The Qatari Cat Gets a New Knee
******* WARNING ********* WARNING **********
If you are squeamish at all, do not read this blog post or look at the last photo, which is graphic.
****** END WARNING *********************
Qatari Cat Before
The Qatari Cat is home now, quiet and relaxed, stretched out in his favorite area. The Vet told us, as he scratched his head, that they would really like to keep him for another day, but he wasn’t acting normally. He’s all groaning and moaning and biting anything around him. They were at their wit’s end, and hated to see him so unhappy. Did we want to leave him or did we think he might be better at home?
We didn’t hesitate.
“We’ll take him home,” we said, knowing home is a quiet, safe place where the Qatari Cat can calm down and focus on healing.
Who knew? Who knew cats could bust their anterior crucial ligament? Who knew that it doesn’t repair itself, and that it would put stress on the other leg and that one would eventually tear, too?
We are learning all the time. In the old days, cats didn’t live long enough to get diabetes, to need a knee replacement. Cats went outdoors and had fatal run ins with cars, or racoons, or bad dogs, or mean people, or poisons. We’ve had five other cats in our lives together, and the Qatari Cat is the one we expected would not live so long, a tiny little street-cat with an infection when adopted.
We’ve kept him indoors (except for the rare instances, in Qatar, when he escaped, but not for long). Once, when he escaped, he climbed a tree. It was a very skinny tree, and as the wind blew and he got frightened, he kept climbing higher, until he was swaying back and forth, back and forth, and yowling at the top of his voice in pure panic.
Good thing he had that set of lungs, so I could find him. It took me another hour to talk him down out of that tree. “Qatari Cat” I said, over and over, “You are OK. You can come down,” and I would pat the tree. Over and over – you have to keep it simple for a scared cat. At long last, we locked eyes, he turned around and slowly edged his way down the tree, head first. I think that was a very scary thing for him, but he trusted me, and he came down. When he would hesitate, I would pat the tree and say “Qatari Cat, come.” He still comes when I call him and pat.
While we were still living in Qatar, he jumped from somewhere and developed a limp. From time to time, especially when the weather is cold, the limp, always the same leg, would become more pronounced. Recently, as he was trying to make a sharp turn, he screeeeeeched in pain, and after that, he had a serious limp.
The vet showed us his x-rays; his knee was totally torn. We waited until we were back from Alaska, so we could be here exactly for his reason – the Qatari Cat does best at home. He also does well at We Tuck ‘Em Inn, but he does not do well when he can smell fear and when he is fearful. When he is fearful, he is a fearful and awesome creature, spitting, hissing, biting and twisting. He instills fear in the most stalwart heart.
When we first saw him, at the vet’s office, (they were SO glad to get rid of him) he was growling and snarling, and he settled down in the car, a little, growling only now and then.
As soon as we got him home, we opened the carrier door and left him alone. Then the moaning began in earnest. He wanted to come out, but when he would turn to get in leaving position, his leg hurt, his wound hurt – a LOT, and he would let out a long, low, pitiful GROOOO-AAAAAAAA-AAAANNNNNNNNN. We had to leave him be. We had to let him do it himself.
AdventureMan had a special treat for him, canned catfood with SALMON. It helped him move himself out of the carrier:
And this is what his leg looks like. The instructions say it should heal in 10 to 14 days. We’re hoping he feels a lot better before then.
Fine For Littering on Old East End Road in Homer, AK
AdventureMan spotted this; we can’t figure out if it is an unintentional irony or just that no one has removed this abandoned truck:
Back Again at Captain Pattie’s in Homer, AK
Finally, after a long day bear hunting, we are back once again at one of our favorite restaurants in the world, Captain Patties.
There are a lot of good restaurants in the world – so why do we like this one so much? First, the location on the Homer Spit, from which every seat in the house can see out the window, beach, sky, mountains – it is glorious. The menu offers a large selection, even selections for people who don’t like seafood, and Captain Patties chef allows the food to shine. It is simply prepared, simply but elegantly plated, and the flavors are robust. Perfectly grilled halibut, salmon, local scallops, clams . . . maybe with a little side sauce, but it is your choice to dip or not to dip. The flavors are memorable.
We started with Kachemak Bay steamer clams, steamed in wine with green onions and garlic – perfection:
Another favorite appetizer is their smoked salmon dip, which is fantastic, and their chowder, one of the best we’ve tasted.
This is the mixed seafood, grilled. No, actually, this is the part we haven’t already eaten because I forgot to photograph when it first appeared, LOL.
It was a week night, so a few tables were able to walk right in without a reservation, but we learned the hard way, make reservations. If you make reservations, you will not be disappointed.
Scam Death Notice: A New Low in Scams
Today I got this. It’s a common name; it’s entirely possible I know someone of that name, but I have never seen a notice like this, official, impersonal, and not mentioning the specific name of the deceased. It smells. No. It stinks.
