So Wednesday it was darn hot and humid for here. With the humidex it 'felt' like 48C. The temp was about 36C. I don't do well in heat. AT. ALL. I am a 20C kinda girl. Give me a bit of cloud cover or a breeze - even better.
I thought I would kill two birds with one stone by heading to the library - the Air Conditioned Library - and return 2 books which had a small fine for being over (<$1). Off I went and found the lobby of the library filled with table after table of books. Each table had a sign that said "Box of Books - $1". Below the tables were boxes of all shapes and sizes.
I tossed my 2 books in the return slot and wandered over to the table, rather intrigued. You know me and books. Of course several tables were books that were very old and worn, some on some really boring (to me) non fiction topics. Then I found the fiction tables. My fingers wandered down the spines and my eyes stopped on some familiar authors. Hmm, I thought. My fingers kept going and I saw a book I had owned, but had been ruined when water had been spilled on it. Hmmmm I thought. When my eyes hit a novel my students sometimes read, which was signed inside by the author, my mind had been made up.
I found a paperbox under the table that looked just the right size and I headed back to the first placed I had hmmmmmmed and began to put books in my box. I had a great time. Sure there were lots of books that were in rough shape, and sure there were books that were of no interest to me, but there was a wealth of books that interested me.
With my box full of over 30 books (mostly hardcover) I headed to the counter to pay for it and my fines. I had a toonie in hand to cover costs. When the librarian clicked on my account we discovered I did NOT have any fines. How nice!! So there I was with this extra loonie in hand. I glanced over to see this young lady - by young I mean about 23 or so. I can tell I am getting old when I have that as a frame of reference for 'young' now. She had a box of books and we had exchanged excited smiles at the treasure that was ours for a dollar. I Handed my loonie back to the librarian and said "I'd like to buy that lady's box too. I feel the need for a good deed". The librarian was surprised as was the lady, when she went to pay.
I came home, happy I did something nice and excited about my box of books.
So where is the karma, you ask?
Meet Tiny, below. Tiny is one of the five kittens who had been born last year at my sister's acreage. She and her four siblings (one black, one white, one orange and one calico) all survived the winter out there with their mama. Come spring, all the females found themselves expecting, as well as the original mama. So many kitties. Tiny hid her kittens so we couldn't find them.
Fast forward to Friday, July 6th. DS1 came out with me to help feed the kitties while my sister was gone. As we approached the turnoff to her place we could see something on the road in the other lane. It was Tiny. She had been hit. DS1 - well I was really proud of him as he is squeamish - he found a shovel and we got her off the road and took her to the trees and buried her. We looked and looked for the kitties, but nothing. Same thing for Sat, Sun, Mon, and Tuesday.
My sister got home Tuesday and started looking. After that many days in such hot heat, with no mama, it didn't look good for the babies. When I got home from the library Wednesday I got a text from my sister than she had found them under a shed but she couldn't get near them.
Off goes the catwhisperer (MOI) to the farm. My sister had put a bowl of milk, one of water and some dry cat food near the hole under the shed. I knew they couldn't survive alone way on the other side of the property. So I take a can of wet catfood, and the two remaining mamas at the farm followed me over to the shed. I was hoping one of them would see the kittens or sniff them out, and adopt them. The main mama got over there, got spooked and ran off. The other mama just wanted the food so I put it down near the hole. As she was eating it this tiny face popped out of the hole. It had a wee milk mustache so I knew it had had a bit of fluid. I was not pleased when the mama growled at the kitten. I gave her a stern lecture and I waited for the little head to appear again. When it did, the mama whapped it with her paw. OUT she went.
So I sat there in the prairie grass (got a tick) in 33C heat and waited and mewed. Finally the little head appeared, and went right past the food and straight to me. Crying and wanting to be held. Just about broke my heart. While I held it, two other heads popped out and ate some of the wet food and drank some milk. They all were very tiny and had weak, wobbly legs. I kept putting the first one down by the food but she kept coming back to me. If there had only been the one kitten I would have brought her home. So the little butter brown kitty and I went on a field trip across the yard to the other mamas, the two males and the remaining four kittens at the house. I was hoping the mamas would accept her. The wee kitty purred the whole way. I put her down by the oldest mama and was so happy to see her accept her. The kitty wandered in and out between the legs of everybody else and no one, not even the males, got upset.
Feeling relief I headed back over to get the remaining two. They were not nearly so friendly as the first, but after a long time of me mewing and encouraging them to be brave, I got them, one at a time. The little black one was so happy to be with other kitties. The orange striped one was a bit hissy en route and bit me but once he got there, he was happy.
After two hours in the heat and sweat dripping off me and in all kinds of unmentionable places, the orphans were nursing and playing with the rest. I went over to Tiny's grave and told her we found her babies and they were going to be ok now.
Man I love cats :-)
I would like to think that my good deed earlier contributed to our being able to find them and rescue them.
Source: http://shakingthemoneytree.blogspot.com/2012/07/1-good-karma.html
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