People who need people...

Saturday is usually a "city run" day. It is also a people day, as I try to make all my connections in one long loop, trying to touch base, say "hi" to strangers, "thank you" to those who should be told, maybe see a friend, buy what I need to buy, bank where I need to bank. I seldom succeed in fitting it all in. .

My first stop was the post office. OK. Let me be honest here. This last week, every trip to the post office results in me breaking down into tears. Wildrun was listed as a place to send donations in the obituary of the owner of Miles and Gunsmoke. I have received some checks from people who obviously love her very much. So while a donation is always a blessed thing, receiving one in the memory of a person from grieving friends and relatives is new to me, and each one is a very special gift. I will be writing notes to the donors, and also to the owner's family so they know that others gave in her memory.


My second stop was to leave Phyllis cat food at the all-year produce stand where she works. She cares for 40 rescued cats (all fixed) plus has taken on some barn colonies. I put twelve bags of food in her truck then went inside to buy a flat of pansies. It was then we both admitted we didn't know one another's names. We traded names, and so it goes. Cats get fed, and people trade a smile.


Then I headed up Milliard Hill to trap at the "sold" house that could still have cats living under it. I've been meaning to stop at this grain and feed store for years so I finally pulled in today. They had a little white cat they just got spayed (yeah!) and a big white tom who someone had probably dropped that was killed in the road before they could get him (I hate abandoners. I dream of catching someone at it someday). Nice folks. I purchased some Epsom Salt Poultice, which is the best stuff in the world for drawing infection out of a wound (in humans or animals), and I'll be back.


Then I set a trap to see if any cats were left on Horton Road.

Then I stopped at the fast food strip to fill the can so Kat, Jen, and Sam can feed them for the next ten days. No cats were in sight, but two mallard ducks were about.

Walmart gave me one more tiny reason to hate them. As I wheeled out my cartload of cat litter, which is the only thing I purchase there, the "greeter" called: "Excuse me ma'am. Excuse me ma'am!" Blocking the vestibule at his command, I stopped, and my immediate thought was "My goodness, does this older gentleman feel he needs to help me with this load? I'll have to be polite when I tell him I'm fine."

I needn't have worried. He then proceeded to request my receipt to prove I had purchased "all that, there." (His words). I stared at him in shock, not used to be basically accused of shoplifting. Had I exhibited some suspicious behavior, I would have been more understanding. But I had just come through a line near the doors, wearing my Americancat.net jacket, clean and neat (for once), acting in a normal manner. Do businesses usually steal cat litter wearing their name in bold letters?

I produced the receipt from my wallet and he said "Thank you ma'am, and thank you for shopping at Walmart!"

And I said, (couldn't help it): "Well, I won't be shopping here again. Thank you."

Now I know that gentleman is probably required to check receipts on purchases that are not bagged. (Ummm...Walmart? Other stores put an orange sticker on items that are too large to bag. Did you miss that lesson?). However, how about "Excuse me, ma'am. Walmart requires that we check items that are not bagged. May I see your receipt? Thank you so much. I'm sorry to have bothered you, and hope you have a nice day. Thank you for shopping at Walmart."

No, instead apparently it is more important to make sure that someone doesn't steal $23 whole dollars worth of packaged dirt, than it is to perhaps maintain good relations with a business that probably purchases 500 bags of the stuff over the course of the year.

(Let's face it. The truth is, workers in stores like this are turned from lively humans into intelligent drones. I hate it, and I MUST find a source of affordable packaged dirt, elsewhere).


Then I stopped at Kmart, where I shop when "shopping" needs to be done, and where the people are nice and interact with me (but they don't carry large bags of cat litter except Fresh Step at almost $7.00 a bag...they used to, but no longer). And I got a belt for my cat facility Hoover vacuum, which Mark is fixing for me. Can you say "yick?" The clods of fur he pulled out of this was quite disgusting, and the belt was melted and broken.

About then I got around to looking at my cell phone, and there was a message from Mark. The person I was going to take to dinner at 6:00 pm was ill and couldn't make it.

Well...bummer. I had been looking forward to new and human conversation. I've been meaning to get together with Susan for a long while to "talk cats" and life in general. Because of her contacts, I've been able to get affordable food for my cats. She is generous beyond generous, neutering and providing food for cats at locations where they otherwise would receive very little care. However, she also has family commitments and it's hard to get a night free just to talk. I hope she's feeling OK now!

I ran through my mental list of neglected friends, and immediately thought of Nancy, who has not only adopted four cats from me, she has been an incredible supporter of the Fast Food Ferals. So on the off-chance she might be free, I 411-d her number, and indeed, she was! So I headed downtown to meet her at Diamonds, an Indian restaurant.


I had ten minutes to spare, so walked down the end of The Commons (OMG please someone tell me this broken webpage is NOT what I found when I googled our beautiful "The Commons Ithaca" to see what had changed since I was last there. I found a vintage clothing stores called Petrune (which I think would be a great name for a very gangly torti kitten, don't you?) and purchased this shirt for $5. After I brought it home and remarked aloud that I couldn't find a tag, Mark said, "Perhaps it's handmade." And you know, he's right. No wonder it's so nice.

Oh my goodness, I just read that article in full and the store IS named after a cat! That is hilarious. If I go back to check the photos and it's a torti I shall just die. Or buy the store out. One or the other.

Note on Saturday: Here's a better link for downtown Ithaca. I have emailed them about that Commons domain to see if they can forward it to their other page.

So I had a great dinner with Nancy, whom I really miss, and then stopped at her house on the way home to use the "ladies facilities" and visit Romulus and Rune (neglected kittens from our previous neighborhood), Faye (mom cat abandoned on Jeruselem Hill Road in Elmira) and Wizard (feral kitten from my mom's mobile home park in Norwich NY).


Hey, Romulus. Do you know you are one lucky dude?

So by then it was almost 9:00 pm. I drove back through Horton Road. The trap was untouched. I took out most of the food, left a little, and wired it open so it couldn't be tripped. And I will check again tomorrow.

At home I found my neglected husband reading a book with Squeak the cat on his lap. I bid the facility cats goodnight, blogged my blog, and here I sit, at (whoops) almost 1:00 am by now.

All in all, a very good day, with very good people.