Here we are...day 50 of quarantine! Wow. Who knew? Fifty days.......
By the way...I am on Facebook...so if you want to see my Quarantine updates, I have made them public. This.....this is more personal.
So! What happened in our little corner of the quarantined world today? The weather was nice. Almost 70 degrees (Fahrenheit)...but breezy and still a bit chillier than usual. Inside is always colder than outside in the warm months...because we have stone walls and ceramic floors.....and the wind whips around outside the back door and window....across the hills and valleys from the either the Adriatic or the mountains. Nevertheless...a very lovely day.
My husband ventured out in mask and gloves to get more gloves...and a couple of light bulbs, feral cat food...another coir mat for the cortile so the ferals can scratch and sit and sleep. Anything to get off the stone and tile. He brought home a couple of plants...a fuchsia petunia in a hanging pot and a couple of others for the front...which is a problem because it gets relentless sun...relentless...and very, very hot come the warmer months. Nothing survives. So we decided to get a couple of pots for the already there hangers and replace plants throughout the season...sounds a bit heartless, I suppose....but the house needs color...we've tried to find things to survive, but nothing does...short of a cactus....and an ornamental flowering plant cost next to nothing here and they are plentiful.
I did a couple of loads of laundry...small compared to US loads....and was preparing dinner.....when the doorbell rang. The INSIDE doorbell...that can only be one or two people.....it was Marguerite, my friend and neighbor from across the street. She brought a piece of pie for two. I can't tell her that I don't eat fruit....she wouldn't understand...few do, anyway...plus...the language problem. Nevertheless, it is beautiful and smells like butter and sugar....heaven.......
By the way...I am on Facebook...so if you want to see my Quarantine updates, I have made them public. This.....this is more personal.
So! What happened in our little corner of the quarantined world today? The weather was nice. Almost 70 degrees (Fahrenheit)...but breezy and still a bit chillier than usual. Inside is always colder than outside in the warm months...because we have stone walls and ceramic floors.....and the wind whips around outside the back door and window....across the hills and valleys from the either the Adriatic or the mountains. Nevertheless...a very lovely day.
My husband ventured out in mask and gloves to get more gloves...and a couple of light bulbs, feral cat food...another coir mat for the cortile so the ferals can scratch and sit and sleep. Anything to get off the stone and tile. He brought home a couple of plants...a fuchsia petunia in a hanging pot and a couple of others for the front...which is a problem because it gets relentless sun...relentless...and very, very hot come the warmer months. Nothing survives. So we decided to get a couple of pots for the already there hangers and replace plants throughout the season...sounds a bit heartless, I suppose....but the house needs color...we've tried to find things to survive, but nothing does...short of a cactus....and an ornamental flowering plant cost next to nothing here and they are plentiful.
I did a couple of loads of laundry...small compared to US loads....and was preparing dinner.....when the doorbell rang. The INSIDE doorbell...that can only be one or two people.....it was Marguerite, my friend and neighbor from across the street. She brought a piece of pie for two. I can't tell her that I don't eat fruit....she wouldn't understand...few do, anyway...plus...the language problem. Nevertheless, it is beautiful and smells like butter and sugar....heaven.......
As the day wore on, it seemed to get nicer outside. The siren's song......my husband went out to feed the ferals again.....and he didn't come back in.....then I started hearing voices outside.....ok....sure...it happens... succede.....especially on a lovely evening.....Tee was in the front window paying rapt attention......stood up like a prairie dog a couple of times.....What IS going on out there?
Finally, Tee scrammed...as did Scruff and Calzini...only Imp remained.....they were scared. Too many noises, too many voices...too much stuff going on out there!
At which point I stood up and I saw Marguerite on one of her balconies tending to plants, Tony (her husband) in the piazzetta, tending to the plants that grow up on their walls outside...Antonio, another neighbor...and I could hear my husband.
I put shoes on and went outside. Beautiful evening light glow....a warm evening.....down the street further was little Laura, who is 9 years old and her father...both in masks....they waved "Ciao!"...Tony was in a mask, Antonio was not......Marguerite and Tony's cat was on the engine hood of Tony's car...in her halter and leash....and there was a CROWD of ferals....Mamma, Ink, Lupo, Funky Gray, Black Mamma...Fat Black......cats! Una folla!! Nothing special going on...but....something special indeed.....people being "social' in whatever way they could. Waves. Greetings. Hey! We're here! We're alive! Making pies, tending plants, feeding kitties......
I didn't stay long because I had things to do in the kitchen....and I was struck by the reaction of our own kittens....yes, they are still kittens. Scruff is, just now, in the beginning of his adolescence...he is about one year at this point. The others are three months behind. What struck me was their fear. The front window wasn't even open.....yet, they were frightened. And they ran to hide.
And hide they did. I found Tee and Calzini hunkered in the back room in Scruff's cage, making themselves as invisible as possible. Scruff and Imp were on our bed...not SO terribly scared, but not near the front window. And, when I sat down, Imp came to me immediately. He knows....he knows he isn't going anywhere....no one is coming to take him away. He's safe. We saved his life. He is well aware of that. Scruff.....not so much.....but he's learning.
I comforted Tee a couple of times...I could not even really reach Calze....after three times, Missy Tee came out again. Calze followed soon afterwards.
It just showed me how terribly vulnerable they still are....after being in the streets for 7 or 8 months of their lives...they are terrified of going back. They want no part of it. I had had a previous adopted stray who was much the same. No thanks! Been there, done that!
Makes me weep for the children...the innocent children ...no one remembers or even speaks about anymore....those small and helpless children ripped from their parents and shoved into cages and afraid and deprived and crying every moment of every day. I cannot even...even...imagine. And we, as a country...as a society...as a world....have forgotten them and their needs and their fear.
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