Monday, September 30, 2024

From Cats To Catastrophes


I swear, we have a new cat. I will always grieve Jack and remember him with such great fondness for his sweet ways with us- his head boops and the way he'd pat us with his paw when he wanted more love, his noisy purr, his funny little meows- but Maurice is absolutely changed without the constant threat of ambush and danger every second of her life. She has slept with us every night since the night of the hurricane and she is always still right there with me when I wake up. I think she gets up when Glen does and follows him to the kitchen but when she's taken care of whatever business needs taken care of, she comes and gets back in bed with me, then waits for me to get out of the bathroom and follows me to the kitchen to get my coffee. She invites our petting and mostly does not even try to scratch or bite us. 

Mostly.

She'll pretend-bite me and then she'll lick the place where she set her teeth on my skin. It's a little scary but not like it used to be when we knew for sure that if she acted like she was going to bite us, she was going to bite us. 

So I've been enjoying watching this metamorphose take place, seeing how she's learning to trust, to not be as quick to dart and run at any sort of sudden movement, to be able to relax and be calm. 
It really is like we have a new cat. 

I haven't gotten any real news about the Black Mountain family today. I've been almost obsessively watching videos of what's going on up in that area and in Tennessee and it's heart-wrenching and it's horrifying and it's insane and it's unbelievable. That's the word I keep using. Unbelievable. 
In so many of the videos, people are standing there saying things like, "Oh my god, the house is moving," and sure enough an entire house with water halfway to the roof just comes loose from its moorings and slowly starts to drift as if it had suddenly taken a notion to go visit other lands. Same with trucks and busses and cars. I think that the people who are witnessing all of this are having their entire perception of reality shattered. Houses are supposed to stay where they are built. Busses are supposed to stay where they are parked unless moved by a driver. Bridges are supposed to span creeks and little rivers. Roads are supposed to continue on to the next town and the next and the next. The grocery store is supposed to be where you left it. The trees are supposed to stay where they were planted. The giant boulders are supposed to remain seated where they have been cradled for hundreds if not thousands of years. The creeks and rivers are supposed to stay within the confines of their beds. Your yard is supposed to stay in your yard. Waterfalls are supposed to amaze and delight, not shoot out with such force that trees and rocks are taken out, shaken loose, and sent on their way down the river. 

How can human minds even accept the reality of any of this? 
As I said, unbelievable. The trauma of the survivors is going to be with them forever. I think of the children and how their world has so suddenly and without warning completely come undone. 

Well, aid is getting through, I see, but there are so many people unaccounted for and so many people who need food, water, medications, oxygen, shelter, and all the things that humans need just to live. 

Meanwhile, here in Lloyd, the power came back on around 9:30 last night. "Hot damn!" I texted my across-the-street neighbor. I am sure everyone slept better. I saw Tom today as his power was not yet back on and he needed to charge his phone. He is sleeping in his Tiny House and it did fine during the storm, staying right where it had been set and tied down. He said that he'd seen power trucks on his road and was hoping that they'd get his electricity back on soon. 

I worked in the front yard, picking up sticks and branches. 


I just have a little more to do in that area. As I was working, Harvey rode by on his bike and gave me a big hello. "You okay?" I yelled at him as he pedaled on. "Yeah!" he said. 
Very good to know. 

The firespike is coming along with its blooming.


My new cat Maurice supervised my work from the swing porch. 


I think she may actually be keeping watch for potential dangers to my safety like wolves and giant armadillos and Jehovah's Witnesses. 

As always, thank you for being here. For coming along with me as I lead this life. I will never not wonder why anyone is interested in what I have to talk about but I sure am grateful. 
As I am for so many things. 

Love...Ms. Moon


50 comments:

  1. Maybe you should check the history on your laptop. Maurice may have sold Jack on to a cat trader.

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    1. I asked her if she'd killed him. Never thought about her selling him.

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  2. Enjoy your blog. Glad you got thru Helene OK

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  3. Glad that things are returning to some semblance of normal at your house. The same cannot be said for the folks in Western NC, Georgia, coastal Florida, and the other states slammed by Helene. It will take a long time to recover and for some of those poor souls it may never happen. Good thing we have a functioning Federal Government that is doing all it can to get resources to people who need them.

    "I think she may actually be keeping watch for potential dangers to my safety like wolves and giant armadillos and Jehovah's Witnesses. " Brilliant!

