11-18-13 Happy Anniversary Krissy Lou

Maha's Anniversary Greeting 

So the other night -- very late, probably around the dread late lion hour of 4:30 am I was abruptly called out of sleep by animal ruckus outside. I have no recollection of whatever the noise was that brought me to sit bolt upright. Usually it's cat ruckus.  But this time the sounds were secondary to the sight of the fleeting legs and body of a large dark animal running past my loft window and around the house.  Deer, I thought.  

Running very fast, like it was on the chase.  Instinctively I opened up the window and bellowed "WHAT'S GOING ON OUT THERE!!" in my most ‘break-it-up-or-else’ voice.  Then silence, no lingering ruckus or feline shrieking.  Okay all good, back to sleep.

Deer.  They are all over my yard and gardens.   They come right up to the house and eat the big rose bush growing outside my loft bed. They've eaten everything this year, even hot pepper plants.  Can't blame them they are hungry.  It's that time of year and still very dry.   I'm used to seeing them around the house and in the garden at night.  There was a buck by the barn that very evening when I came home.

Well I went back to sleep, only to awaken in the morning to -- no cats on the bed...???  No cats coming for their breakfast....?????   WHERE ARE THE CATS  ...!!!

Okay this has happened before.  Several times actually.  I know exactly what happened to the cats.  Now the picture is perfectly clear.  That wasn't a deer romping around the house that I saw at the dread late lion hour, it was none other than the Maha, and obviously on the chase.  That explains why I sat bolt upright in bed from a sound sleep.  It's exactly what happens when I hear him out calling in the night.  The presence is electrifying.  It always awakens me.  Oh DEAR.


So WHERE ARE THE CATS??

Well the first thing I saw when going out for sun prayers that morning was a big piece of wood from the flower bed that had been dislodged.   This is where I saw the beastie running to, from my window.  It’s WAY too big to have been moved by the feet of little cats.  Hmmm.

More exclaiming of "WHERE ARE THE CATS!!!!".

Slowly they emerged.  Nanna Bella was one of the first.  Then Bitsy, but she ran out and I didn’t see her for another whole day.  Around noon Peaches appeared.  They all of them looked towards the front of the house anxiously and didn’t want to eat much.   

I decided to go out and look for more signs.   The trail of his presence isn’t hard to spot when he’s been around.  No footprints to be seen in the driveway, but oh my, the fresh scratches on his favorite manzanita bush out front.  My my my he scratch up a storm.  Whoo-hoo!!  All excited!

But.  Where are the cats.

I spent the day calling for them, going out periodically and walking around the barn, the trailer, the near woods, looking up tall trees, calling their names. “C’mon!!  Are they coming???   Amon RA!!!!!”

And every so often “WHERE ARE THE CATS!!".  

At one point I took a walk out onto the pasture to see if there were any carcasses or bits of black fur lying around.  Several times I’ve come across large partially eaten dead birds out there, most likely the work of the Maha.  Lots of lion poop out there too on the trails.

So about 5:30 pm I got into a nice eucalyptus bath and had a good soak for an hour.  Just as I was finishing up, all dressed and about to leave the room, who do I see emerging out of the closet from behind a suitcase but Amon Ra ----  I mean, he was so spooked he hid in the closet all day and didn’t even come out to see what I was doing in the room for the last hour?  Is that normal feline behavior??  I think not.

No, they were spooked.  All of them.  I finally saw Boobs on the barn roof around sunset.  She wouldn’t come down.  She was on watch.  That afternoon Love Whisker also showed up and that was like -- remembering when he died and came back again, all over again.  What a great story, he’s a great cat. He’s the reincarnation of himself.  I couldn’t bear to lose Love Whisker so soon again.  No, he emerged from somewhere and was just like the others, looking around anxiously towards the front of the house and not eating much. Spooked.  But at least they were slowly returning.

I kept telling the cats that appeared -- go out and look for the others.  Finally the last 2, Mojo and Sissy showed up by evening.  Whew! 

So what was that about, you ask?  Does it HAVE to be about something?  

New chaos from kitchen remodeling

Just so happens, I think it is.  There was a very significant date a few days ago, for me and the Maha.  Nov. 10th, our anniversary of sorts.  I thought about walking back there that day, but then got busy with some herbal work and trying to make order out of the chaos in my kitchen, and forgot about it.

Well obviously HE didn’t forget.   He came through to say Hi I’m HERE, Maha style.  "Happy Anniversary Krissy Lou."

How exciting, how sweet!  Happy Anniversary Maha.  Thanks for not eating my cats!