Wednesday, February 28, 2007

SWEET, SWEET BOTAS THE FARM CAT

Eliza came in from feeding the cats Sunday evening and said, "Mommy, I think Botsie is dead." She and I walked back out on the porch, and when I saw Botas,I knew Eliza was right--Botas had moved into the world of spirit. I picked her up, held her close, and checked out her body carefully. I found no injury and had no sense of trauma surrounding her body..I am convinced she just exhaled and then just didn't inhale again...Such incredible peace and completement I've really never seen. Yeah and thank you, Botas!!!

Boticas (bo-tee'-kas), as my friend Laida always called her, was about 16 years old. One of the secretaries at Marietta High School, where I worked at the time, had kittens to give away, and this little black and white-footed cat with an extra toe on her front paws came our way. Samuel must have been about 4 or 5 at the time. She was the classic "Boots" cat, but with millions of Boots already in existence, we called her "Botas" (boots, in Spanish..pronounced bow'tahs)...Immediately she became Samuel's bed cat, and the two of them slept together all the years Samuel lived at home. Since he's been at college, Botas has always sensed when Samuel was coming home, waiting patiently outside until he was home and then insisting to come in to sneek upstairs to his room...Samuel contends Botas ranks as the best farm sleeping cat ever.



Botas has spent a lot of time inside this winter. Somehow, I think all of us at The Farm have sensed that she was moving toward leaving us and leaping into the Universe. Her energy has been serene, very peaceful yet alive and spunky for her age... I snapped these photos of her one afternoon when she made herself at home on my bed. Eliza and I have both slept with her over the course of the winter, as did Samuel when he was home over the holidays. (Botas always insisted on sleeping on or between my feet...On the coldest evenings, I put her on my bed to warm up my space before I hopped in, and when I got in, she'd come stretch out right on top of my feet! Didn't seem too comfortable for her to me, but it was her sleep position of choice.)

When I told him of her passage, Tom said he had observed how recently she slept long, peaceful hours in the tacky orange chair in the computer room. He said he had the thought that one day we'd just find her there, out of her body...And basically, that's how she orchestrated her passage out on the deck with the sliver moon in the sky above...Pretty incredible, huh? She just checked out.

A couple of weeks ago when I was home alone, I got out a feather on a string, and Botas started running back and forth across the floor after it..She had slowed down considerably from her kitty-hood, but she played, crouching and wiggling her tail right before she pounced on the feather with truly youthful spirit. I remember thinking that ole' Botsie was having a really good time as we played.

And one evening in the last two weeks, Eliza and I watched her play like a kitten with a toy mouse that Loonis, our very scraggly farm cat, left on the dining room floor. She swatted with it...knocked it away....poised....and then pounced on it again, throwing it up into the air and attacking it yet again as it fell. She was absorbed in her playfulness, and she reminded me at that moment that even we older folks need to play like a kitten...It was good, good medicine.

Molly hung close by her side when E. and I brought her into the house to wrap her for placement back to the Earth. I'm convinced Molly witnessed her passage.

With Botas very present in our hearts now, energy at The Farm right is happy, vibrant, and alive.. Botas added another level of understanding associated with those energies in her last days, and we're all grateful to her for the love she leaves us...She saw many animals and people come and go at the farm...She's been here through major farm changes, and she's always been close by....a bedfellow at times when she knew we needed her love, and always giving her love to us, quietly, unconditionally, and unobtrusively.

Godspeed, sweet Botas...Say hello to the family of farm animals who'll greet you in the spirit world....My love to you and them.

Namasté...Tanya

Friday, February 23, 2007

SPOTTED TODAY AT THE FARM...

~one tiny yellow crocus in bloom all by itself in the south-facing bed beside the garage...
~several other annuals around the farm poking their heads out of the ground, checking to see if it's time to come out or not...
~the very first indications of swelling buds on the grapevines...

It was still light when I was out at 6:30, and some of the plants in the bathroom/sunroom have taken a growth spurt in the past week...

I'm getting really excited!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

CHURCH JINGLES ....

When Eliza, Samuel, and I hit the road, we frequently read the messages posted on signs by churches - - you know, those "change the letter" type signs that offer catchy little ditties.

This past weekend's winners, spotted along the back road from Damascus, VA to Mountain City, TN as E. and I drove to visit my parents in NC, include:
The Best Vitamins for Christians: B1
and
The Church's Weather Forecast: God Reigns
Note: The same church that recommends Vitamin B1 for Christians is the same church that several Christmases ago had the following message on its billboard: Thanks be to God for his unspeakable truth. Hmmmmmm....????
Off to bed....It's been a long, long day...

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

VALENTINES DAY-2006

I LOVE...

Samuel, Eliza, Bobbi, Isabella...
Grandma Ruth--I love her bushels and pecks...
my family, blood and chosen...
my home...
my friends...
my students (for the most part)...
my animals...
my flowers...
fresh vegetables from my garden...
traveling...
Cuba...
Spain...
the Southwest...
the seasons...
the ocean...
the mountains...
the woods...
the Earth...

the Sky...
laughter...
music...
art..
handmade paper...
playing Scrabble on line...
books...
knitting...
silence...