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    1. Less than a hundred miles from here there are towns which have been reduced to rubble. If that storm hadn't taken that little eastern wobble when it did, that would have been us. It's just so fucking random.

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    2. I was so happy for you when I saw it was tracking a bit east of where you are. Margaret

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  4. Lord! The people in the mountains of North Carolina seem to have got it worse than anybody - including Asheville that you have blogged about before.

    As for wolves, giant armadillos and Jehovah's Witnesses - they certainly do belong in the same bag along with gullible people in red MAGA caps.

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    1. Mr. P., most of the little towns that got hit the worst are places we've visited, eaten in, walked around, or even stayed. I've seen footage of places I recognize very well. This is making it all so personal.
      Wolves and giant armadillos aren't really that bad. And actually, the giant armadillos are extinct but I sure would like to see one.

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  5. Perhaps Maurice is thinking you got rid of Jack so, she is minding her P's and Q's. I am really sorry about Jack but they seem to know things ... 😵‍💫
    A lady I saw on MSNBC this morning said Black Mountain, NC was hit really hard and in bad shape!

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    1. Yes. I've had that thought about Maurice too. "You know what happened to your brother, right?"
      Yeah. Black Mountain is suffering horribly.

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  6. I am sure you miss Jack in many ways. Maurice on the other hand seems to have had a personality shift being the only cat in your house. She cares for you greatly and is not afraid to show you. Lovely. Just lovely.
    The people of NC must be in shock over the devastation from Helene. I can't imagine the magnitude of hardship they are experiencing. I hope Virgil's parents are ok.

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    1. Vergil's family is okay. They're hanging ion there. They are tough.
      Thanks.
      And yes, Maurice is so happy to be the one and only cat.

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  7. unable to access any *real* news regarding Ashville and surrounding areas...but I know it's VERY bad. Not something one recovers from quickly.... I hope Vergil's family at least has supplies...and their resourcefulness will hopefully help them. Maurice...oh dear cat. I trust she can let her guard down now.....but dear lost Jack..... a sadness for you. Glad your power is back on and I see things haven't slowed you down as far as yard work!
    Susan M

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    1. The national media has been woefully inadequate in their coverage of the areas hit by Helene.
      Maurice is learning that she does not need to be constantly on alert.

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  8. LOVE your new cat- she is golden gorgeous. You must be the luckiest woman on the planet- I mean REALLY! Maybe virtue has something to do with it, I don't know, But everyone who reads you is so damned grateful- storm just slid on by taking no notice of you at all. A few sticks in the yard- Praise baby jesus and his mom!

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    1. I AM the luckiest woman in the world. Absolutely. And virtue has nothing to do with it at all. As you know, my dear sister-in-Keith.

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  9. The Black Mountain catastrophe reminds me of the destruction wrought by storms like Andrew and Katrina and Sandy. My dad used to say, “Who feels it, knows it.” Which tells me I really have no idea what those hard hit by Helene are going through. I’m only glad you escaped the worst. Maurice looks like the new golden queen of the kingdom. She’s gorgeous, really.

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    1. I have been through a few hurricanes that caused quite a bit of destruction but NOTHING like what they're suffering in western NC.
      Maurice is looking quite lovely these days. Not having wounds all over her face is a good look for her.

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  10. I cannot wrap my head around the amount of devastation. Just so much of it. Like you, I cannot believe my eyes, but yet...

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  11. One moment we're anxious to get news about coastal friends, and the next, Armageddon strikes far inland, up mountains. Has anyone any word of Barbara Johnson, blogger from Black Mountain? I don't know how to reach her. She's old and I think alone.

    I think Maurice may have had enough and turned Jack in. But I've had cats go walkabout for six weeks and come home filthy and covered in ticks and who knows what they'd been up to.

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    1. You are so right about how the most unexpected things can happen as regards weather. I don't know Barbara Johnson or her blog but I am hoping she's okay. Communication, as you know, is almost impossible there as of now.
      If Jack strolled back in I'd think he was a zombie cat, I do believe.

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  12. Maurice is actually quite beautiful. Have a sweet night.

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  13. "I will never not wonder why anyone is interested in what I have to talk about" - Let me count the ways: 1) the way you put words together 2) you talk about Real-and-Important Stuff (all kinds of Real-and-Important Stuff! Love, fear, joy, depression, politics, religion, devastation, recovery) as well as the Fun Stuff 3) your family! 4) Did I mention your writing?! 5) and even though you might run horrified at the thought, I would bet that we would all love to sit on your porch and share a Friday night martini while the sheets dance on the line.

