Back in Business

"Hi, mimi? This is Karen, we met at the vet's office, I'm with the local spay group, remember?"

Yes, i remembered, and prepared for the inevitable.

"I have a friend whose neighbor had a mother cat that was run over. There are 6 kittens, and I know everyone is bursting at the seams, but could you take them?" She sounded desperate, as they all do.

So i said i would put in a call and get right back to her.

Thankfully, for once, Miss W answered my first call. After explaining the situation, she said, "Well, see what you can do about making sure they aren't black kittens, okay?" with a laugh in her voice.

Laughing back, i told her i would do what i could about that, and called Karen back to tell her it was a go. She called Anne to give her my number, and the next call was from a lady who sounded like she was about to break into tears at any moment.

"Oh, I'm so glad if you can help me!" she told me. "My neighbor found a pregnant cat, and took it in, and she's made an appointment to get it fixed in a few weeks when the babies grow up. But it got run over a few days ago, and she asked me if the mama i found would take the kittens. So we tried, but my mama's babies are over 2 months old, and she won't touch these babies, and the neighbor won't take them back. On top of that, I'm renting and only supposed to have 2 cats and I have seven, and my landlord is sending someone out to do work on the place tomorrow and i have to hide five of mine, he'll have a fit if he finds me with 13 of them!"

What a convoluted story, but i told her to bring them over.

Oh, and there is only one black kitten. One black and white, one gray and white, one tabby and white, one brown tabby (the runt, a female), and one huge gray tabby who looks like he's almost as big as Mercy, though his ears show he is younger.

Mercy isn't sure what to think, but now she won't have to grow up not knowing how to play and be a kitten. She's getting more settled, and loves to play with the feather toy and passing feet. It's not been easy keeping her from playing too rough with our hands, but this will make it easier.

Back in business.


Today is

Aimless Wandering Day -- use the extra daylight to wander someplace with nothing particular to do

Anne and Samantha Day

Baby Boomer Recognition Day

Cuckoo Warning Day -- if you hear the cuckoo today, it will be a wet summer

Father's Day -- Egypt; Jordan; Lebanon; Syria; Uganda

Finally Summer Day -- Summer Solstice

First Nations Day -- Canadian Native People

Go Skateboarding Day

Hump Day -- Tasmania (because it is the shortest in the year, Taswegians today feel they are over the "hump" of winter.)

Inti Raymi -- Sacsayhuamán Andes Mountain natives winter solstice and New Year festival

Kupala -- Ancient Slavic Calendar (celebration of the solstice)

Martyr's Day -- Togo

Midsummer Festivals begin -- Juhannus Day in Finland and Midsommar in Denmark and Norway, celebrated over the next several days in many Scandinavian traditions; often this time is also associated with betrayal, as the sunlight begins to decrease, this is when Baldur was betrayed, as well as Sigurd.

National Aboriginal Day -- Canada

National Day -- Greenland

National Daylight Appreciation Day

National Peaches & Cream Day

St. Alban's Day (patron of refugees)

St. Aloysius Gonzanga's Day (protector of young students, young men)

St. Meen's Day

St. Leudredus' Day

Summer Solstice -- Northern Hemisphere

Wadjet Summer Solstice Ceremony -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar

We Tripantu -- Chile (Mapuche natives winter solstice festival)

Winter Solstice -- Southern Hemisphere

World Handshake Day

World Music Day


Anniversaries Today:

New Hampshire becomes the 9th US State, 1788


Birthdays Today:

Kris Allen, 1985
Prince William, 1982
Juliette Lewis, 1973
Berkeley Breathed, 1957
Meredith Baxter, 1947
Michael Gross, 1947
Ray Davies, 1944
Mariette Hartley, 1940
Maureen Stapleton, 1925
Jane Russell, 1921
Jean-Paul Sartre, 1905
Al Hirschfeld, 1903
Reinhold Niebuhr, 1892
Daniel Carter Beard, 1850
Martha Dandridge Custis Washington, 1731
Increase Mather, 1639


Today in History:

Jews are expelled from Nurenberg Bavaria by Emperor Maximillian, 1498
The Incident at Honno-ji takes place in Kyoto, Japan, 1582
In Montreal in New France, a slave known by the French name of Marie-Joseph Angélique is put to death, having been convicted of the arson that destroyed much of the city, 1734
Halifax, Nova Scotia, is founded, 1749
The first Victoria Cross is awarded during the bombardment of Bomarsund in the Åland Islands, 1854
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police fire a volley into a crowd of unemployed war veterans, killing two, during the Winnipeg General Strike, 1919
The first successful west-to-east navigation of Northwest Passage begins at Vancouver, British Columbia, 1940
Columbia Records introduces the long-playing record album in a public demonstration at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City, 1948
Ellen Louks Fairclough is sworn in as Canada's first woman Cabinet Minister, 1957
SpaceShipOne becomes the first privately funded spaceplane to achieve spaceflight, 2004.
Pluto's newly discovered moons are officially named Nix & Hydra, 2006