MY LIFE.....







Wednesday, February 07, 2007




YEAH! YEAH! SNOW DAY!!


About 4" of snow as measured by the official farm yardstick on the picnic table...

Classes cancelled...

Snoozed in for a while this morning...
Made a thick turkey-vegetable soup and ate on it all day...

Putzed around the house doing a little cleaning...

Discovered the toilet in the front bathroom was leaking yet again and dripping water down into the basement...

Spent the afternoon with Mr. Insley, the nice plumber, and his nice son, Jonathan...

Won three games of Scrabble...

Talked to Deb, Tom, Eliza, Mom, and the dogs and cats...
Thought about Mary Ann since I knew she was enjoying the day as much as I...

Forgot to go to the mailbox...
Went on a walk...
Took photos....
The Buddhas make me chuckle...
Chao....T.






Sunday, February 04, 2007

BRRRRRRRRR...

It's 8 degrees outside with a brisk wind whipping around the farm..The sunshine on the snow enhances the blue in the sky, the blue that connects my memory to Isabella's eyes...The snow crunches under foot as I walk to the barn for firewood...I pause to listen to the creaks and moans inside the barn as the siding and roof vibrate in a random reggae-ish type beat with each wind burst. "She's still standing (¡Gracias a Dios!)" I say to myself, pausing to give thanks for that singular thought....

Soon, I'll have a fire going in the fireplace and chili and cornbread ready to enjoy this afternoon...

I have a couple of things I want to do...write a bit, clean a bit, and as always, knit....

I'm grateful to be where I am today, and I'm grateful for all of those who are here with me in spirit...It's a great day to have on your layers of farm clothes and be snowed in here at The Farm... Samuel, I particularly think of you at this moment..It's winter at its best here at The Farm...

Namasté......


Thursday, February 01, 2007

ANYONE SEEN MY GROCERIES??

It's been a zany couple of days on many levels... The craziest mix-up I've had in a while took place in Giant Eagle (formerly Big Bear) yesterday.

I had set 20 minutes as my goal to get in the store, get my groceries, and head out the door. I had even made a list to cut down on the "trying to remember what I was there for" time. When I got to the seafood department, the usual overly exuberant employee was nowhere to be found, so I stood patiently at the counter and waited for one of the meat cutters in the back to see me. I'm not that small, and I'm not that easy to overlook, especially after I had waited five minutes and was jumping up and down, waving to get the attention of the guys in the back. I just wanted a couple of salmon steaks that were on special, and they were dwindling fast. I parked my cart at the end of an aisle out of everyone's way and continued with my antics, to no avail.

About that time, my friends, Beth and Sherm, came walking by, and we chatted for a couple of minutes. They, too, were in need of service from the seafood / meat attendants, but we were soon engaged in some good conversation and laughter and momentarily forgot about the lack of service.

A few minutes later, they ambled on, and I decided to chalk up the idea of fixing salmon for dinner. I turned around to continue my sojourn down the cat and dog food aisle, only to find that my grocery basket had been replaced with another cart that had NOTHING I would have ever bought for our house...bologna, Velveeta cheese, pickled sausage, etc. I was really quite perplexed. Who could mistake tofu, granola, and maple syrup for processed gunk?

So, I left the mystery cart in its place (where my cart had originally been) and set off to find the person who had obviously made the exchange of our grocery baskets. Along the way, I frightened one elderly lady as I look over her shoulder, thinking the bright orange color in her basket was the clementines and organic carrots I had gathered up. (She had an huge orange jug of laundry detergent.) Then I asked another woman if she had the correct cart when I saw she had the same all natural cheese puffs I like to get for snacks...Nope, not her either...The third person I accosted in the search just looked at me and laughed.

Long story short...I toured the store three times and couldn't locate anyone with my grocery cart. (I imagine I was the "star" of the store videotapes as I power-walked up and down the aisles three times around!) So, I started over with a new basket and tried to read again all the things I had scratched off my list.

When I got back to the meat / seafood section, the men in the gross, bloody aprons were still slicing up some bright red flesh in the back. I never did catch their eye, but as I turned to again head up the animal food aisle, what should I run into but my first cart!?! I couldn't believe it!!!

Embarrassed enough, I politely explained the entire story to one of the stockers who was taking inventory of toilet paper and had watched my tours of the store. She graciously said she'd take care of replacing the items in Cart #1. I finished my shopping and left, glad to be out the door with most of the stuff on my list.....

Now, Marietta, OH, is a small town, and yes, I've taught about half the population over the age of 25 or so in the area. But I had no idea that today, three people would ask me what on earth I was doing running around like a crazed woman in the grocery store. Now my fear is that I'm going to make the town paper tomorrow!

Namasté.....