 Fact Sheet

(Based on International and U.S. Statistics)

DID YOU KNOW…

 The Salvation Army provides assistance to those in need 365 days a year.

 Founded by William Booth in 1865, The Salvation Army is an international organization that meets the physical and spiritual needs of people in 113 countries around the globe, without discrimination.

 With 8,500 centers of operation in the United States, The Salvation Army assists nearly 36 million individuals nationwide throughout the year – almost 5 million of those during the holiday season alone.

 83% of your donation to The Salvation Army goes directly to program funding to help people who need it most.

 The Salvation Army operates several domestic violence shelters nationwide, where abused women and children can get a fresh start in life, safely and confidentially.

 When you shop at Salvation Army thrift stores, you are supporting adult rehabilitation centers that annually help more than 216,000 people from every walk of life fight substance abuse and return to their communities as participating, contributing members.

 The Salvation Army’s Alegria program in Los Angeles provides transitional and permanent housing and specialized support services to homeless and low-income families affected by HIV/AIDS.

 The red Christmas kettle debuted in San Francisco in 1891 in the guise of a crab pot. A depression had thrown many out of work, including hundreds of seamen and longshoremen. The campaign proved so successful that by 1900 it was imitated nationwide.

 Movie actors Clark Gable, Cary Grant, Frank Sinatra, Marlon Brando, Mae West, and Joan Crawford have all appeared in movies with Army characters.

 More than 3.5 million people volunteer for The Salvation Army nationwide.

 The Salvation Army operates a Missing Persons Program, which helped more than 187,000 people last year.

 The Salvation Army’s Community Care Ministries visited more than 3.3 million people with special needs in hospitals, nursing homes, and correctional facilities last year.

 The Salvation Army assists nearly 19.8 million people with basic social services each year.

 The Salvation Army provided an opportunity to camp for more than 193,000 underprivileged children, seniors, and adults last year.

 The Salvation Army was at the frontlines in World Wars I and II, offering comfort and pastoral guidance.

 The Salvation Army provided nearly 76,000 job referrals last year.

 Peter Drucker called The Salvation Army “by far the most effective organization in the U.S.,” in Forbes magazine.

 The red shield dates from 1896 and serves as the trademark for the Army’s social services.

 Known for their brass band music, The Salvation Army has approximately 2,500 brass bands worldwide.

 Since the 1920s, a Salvation Army brass band from Southern California has marched in the Tournament of Roses Parade.

 The phrase “on the wagon” was coined by men and women receiving the services of The Salvation Army. Former National Commander Evangeline Booth – founder William Booth’s daughter – drove a hay wagon through the streets of New York to encourage alcoholics on board for a ride back to The Salvation Army. Hence, alcoholics in recovery were said to be “on the wagon.”

 The first Salvation Army band was formed in 1882 by accident. Charles Frye and his sons offered their services as bodyguards for Salvation Army street preachers. They began playing music on their brass instruments to give them something to do while they protected the officers, and soon after quit their family business to lead the Army’s music department.

 The Salvation Army led in the formation of the USO – United Services Organization. The USO operates service units, which serve members of the armed forces abroad.

 “Strawberry Fields Forever” in the Beatles 1966 song by that name, is John Lennon’s nostalgic reference to a Salvation Army orphanage called Strawberry Field In Woolton, England. Lennon is said to have played with childhood friends in the trees behind the orphanage when he was a boy.

Snowing

Oh, it’s snowing on the bleached woods of the Wekiva River, wetting my anhinga’s wings. How cool is that?

Thanks, WordPress.

A Strange Dead Cat

What do you do when a strange cat dies in your backyard? The big gray, furry thing lay at the edge of the fern all day, shifting positions only slightly when one of my cats came to the window or when I talked to him. And then late in the day he ceased all movement.. So I tapped on a window. Nothing. Then a closer window. Nothing. That’s when I began to wonder what a person does with a dead cat. I’ve buried many animals in that yard, including a 100+ pound lab, but it’s been a long week and I did not feel like digging though the vine filled yard. How about the county? No, he’s not on county property; he’s on MY property. He’s my problem.