All Who Exalt Themselves Will Be Humbled
Today’s Gospel reading makes me squirm; it does not come naturally to me, a first-born, to be humble. I love being special. I love to be honored, to be given a seat of honor, to get that upgrade. And I think I am very human, so I imagine the reaction this radical teaching received among his own people, and among the scribes and Pharisees who also loved being special . . .
Matthew 23:1-12
23Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 2‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; 3therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practise what they teach. 4They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear,* and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them. 5They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long. 6They love to have the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, 7and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi. 8But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students.* 9And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.* 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
Zombies and Me and Romans
A very long time ago, I loved scary movies, and then a friend told me to see ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and scary movies lost all their charm for me. I was young, to get to my job I walked eight blocks to the bus stop, and I was living in Seattle, where early morning is still very dark. Rationally, I know zombies of the kind in ‘The Night of the Living Dead’ do not exist; irrationally, those were eight long dark blocks and my heart jumped with every movement caught out of the corner of my eye.
Why is it that zombies are so terrifying to me? I have always thought it was because they exemplify the worst in us, the kinds of things we do when we are in mobs fueled by passion and violence, or even smaller groups where we go places and do things we would never do on our own.
As I read todays Lectionary readings, however, I realized that the reasons zombies have such a visceral horror for me is that they are the hidden me, the appetites and hungers I won’t even acknowledge to myself; the urge to kill when someone treats me rudely or cuts me off in traffic, the appetites I yearn to indulge, zombies epitomize everything we are without the saving grace of a loving God.
Romans 8:1-11
8There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit* of life in Christ Jesus has set you* free from the law of sin and of death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin,* he condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.* 5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit* set their minds on the things of the Spirit.* 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit* is life and peace. 7For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit,* since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit* is life because of righteousness. 11If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ* from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through* his Spirit that dwells in you.
Maura’s in Homer, AK
Maura’s is across the street from the Driftwood Inn, and is only open for breakfast and lunch. I had lunch there the day AdventureMan was out bear hunting, and then we had lunch there together the next day.
Maura’s
Inside Mauras – it’s not very big; many people order to take out
This salad was full of happy surprises – lots of avocado, a marinated shredded cabbage, a pickled beet, it was continually surprising and delicious:
Tom Yom Gai with a twist – a lot of kale, which worked. This was the healthiest, tastiest Tom Yom Gai ever:
As I said, it was so good AdventureMan wanted to try it the next day. They were very busy, we ordered out to eat back at our house, but we were so hungry that I totally forgot to take photos. Both days, delicious.
Dawn Sunrise in Homer, Alaska
Our first morning in Homer is a flashback to the perfect weather we had there last August, a total change from the previous drizzly day. This is what sunrise looks like in Homer:
Those mountains and glaciers thrill my heart.
AdventureMan was instructed to have a good breakfast; they won’t be back until late afternoon, so we head to Dunken Inn, where we had such a good breakfast last year. We get there just in time – there is no line, and there is a table waiting for us, but five minutes later, there is a line.
AdventureMan has stick-to-your-ribs-while-bear-hunting biscuits and gravy:
And I have the 2 – 2 – 1, which is two eggs, two slices bacon and one blueberry pancake. I don’t even really like pancakes, but these blueberry pancakes are SO good 🙂
We drove around a little until drop off time; AdventureMan spotted a Sandhill Crane and this wonderful local yard art:
When Salmon Jerky and Japanese Crackers are Fine Dining
It’s a small thing, but just goes to show how much faith we put in planning, and how little control we really have. We’ve just settled in to our nice room at the Driftwood Inn, and a little after four, we get a call from the nice lady at Captain Patti’s, the restaurant where we have reservations for dinner.
We have no power, she tells us, and adds that the power is out on the entire Homer spit. They are closing for the night. Hmmm. We will have to find someplace else. We have some ideas, so we get in the car and head out, but it gets worse. The stoplights are out. The stores are all closing because they can’t run their cash registers, or run a credit card. The restaurants aren’t opening for dinner at all. The electricity is not just out on the spit, it is out in Homer, too. We briefly consider driving up to Soldatna to see if we can get a bite to eat there, but AdventureMan checks in the office at the Inn, and is told that the electricity is down on the entire Kenai peninsula. Holy tamole!
No food available, no food for sale. We have a package of Japanese crackers, which we love, and some salmon jerky, which AdventureMan is surprised to find that he likes, too. We have some breakfast cereal if we really need it, and milk in the refrigerator downstairs, so it’s not like we’re going to starve.
AdventureMan gets a call now that his flight will be departing for the bear hunt at 11 the next morning. I guess you can’t gas up planes without electricity these days, either.
The power came back some time close to nine, but by that time, we didn’t care to go out; crackers and jerky had done the trick.
Bear Photos From AdventureMan
When I saw the photo of the bears that looks like they are waltzing, I laughed. They are wrestling, but oh, he caught them at the perfect moment. The second has such serenity, is such a testament to the glorious creative power of God, that I love it, too.
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