Cats – Dear Liza

On My Way!

Dear Liza,

I can’t believe that I am on my way to you, and will be seeing you Saturday for lunch in Billund, Denmark!

This past week has been busy. I spent part of every day taking care of Maggie and Hopey, Auntie Katie’s cats, while she was in Chicago.

I also got to water her garden, which is always lovely and refreshing.

I had a nice walk around the Alberta neighborhood with Cynthia. I have never spent much time there, but it is green and interesting, with lots of history and quirkiness of its own.

It is an eclectic mix of urban and parks, with native plant gardens right next to apartments and tiny toy exchanges.

I even got to spend an afternoon with Cousins Jasper and Kestrel at the Portland Art Museum. Most of the museum is closed for a major renovation. However, along with the Post Impressionists exhibit, a few galleries upstairs are filled with a delightfully random collection of art from the museum’s collection.

Each Cousin picked a favorite piece to be photographed with. Jasper’s is a ‘quilt’ made from computer circuit boards, which makes perfect sense, him being a science and technology kind of guy.

Kestrel chose this enormous still life with incredibly realistic flowers and fruit. It looked so fresh, you could almost smell the strawberries!

And now I am all done packing for our trip. We will spend a few days in Leiden, the Netherlands, get over our jet lag, and then come see you and your folks. I don’t have any pictures of that, of course, but this gets the feeling across…

I am so excited!!!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Books with Pictures Comic Con Part 2

Dear Liza,

Besides family, friends, and artist tables at the Books with Pictures Comic Con, there were all sorts of activities. The Garden Stage (in the beautiful garden Katie has been nurturing for a few years) was home to a cosplay contest for kids and adults.

Elias, a very young Jedi, won the kid’s division. He had forgotten his light saber at home, so Katie gave him one of hers, made for Free Comic Book Day from a pool noodle. He was delighted!

There was a cartooning duel, with pairs of artists trying to out-think and out-draw each other. The first contest had a random doodle as the prompt, which led to these awesome drawings….

A windsurfing puffin and a coffee drinking moose.

Douglas Wolk hosted a Trivia contest with really hard questions! Besides being an author of books about comics (“All the Marvels” is his latest), he also teaches classes about them. These were really interesting questions, like “Which American comic strip has run since 1914 and only had three artists?” I’ll let you look up the answer, if you like.

There were also discussions and interviews, featuring Kelly Sue Deconnick, Leela Cormac, and Carl Sciacchitano.

The last act of the day was Lizzy Kirby, who plays guitar and sings lovely songs about love and cats. She sang my favorite, with the catchy chorus of “Meow meow meow meow, meow meow meow.”

To make sure we had ann exciting day, between all the art, contests, and interviews, we had a few spats of strong winds that blew in rain and hail and tried to carry away the inventory!

Tents rattled, comics went flying, and folks scrambled to hang onto their banners. Each storm lasted about ten minutes, then we would have sparkling sun for an hour or so.

It was very …. Let’s say entertaining. More tomorrow!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Eris, Our New Friend in the Neighborhood

Dear Liza,

We will soon have a new place to eat and drink here in Sunnyside!

Tony Pepe is opening a cocktail bar called Eris (named after the goddess of chaos p, and also the dwarf planet) right where our Rendez Vous used to be, just a block down on 34th.

Tony is a very friendly fellow who showed me his progress and told me his plans. He will have some wine and some food, but is mostly a creative cocktail maker. He also, much to my appreciation, loves cats. His own cats are called Victor Babitch and Dante.

Tony was painting today, hoping to get the ceiling done before his furniture gets delivered.

Since he is the sole owner and designer, the place will be a direct reflection of him…. Which means it should be delightful, intelligent, quirky and fun.

I’ll tell you all about when we get to visit Tony and Eris next month!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Bright Fall Light

Dear Liza,

This season is mostly a grey one, but every now and the clouds blow away and we have bright, cold, sunshine. That was today.

We did chores during the morning and then headed off through the neighborhood to Zach’s Hot Dog Shack. The noon sun was almost blinding, and made the still-changing leaves magical.

We found some rhododendrons, being a bit early even for them, (or late, it’s hard to know which) popping blooms open just as the rest of the plants have called it quits for the year.

We enjoyed a chilly lunch on Zach’s patio, since the inside was pretty crowded with folks watching football. Grandpa Nelson and I played ping pong, which warmed us up a bit.

