Kayla Quote: "While life may not be the party we hoped for, while we're here we might as well dance..." - Andy Rooney
Short Synopsis: Kayla is frenetically doing all she can do so they will release her. She is definitely dancing.
Long Story: The cats always bother me early in the morning because they want to go out. Lately, we have been locking the cat door because their favorite thing is to bring in little live animals like a mouse or chipmunk and they play with it first then kill it in the basement. We find them slaughtered in a pool of blood. Forget that! Now they bother me early to be let out the front door.
It's 4:30 a.m. and I am content. Early morning is a good time for me and I happily stroke "Mooms" the white and black cow looking kitty. I rub down her entire body in one long stroke and she hauls off on me, scratching me in the face! I was gentle with her!
There is a reason she is the top cat in our household. At only 9 pounds (the other two cats are 11 and 13 pounds) she is commanding and can be vicious at a moment's notice. The other two walk a wide berth around her. She has the most beautiful orange eyes and invites you to pet her. You have to watch her tail to see where her mood is. If it is flicking, stay away.
She was born in New York City as a feral kitten, was trapped and rescued from a hard life. She must have strong genes for survival programmed into her. If she feels like it, she chases one of the other cats and smacks them good, leaving fluffly tufts of their fur on the floor. Still, we love her to pieces and she gives you the sleepy eye look of satisfaction when she nestles on your lap. If she is sleepy, she is harmless.
I go and do my routine...first downstairs to unlock the cat door. We actually keep them in at night most of the time as there are many coyotes up on the hill at the edge of the woods and neighborhood. Sometimes they come down to scout for food. Food includes ground hogs (which are gone now - used to be quite prevalent), turkeys, chipmunks, mice, moles and people's precious pet cats!
------------------------------
I miss Bumpy. She went to Niagara Falls - now that is a great spot to visit. She drove up there with her sister Anne who flew in from Africa, where she has lived for her whole adult life. My place is at the hospital beside my daughter. I have such mixed feelings at times. Kayla can be annoying and demanding but then I think about losing her and a big black hole appears and I fall into it and cannot get out. I rarely think about losing her. I just don't, can't, won't. The abyss is overwhelming.
Back to the solace of a routine for sanity. I gather clothes for Kayla so she can begin to feel normal again. They want you to get out of the hospital gowns and begin to wear regular clothes around the hallways. Those are the people destined to go home for a while. My plan is to buy her a strawberry bananna smoothie and a blueberry heaven smoothie for myself when I drive to King Smoothie on the way down.
After the "scratching" I get up. I pad into Kayla's bedroom and clean it up. I put fresh white sheets (her favorite color for her bedding) on her bed and vacuum her carpet and mine. I put in one very large load of laundry. I get rid of one of the cat litter that was in the furnace room as Mike wants to keep the door closed at times for some engineering reason. There is only one now upstairs and it smells because of excessive heat and humidity. We are having 90+ degree days during this early hot summer. I put out a large fan and open the door to get rid of the smell out the back door and it works!
I water the petunias and sweet potato plant in the public island down below in the street. I water more plants that are ready to be put into the ground. They are all wilted due to this heat but 10 minutes later when I walk by they are perky.
I then change the small water bowls where "Meep" and "Free Willy" the beta fish live. The water is now clear and wonderful. Our beta (Siamese fighter fish) live a long time because we take very good care of them.
I then weed the big center island flower bed fully. This is our showcase to the world and we are proud of it. It is so thick it doesn't need new flowers yet but it does need to be cut back to free the new small "knock out" rose bushes. They say it's a sign of civilization to have cultivated flower beds.
I plant red annual salvia in the long bed in front of the vegetable garden. That's something different. I usually put in marigolds. I sprinkle with malorganite to deter the deer to eat all this stuff like salad. They don't like the smell of malorganite and it looks like pepper on the leaves. One bite and it tastes terrible. You have to keep applying it when the rain washes it off. It's a fertilizer so it's ok.
I text Kayla that I am leaving in the late afternoon around 3 p.m. to get there at 4:30 with smoothies in hand. I am dripping wet with sweat after gardening for 2 straight hours in the heat. The shower feels great!
I do some banking and deposit a Social Security check for 60 cents. Yes! Kayla got a check for 60 cents.
Kayla tells me the psychiatrist told her, "I bet you are looking forward to going home and showering." Kayla cries. She doesn't like that doctor much. I like her a lot because she tries very hard.