My cats perched  in the windows watching, even talking cat talk, and still he lay there. So I went out the front door to circle around, and grabbed a large stick at the last moment in case a rabid cat suddenly attacked. The spot where he curled motionless could not be seen until I was three feet from it. I took a deep breath and stepped into the opening, not believing what I saw—a perfect circle of crushed fern, an empty circle. There would be no need for the shovel tonight. Thank God!

Unless he just crawled farther back in the fern to finish his exit. Oh, please, let it not be.

Name that Day

Picture: Wikkepdia

Bad Banana tweeted Saturdays are calendar kittens. That got me to wondering what the other days of the week might be. That dromedary camel above has got to be hump day Wednesday, but I know you clever bloggers and viewers out there can come up with killer euphenisms for all the days. Heck, re-do Saturday if you can beat Bad Banana. I’m waiting.

Marilyn

I went to another funeral today. The skies were overcast and a cold wind was blowing, weather so unlike Marilyn. She was always smiling and beatific. Her daughter said in her remarks that her mother hated the “F word” and never used it, but once in the dark days of her breast cancer she looked at her and said, “Fuck cancer!” May I add an “amen?”

Cat Snips and Tips

There is a new kitten out in Blogdom, I understand. This post is for her/him and all the others out there. These four items work for me, but you know how cats are; past performance is no guarantee of future performance.

 

• Guests to my house don’t know I have cats for two reasons; one, the cats hide until they leave, but most important, they can’t smell the litter box. At least that’s what they tell me. This is probably because I layer newspaper quite thickly at the bottom of the litter box, then pour Fresh Start (though others might work) on top of that. Important here: I do not use clumping litter because it creates little fragrance balls even cooking cabbage can’t mask. With my method, the urine soaks the newspapers which is covered by the nicely scented litter and holds that ammonia scent in. (Thanks to Abbe for this tip.)
• Does your furniture look like shredded wheat? Mine does. Four new leather chairs now feel like dotted Swiss under your fingers. Obviously I learned the following trick too late, but will continue to avoid further damage. Seeing my furniture still covered with quilts and sheets from the night a wise lady asked if I had tried foil. Foil? She said cats hate it, the sound scares them. You can bet I picked up a cheap role and spread it across one chair that night—and subsequent nights for a week. Result: no new scratches although the chair is mostly exposed. In fact, the minute she hears the foil going on, Emma (the culprit) runs from the room. This is only one week’s trial but I am ceasing my research (as they say) because the results appear so promising. I’ll begin to scatter foil on all four chairs at night.
• How embarrassing it was to leave for my super garbage guys a garbage can so smelly I hated to lift the lid to add to it. I am here to tell you the problem is solved. I no longer drop kitty litter bags into the big can, but in a small can beside it. No, it doesn’t smell up the whole garage because of my secret weapon—Glad Bags new odor shield plastic bags. I just plop the dirty bags into that (no cover) and once a week close it up and put in the big can. This would work for dog poop, too. (For the government police dogs out there: I have received no compensation from Glad Bag or, as a matter of fact, Fresh Start. They don’t know I exist.)
• Now this is the most important point. If you remember nothing else, remember this. When you cat is meowing or caterwauling or whatever he does and he doesn’t respond to food or clean litter, you can be pretty sure what he really wants is YOU. Put him in your lap or lie beside him on the floor and stroke him and talk to him. I must credit blogger OmbudsBen for this revelation. When I read a post from him a while back a light came on. He may have been talking about his dog. I really don’t remember, but since then I hear his advice every time chirps and Charo sounds come from my kitties. (They don’t meow.) Attention soothes them every time.

 

Just don’t look to me for advice when your cat falls in love with a stone frog.

Mom, He’s Copying Me!

M

On Halloween Street

 

Attached to kiddie cart

Granddaughter H-2's prize winning pumpkin in center

Also attached to kiddie cart

Boy on street with headdress of found peacock feathers

No more Raggedy Ann with X's for eyes. This generation is creative!

 

 

A Sign?

I opened the sliding door to the linen closet and saw this:

Was it a sign? A message? Only to me or to the world at large spoken from beside a dirty clothes basket?

I don’t really know, but should anyone care to worship in my front yard, for your convenience, there will be a donation box near the entrance. Careful with the candles, though. The grass is pretty dry.