The walk home was lit with the warm afternoon light of Fall. This beautiful cat was just so fetching between the orange leaves.

We walked by St. Stephen’s Church, which has been on this corner in a mostly residential area since 1924. It is built of bricks and is very pretty.

It has a large front entrance with doors topped by Mary and Jesus chatting with monks, along with with these delightfully glazed ceramic faces.

And that was our outing for the day. It never really got above 45 degrees, and was just too chilly to be out for long. We came home, read, made art, and cooked.

Just another lovely Tuesday!

Love,

Grandma Judy

Welcome, New Kitties

Dear Liza,

Back in May I told you that Auntie Katie’s dear old cat, Pixel, had passed away. This week, two new cats have come to live with Cousins Jasper and Kestrel and Auntie Katie in their apartment above Books with Pictures.

The females, one black and one gray, don’t have names yet. Auntie Katie has asked friends on Facebook to help out and give ideas. So far, the list includes Xena and Gabrielle, Thelma and Louise, and Magique and Shadowcat.

The new kitties have been staying in the bathroom in a cozy wool bed just big enough for the two of them. I am glad they have each other for company.

They are eating and drinking and using the litter box, and slowly getting used to their new space. The other day Auntie Katie went in to say ‘hi’, and got a careful greeting.

I am looking forward to getting to know these little ladies, once they are feeling safe and comfortable. I have even made some catnip stuffties for them.

What’s interesting is that they look very much like cats we had a while ago, Stoney and Sassy, a gray and a black. Here is a picture of our old friends.

Loving cats is one of my great joys in life.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Farewell to Sweet Pixel

Dear Liza,

I am sorry to say, Cousins Jasper and Kestrel have lost their dear cat Pixel. She was sixteen and a half years old and had cancer. She died on Monday. We are all very sad.

Auntie Katie and Uncle Dave found Pixel at an animal shelter outside of Ithaca, New York in 2005. Pixel was so excited about her new owners that she climbed up their jeans! During her first summer, she learned to catch frogs and birds from their older cat, Kink.

She accompanied the family to Portland and over the years became Cousin Kestrel’s best friend.

She made the transition to bookshop cat this past year. At first she was nervous about it, but eventually would go down into the shop late at night to remind Auntie Katie to come upstairs and sleep.

Pixel developed oral cancer this year. It became inoperable and would eventually kill Pixel by stopping her from eating and breathing. Not wanting to cause her dear kitten such suffering, Auntie Katie decided to have her put to sleep. Dr. Wilson, a very gentle veterinarian, came right to the house. She explained what would happen, and gave Pixel a shot to help her relax.

Auntie Katie held Pixel in her lap on the couch as the heavier sedative was given by IV. Over the next few minutes, Pixel stopped breathing and her heart stopped. Katie held her for a long time as I saw Doctor Wilson out.

My last picture of Pixel, as we waited for the doctor

When Katie was ready, we wrapped Pixel’s body in a pillow case and placed her in a box, putting her in the fridge until her funeral can be planned.

Auntie Katie and I walked around the small garden behind the shop and found a good spot to bury her dear friend. It is between two logs against the far fence. Easy to find, but private enough that one can have a quiet graveside visit. I hope the cousins can help make a nice ceremony to say goodbye. Maybe they will say this poem, by Sarah Henderson Hay.

To a Dead Kitten

Put the rubber mouse away,
Pick the spools up from the floor,
What was velvet shod, and gay,
Will not want them, any more.

What was warm, is strangely cold.
Whence dissolved the little breath?
How could this small body hold
So immense a thing as Death?

Missing our furry friend already.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Animal Complications

Dear Liza,

We have been extra busy this week, keeping up with the needs of our fellow critters.

Mouse, before her allergy problems kicked in…

Mouse, our cat, has skin allergies which make her itch. When she was an indoor-outdoor cat in Salinas, we saw the scratches in her face, but assumed she had been fighting with local cats. But now that she is exclusively indoors, it is clear the scratches are self-inflicted. The vet tells us that she is allergic…. to cats?

She is on medication that soothes the itch, but it’s hard on her liver, and can only be given in small doses. So, for a week, poor Mousie wore the collar of shame to try and let her damaged nose heal. She was not happy. She walked around like a depressed lampshade.

Finally, her nose had healed enough we felt it was time to lose the collar. She is so much happier! Now, if we can just keep her from hurting herself.

Meanwhile, Cousin Kestrel has finally gotten her pet snake!

