Is It Spring Yet??? (Wednesday, March 10, 1999)

I thought that it might be when Mutabilis burst into bloom, but now I'm not so sure. After the rainiest February in history (according to the folks who keep track of such things), and also one of the coldest for our neck of the woods, we finally got a few beautiful sunny days. I was delirious. I rushed out to the garden and ruined my back by digging, planting, pruning, planting, mulching, and planting some more. The roses thought it was happening too and buds formed almost overnight. Then, just the other night, we were hit by another Arctic front which slammed heavy squalls laden with hail against the house. The next day I drove to work in a mushy mixture of snow and rain. Brrrrrr. Even though things are greening up on the hills behind us, it doesn't really seem like Spring. Sigh. I was so ready for it! Our hailstorm was accompanied by huge, ominous rolls of thunder culminating in giant explosions. The cats were agitated and piled onto my bed for comfort and safety. It probably wouldn't have been so bad (they are warm, furry little things and make nice cozy spots where they lie) except that several of them are heavy, resulting in my being pinned in place with cats on all sides. Handsome, our only male, now tips the scale at 17 pounds and is one impressive fellow. Whiteface is close behind at 14 pounds and the others are no slouches in the weight department. A four-cat night begins to resemble sleeping with a couple of sacks of potatoes -- not a whole lot of fun. I finally kicked them off, mercilessly, to face their thunder terrors on their own. We still love all of our kitties but we are being forced to re-think the terms on which we are willing to live with them. We have found that, where one or two cats might be fine living in the house, five dominate our home to totally that we are devising ways of excluding them from our living spaces. It seems that there must be a Critical Cat Population of some sort and we have passed it. With so many cats sharing one small house we are subject to endless cat politics regarding territory -- bristling and snarling at each other over prime couch spaces, a very specific order in which they take their place at the food bowl when it is freshly filled, and (worst of all) increased spraying and marking of the furniture and obscure corners of the house. This last is exacerbated by the presence of two (2!!) feral tomcats who prowl our garden and come in to finish off the cat food left out at night. These guys are obligated by their natures to spray when they arrive and leave and then, of course, our cats must leave retaliatory messages around the rooms. Ugh. I can't stand it any longer. We are faced with throwing out our living room furniture and starting all over again -- this time with no cat door. I haven't had the heart to throw them out into the winter weather so this major upheaval will take place when spring finally and truly arrives. We are planning a "cat porch" on the back of the house which we will create by enclosing a covered walkway that already exists. We can put in windows and install doors at the ends and make a fairly comfy space that they can share in any way they work out among themselves. We will build "cat platforms" at various levels for sleeping spaces and keep the food out there. This will have to be the place where they bring gophers to devour and leave the bloody entrails to speak their prophecies. This will also be the place where they regurgitate these same gophers -- often mere minutes after gobbling them down. Here they can carry on their intricate relationships and carpet the floor with thick dust bunnies of their hair. Joel and I will live like humans again and, hopefully, our house will once more smell more like a "normal" house. Ah yes, I can't wait 'til spring!!

Previous Rose Wraps Many Changes (Monday, April 17, 2000) Where's Alice??? (Monday, August 16, 1999) Ah, the Celebration...... (Wednesday, May 19, 1999) Long Time, No Wrap.... (Tuesday, April 6, 1999) Is It Spring Yet??? (Wednesday, March 10, 1999) Mothers Day in Mendocino... (Friday, February 26, 1999) Old Blush (Tuesday, February 9, 1999) Plum Blossoms (Wednesday, January 27, 1999) The Dead of Winter (Friday, January 15, 1999) The Old Year Passeth.... (Monday, January 4, 1999) Alba Madness! (Thursday, December 10, 1998) The Weather Again (Thursday, November 19, 1998) El Nino/La Nina (Monday, November 9, 1998)

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White Rabbit Roses
P.O. Box 191, Elk, CA 95432
Proprietor: Alice Flores
Colophon