I get there at 5 p.m. and Kayla is in a reasonable state but very tired. She cannot sleep because of constant pain. If you have four large holes in your body pumping constant blood for life and circulation, you would be in pain also. It is hard at the site. I marvel at this girl's courage and determination. Apparently she walked three times today and practiced stair walking too. Rosie says she can walk downstairs now if she wants. They have given her permission to try.
I tell Kayla I spoke with Heather Burford, our fire chief in town regarding having a meeting to keep her safe when she comes home. I left a voice message and she responded immediately. We live in an amazing town and she is a positive leader. We spend a lot of time on the phone as she is fascinated with Kayla's medical situation. There are very few people who are living with VADs (ventricular assist devices) which keep their heart going. She asks permission to have a group of firemen and EMTs to come to our house for the initial meeting. Of course she can!
--------------------------------------
Pip is getting larger by the minute and everyone is commenting on her survival rate. The experts
are piping in especially John Blakeman, my favorite one. He says she has only a 20% survival rate the first year. Many die from accidents with cars due to their inexperience with flying. Starvation takes a lot also as they try to perfect their hunting skills. They are also driven out of most of the territories which are occupied by older hawks who control their areas. The baby hawks live on the fringes if they are lucky, sneaking in and plucking food from these spoken for hunting areas. The parent birds will also drive out their own youngster and not allow her near the nest as they continue to breed at the same site. The only saving grace is the fact that Pip was born in NYC and her chances are better there. There is a huge food supply - rats! Lots of lots of rats! More food means a better chance but she may not stay there. Lots of ifs!
We are all so attached to the Pipster! Kayla logs in every day to watch her grow and thrive. She sits in her hospital bed at 168th Street with her laptop on the tray tabletop open as the Pipster sits in her nest in Washington Square at the south end of Manhattan Island.
"Don't tell me about the bad stuff. I don't want to hear it. I'm really attached to Pip," pouts Kayla, with her arms crossed as she sits in her bed. She is a bit angry at me.
Pip is pecking at a dead squirrel that father bird has just dumped into the nest for her. There is new stuff to learn here. No longer will Bobbie or Violet pull the yummy bits off and spoon feed. She has to figure it out herself. She smells it and is hungry. She looks around for one of her parents. A peck here, a peck there. Finally she pierces a piece and pulls it up. She swallows it...
Short Synopsis: Kayla is frenetically doing all she can do so they will release her. She is definitely dancing.
Long Story: The cats always bother me early in the morning because they want to go out. Lately, we have been locking the cat door because their favorite thing is to bring in little live animals like a mouse or chipmunk and they play with it first then kill it in the basement. We find them slaughtered in a pool of blood. Forget that! Now they bother me early to be let out the front door.
It's 4:30 a.m. and I am content. Early morning is a good time for me and I happily stroke "Mooms" the white and black cow looking kitty. I rub down her entire body in one long stroke and she hauls off on me, scratching me in the face! I was gentle with her!
There is a reason she is the top cat in our household. At only 9 pounds (the other two cats are 11 and 13 pounds) she is commanding and can be vicious at a moment's notice. The other two walk a wide berth around her. She has the most beautiful orange eyes and invites you to pet her. You have to watch her tail to see where her mood is. If it is flicking, stay away.
She was born in New York City as a feral kitten, was trapped and rescued from a hard life. She must have strong genes for survival programmed into her. If she feels like it, she chases one of the other cats and smacks them good, leaving fluffly tufts of their fur on the floor. Still, we love her to pieces and she gives you the sleepy eye look of satisfaction when she nestles on your lap. If she is sleepy, she is harmless.
I go and do my routine...first downstairs to unlock the cat door. We actually keep them in at night most of the time as there are many coyotes up on the hill at the edge of the woods and neighborhood. Sometimes they come down to scout for food. Food includes ground hogs (which are gone now - used to be quite prevalent), turkeys, chipmunks, mice, moles and people's precious pet cats!
------------------------------
I miss Bumpy. She went to Niagara Falls - now that is a great spot to visit. She drove up there with her sister Anne who flew in from Africa, where she has lived for her whole adult life. My place is at the hospital beside my daughter. I have such mixed feelings at times. Kayla can be annoying and demanding but then I think about losing her and a big black hole appears and I fall into it and cannot get out. I rarely think about losing her. I just don't, can't, won't. The abyss is overwhelming.