    Chris from Boise

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    1. Haha! You know me so well in thinking that I would run horrified at the thought of people coming to meet me on the porch!
      Thank you for that very, very sweet comment.

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  14. I'm happy that Maurice now has the chance to be calm and peaceful.

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    1. I had to wake her up to get her off the bed so I could make it this morning.

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  15. I saw this on the AP news website: "Volunteers were showing up, too. Mike Toberer decided to bring a dozen of his mules to deliver food, water and diapers to hard-to-reach mountainous areas.

    “We’ll take our chainsaws, and we’ll push those mules through,” he said, noting that each one can carry about 200 pounds (90 kilograms) of supplies. "
    Those mules can do it to, they are smart, level-headed and tough. Ironic, going to back to an age old method of travel that was probably used in this area long ago.

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    1. Yes, reports are of aid coming in by air and mule!! Old world meets new.

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    2. Jessie and I were talking about this today. We were wondering where all the mules were going to come from. I have NO doubt that mules have been hauling things up and down those mountains for eons.

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  16. As I was away for a couple of days I've only now been catching up with the news. I'm horrified to see the aftermath of that hurricane. Unbelievable is probably the only word I can come up with too. Those poor folks!

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  17. So glad the Hurricane damage in your area was minimal, but, Yes, in the areas hard hit it was beyond catastrophic. It seems the Natural Disasters are increasing in severity every Season, frightening. Your changed Cat is clearly enjoying being the only one now, perhaps she needed that.

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    1. I guess "catastrophic devastation" would be a good way to describe it.

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  18. It sounds like poor Maurice has lived her life in a perpetual state of anxiety, and now that Jack is gone she's more fully relaxing. I'm glad you're bonding with her in new ways!

    Your lines about the unbelievability of the storm in North Carolina ring very true. I imagine people who go through fires or earthquakes feel the same. We take for granted that certain things in life are more or less permanent, and when they prove not to be, it's a profound shock.

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    1. Maurice has been in a perpetual state of anxiety since Jack first appeared eight years or so ago. She is definitely enjoying being the queen of all she surveys.
      You're right- fires and earthquakes can shatter reality too.

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  19. Natural disasters have happened over and over and over and it is amazing when people somehow bounce back or move on or survive. I'm glad that much assistance is being sent their way and hope they can recover from such devastation. You are right that it will take a long time.

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    1. I've thought about that too, Ellen- how people and towns can and do survive and rebuild. Humans can be amazing.

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  20. Strangely enough, I am having a hard time coping with the news of the devastation and trump's response to it. He is an evil, vile man, who will use any excuse to lie and advance himself. It makes me sick and weepy.
    I'm glad you guys are okay and glad that Maurice is happy. Who knew?

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    1. Trump is indeed evil and vile. He is the lowest form of humanity.
      I knew that Maurice would be so happy if Jack disappeared. She told me that every day in her own way.

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  21. it is definitely shocking to see the absolute awesome power of nature and water in particular. we humans think we are in control with ll our buildings and inventions. I imagine something like this so affected ancient humans that we still have the story of The Flood today.

    Cat was outside the other day and one of the cats from Pam's had come over, Lovey I think but I didn't get a good look as Cat, who wasn't having it, chased him all the way across the street back into the shop yard.

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    1. Cats are very territorial, aren't they? Cat was not having it at all.
      We humans absolutely do like to think we're in control, in charge, and then something like this or an earthquake happens and we realize how powerless we really are.

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  22. Barbara Rogers of Black Mountain was evacuated safely to cousin in SC. She posted a reliable source of info is carolinapublicpress.org
    MS Nell

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    1. Thank you so much for this. I had the name wrong and I'm so happy to hear she's safe. And you did the extra step of coming into my blog too, make sure I knew. You're a star!

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    2. Thank you! I am so glad to hear she's okay. Very kind of you to take the time to let us know.

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  23. I’ve heard the story of pets’ personalities changing drastically when a competitor leaves. So glad Maurice is becoming more and more loving. I’ve never experienced a natural disaster on such a scale. Just awful.

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    1. Maurice is now free to let her little light shine. I'm not fooling myself though- she's always going to be an unexpected biter and clawer.
      I've never been through anything close to that either. A few hurricanes, one in particular that was bad, bad, bad, but not THAT bad.

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  24. Maurice looks absolutely serene!

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Tell me, sweeties. Tell me what you think.