Kestrel has always been very sympathetic to animals. When she learned about hog nosed snakes, she became fascinated. She did hours of research to learn how to care for one, and worked with Auntie Katie to develop a vivarium for it to live in.

The vivarium has plants, insects, and sandy soil for snakey to tunnel into. It has a warming mat to protect against Portland’s chill and a humidity monitor to keep him comfy.

The snake’s name is Sir Issac Snooten. He passes his time underground, teaching celestial mechanics and gravitational laws to the isopods who eat his poop.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Christmas Walks

Dear Liza,

I know I will have lots of Christmas pictures to share with you, but they will come tomorrow. Auntie Bridgett and I went for a walk to the market (who knew we didn’t have any tomato paste?) and saw some lovely things. A friendly cat came out to check our credentials.

We saw another cat in a window, looking very warm and cozy, while this hummingbird mocked her from the top of a very bare tree. There was also n early blooming azalea making the world pretty.

We talked to a man about the tree by his door, which is blooming, in mid-winter. He said it is called a viburnum, and that he planted it precisely because in the cold dark, it would bloom and smell sweetly. There is also a Daphne bush, which we have by our front door! I look forward to all the lovely scents coming soon.

And by Sunnyside School, we found this posting of neighborhood friendliness. We just took one, because we already feel pretty full of love, with family, friends, home and hearth so close.

Love,

Grandma Judy

North to Alberta, Part 2

Dear Liza,

After I had explored old buildings and seen monuments, I found what I had originally headed north for, a fabric shop called Modern Domestic. It is bright and well laid out, and carries the variety of fabrics I have been looking for.

Martha, who is the ‘new kid’ at the store, and I had a wonderful conversation about the colors of Portland, and what I would need to do the city justice in my quilt. Greys, for the clouds, she said, and reds for the bricks. It was nice to talk to someone who understood what I was aiming at.

After moving bolts of fabric around, I found a perfect Easter Egg, a collection of Fat Quarters from Robert Kaufman in the colors and textures I had been looking for. I tucked it under my arm and continued looking, because the collection was lacking a forest green. Martha helped me find it, hiding in a corner across the shop. Everyone was so helpful, even letting me recharge my phone while I shopped.

Then I headed off in search of lunch! It is amazing how hungry I suddenly realized I was. I knew Martin Luther King Jr. was a main drag, so I just walked north, knowing something would turn up.

And something did. Aberus Ethiopian Food was on the next corner, a small restaurant, totally empty the whole time I was there, but the food was delicious. I told the lady (cook and waitress) that this was my first time eating Ethiopian food, but that I wasn’t afraid of spice. She recommended Doro Wat, a chicken and chili dish served on a large disc of spongy bread, a hard boiled egg, cheese, and salad. It was spicy, messy, and a wonderful experience. I left with leftovers.

Now sated and ready for home, I caught the number 6 south. Walking between Grand and MLK, I found a fellow leaning against a building who seemed to need the leftovers more than I did, so I gave them to him. We chatted for a minute, then my bus came.

After I had rested, Auntie Bridgett and I went for a walk. I keep finding new things! Did you know gingko trees have nuts? I didn’t! But now I do, and here is what they look like.

The rest of the evening was spent watching the Giants beat the Padres and playing with Mousekin.

Love,

Grandma Judy

Cat Art

Dear Liza,

I’ve told you that Portland is a city where dogs are very popular, but I still prefer cats. Our cat, Mouse (Miss Mousie Mouskin of the Mouseville Mousekins), is my favorite, of course.

She has the balance of a desire for adventure and a love of relaxation that I find copacetic.

But I’m not the only one here who loves cats. There are cats all over the neighborhood, happy, brave, silly and even weird.

There are cats in art here, as well. The McMenamin brothers’ chain of bars and hotels have a a picture of its “distillery cat”, along with Ruby the brewer witch and Hammerhead guy, who is painted in every one of their establishments.

While we were visiting Edgefield, which is a McMenamin’s location east of Portland, we saw this disgruntled cat on the back window of a car.

Sunnyside Environmental School, in our neighborhood, has one painted on its doors, I guess to keep the free roaming chickens company.

Auntie Bridget puts cats into her art all the time. My birthday card this year, which went all the way down to Salinas, featured her and Grandpa Nelson, as cats!

That’s all I’ve got to say about cats in art, for now. But rest assured, there will be more…later.

Love,

Grandma Judy