Back to the solace of a routine for sanity. I gather clothes for Kayla so she can begin to feel normal again. They want you to get out of the hospital gowns and begin to wear regular clothes around the hallways. Those are the people destined to go home for a while. My plan is to buy her a strawberry bananna smoothie and a blueberry heaven smoothie for myself when I drive to King Smoothie on the way down.
After the "scratching" I get up. I pad into Kayla's bedroom and clean it up. I put fresh white sheets (her favorite color for her bedding) on her bed and vacuum her carpet and mine. I put in one very large load of laundry. I get rid of one of the cat litter that was in the furnace room as Mike wants to keep the door closed at times for some engineering reason. There is only one now upstairs and it smells because of excessive heat and humidity. We are having 90+ degree days during this early hot summer. I put out a large fan and open the door to get rid of the smell out the back door and it works!
I water the petunias and sweet potato plant in the public island down below in the street. I water more plants that are ready to be put into the ground. They are all wilted due to this heat but 10 minutes later when I walk by they are perky.
I then change the small water bowls where "Meep" and "Free Willy" the beta fish live. The water is now clear and wonderful. Our beta (Siamese fighter fish) live a long time because we take very good care of them.
I then weed the big center island flower bed fully. This is our showcase to the world and we are proud of it. It is so thick it doesn't need new flowers yet but it does need to be cut back to free the new small "knock out" rose bushes. They say it's a sign of civilization to have cultivated flower beds.
I plant red annual salvia in the long bed in front of the vegetable garden. That's something different. I usually put in marigolds. I sprinkle with malorganite to deter the deer to eat all this stuff like salad. They don't like the smell of malorganite and it looks like pepper on the leaves. One bite and it tastes terrible. You have to keep applying it when the rain washes it off. It's a fertilizer so it's ok.
I text Kayla that I am leaving in the late afternoon around 3 p.m. to get there at 4:30 with smoothies in hand. I am dripping wet with sweat after gardening for 2 straight hours in the heat. The shower feels great!
I do some banking and deposit a Social Security check for 60 cents. Yes! Kayla got a check for 60 cents.
Kayla tells me the psychiatrist told her, "I bet you are looking forward to going home and showering." Kayla cries. She doesn't like that doctor much. I like her a lot because she tries very hard.
I get there at 5 p.m. and Kayla is in a reasonable state but very tired. She cannot sleep because of constant pain. If you have four large holes in your body pumping constant blood for life and circulation, you would be in pain also. It is hard at the site. I marvel at this girl's courage and determination. Apparently she walked three times today and practiced stair walking too. Rosie says she can walk downstairs now if she wants. They have given her permission to try.
I tell Kayla I spoke with Heather Burford, our fire chief in town regarding having a meeting to keep her safe when she comes home. I left a voice message and she responded immediately. We live in an amazing town and she is a positive leader. We spend a lot of time on the phone as she is fascinated with Kayla's medical situation. There are very few people who are living with VADs (ventricular assist devices) which keep their heart going. She asks permission to have a group of firemen and EMTs to come to our house for the initial meeting. Of course she can!
--------------------------------------
Pip is getting larger by the minute and everyone is commenting on her survival rate. The experts
are piping in especially John Blakeman, my favorite one. He says she has only a 20% survival rate the first year. Many die from accidents with cars due to their inexperience with flying. Starvation takes a lot also as they try to perfect their hunting skills. They are also driven out of most of the territories which are occupied by older hawks who control their areas. The baby hawks live on the fringes if they are lucky, sneaking in and plucking food from these spoken for hunting areas. The parent birds will also drive out their own youngster and not allow her near the nest as they continue to breed at the same site. The only saving grace is the fact that Pip was born in NYC and her chances are better there. There is a huge food supply - rats! Lots of lots of rats! More food means a better chance but she may not stay there. Lots of ifs!
We are all so attached to the Pipster! Kayla logs in every day to watch her grow and thrive. She sits in her hospital bed at 168th Street with her laptop on the tray tabletop open as the Pipster sits in her nest in Washington Square at the south end of Manhattan Island.
"Don't tell me about the bad stuff. I don't want to hear it. I'm really attached to Pip," pouts Kayla, with her arms crossed as she sits in her bed. She is a bit angry at me.
Pip is pecking at a dead squirrel that father bird has just dumped into the nest for her. There is new stuff to learn here. No longer will Bobbie or Violet pull the yummy bits off and spoon feed. She has to figure it out herself. She smells it and is hungry. She looks around for one of her parents. A peck here, a peck there. Finally she pierces a piece and pulls it up. She swallows it...
