RIP Blackie

If you read my posts on a normal basis you know that I have a dear love for feline.  Sweetie and Sunny are my own kitties that are now a little over two years old.  Still I am one of those who if a stray comes around I am sure to put out food for them and see that they have shelter and water. 

Although two of the other cats that frequent my yard are not what you would call strays (one is the next door neighbors and the other live a bit further away) they still come on a daily basis to eat breakfast or a late snack. 

Then there is Blackie.  The last of the black cats that roamed the area since we first moved here over 6 years ago.  At one time there were 6 of them and yes I tended all of them.  I even took them into a vet and had them all fixed as well as shots.  Over the years they have slowly disappeared.  I never found any signs of them and thus I kept the positive view that they found new homes elsewhere.

Blackie was the last of them.  A big black tom that came on occasion to the back porch and spoke to me.  His call was distinctive and I always knew when he was at the back door.  When the weather was warm he did not come around too often.  He was content to roam the area and find birds and mice to fill his tummy.  Yet as winter set in and the temperatures became colder he would frequent my back porch so much more. 

Yet last week when we received the coldest temperatures of the year thus far, I was surprised when I did not see him.  I would call in the evenings expecting to hear his cry and see him come from out of the brush at the bottom of the yard.  Yet he did not come.  He had been away before so I did not worry much.

The other day, Vincent and I ventured out to town for the first time in a few days and as we drove the road out of our area I heard Vincent gasp and stop the truck.  I asked what was wrong and he started to back the truck up and told me to wait and I would see.  As he backed up and stopped the truck he told me to look upward.  Hanging in the tree was Blackie.  His stomach was open and exposed and it was obvious that he was no longer with us.

Today we went and brought him down from the tree and gave him a proper burial.  It was apparent that he had not climbed into the tree but was thrown up into the tree, landing between two branches.  His front paws and head hung through the front and his hind legs dangled freely.  His stomach was completely exposed and he was stiff from the cold and the time he was evidently there. 

I wondered what had happened to him.  Was it accidental?  Was he struck by a car and someone tossed him out of the road? Or was it not accidental?  I will never know I am sure yet still I found the manner in which we found him so sad.  He was a loner of a kitty.  He was not held and cuddled much if at all as he was quite skiddish.  I had petted him a few times yet it was not often enough.  As I lowered the box into the hole that Vincent had dug, I felt sadness that he did not experience such kindness.

I will miss his occasional visits and most of all his unique cry.

Wordy Wednesday - Things on My Mind

Last weekend my son in law left for his third tour of duty. The last two years he has gone to Iraq, yet this year he will be heading to Afghanistan. I can not tell you how proud I am of this young man. He has been a wonderful husband to my daughter. He welcomed my grand kids into his life like they were his own and last February he adopted them and became their daddy also by name. In April my third grandchild was born and he proved once again just what a wonderful husband and daddy he was. Now he serving his country once again. I ask that you all keep him as well as his family in your thoughts and prayers .

In other news… Yesterday several vigils all over the world were held simultaneously in regards to kids who have to deal with bullies. I do not know if you have had this issue in your area, yet only a few months back, here in Oklahoma, an 11 year old boy committed suicide due to bullies. What could pressure an 11 year old boy to do such a thing? And then you come to the punishment of the bullies who caused the eventual incident. I have always had a bit of an issue with simply locking up young kids when they go astray. Mind you I am all for punishment for ones actions yet also I think that at an young age sometimes such experience has the chance of simply ingraining the behavior further into them.

I remember when my kids went to school and they had the “safe word” at school. I remember overhearing the principal tell a child, “if he bothers you all you have to do is say the safe word and he has to stop.” I wanted to laugh in that woman’s face. Mainly because just earlier in the parking lot, the boy she was talking about was acting out and she kept shouting the “safe word” at him and expected him to stop and come inside. Of course he did no such thing. I had to laugh.

As aged as it sounds, when I was in school if anyone done such a thing, they would get their butt paddled but good. Yea I know that spanking is no longer allowed in schools but I do not remember having any of the issues that we see in today’s schools back then. My heart goes out to those who have to endure the verbal and physical abuse from those who simply get their jollies from hurting someone, knowing that while they are at school they will not have to answer for their crimes.

My last words for today are about animal cruelty. A couple days ago a woman found 2 young puppies in a dumpster outside her place of work. They had been tossed there by an older woman and man and left to die. They lay in the sweltering heat we had (104 with a heat index of 110) until the woman found them. One of them was able to be nursed back to health yet the other was too far gone. They were riddled with worms and fleas on top of the fact that they were being literally cooked in the heat. Why I wonder do people have animals if they do not intend on taking care of them. Although I hate the number of animals that are put to sleep in shelters it is a much more humane death then what was being done to these puppies.

Another story I was told a couple days ago was from a woman who rescues horses who have been mistreated. She has recently adopted a horse that is not that pretty to look at yet it is not her fault. It was not fed properly and grew malnourished to the point that it could no longer stand. When it was too weak to stand, a cross was carved into its forehead and it was tied to the back of a tractor and drug causing cuts and bruising all over its body. Miraculously this horse survived and this woman took it into her care. She named it promise because she told me that as she nursed it all she could say to it was I promise you will always be safe here. I promise this will never happen to you again. I promise … I promise.

Why is it that people feel the need to be “tough” to things that are so much smaller than them? Whether it is bullies who pick on other kids or others who choose to abuse animals. Is it the powers they feel when they complete such acts, or do they even really think about it.

Although I know that there are laws against such behavior I wonder if the punishment really does fit the crime. It is lessened because it is an animal and not a human. Should it be? In my opinion no. Such action towards any living being, animal or human is wrong.

I chose to use photos of my own animals for this post as when I went to obtain actual photos of abused animals, the photos were so intense I could barely look at them myself.  Their content was far to graphic.  Although I knew that their reality would easily get my point across the pain that they caused me as I looked at the few I did see, was something that I did not wish to share.

In closing I would like to leave you with this thought. “Who we are might be predetermined, but the path we follow is always of our own choosing. We should never allow our fears or the expectations of others to set the frontiers of our destiny. Our destiny cannot be changed but it can be challenged. Every man is born as many men, yet he dies as a single one.”