January 18, 2006
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Fooled by the Flow
The photographer today was Doug, for all except the two photos in which
he appears. I directed him to stand still for this one, because I
was struck by the frost in his beard and mustache, which doesn’t really
show very well in this shot.I live in the Flow. The Universe provides what I need. It
hasn’t failed me yet, but it has fooled me sometimes. There
have been a few occasions when I thought I’d gotten just what I’d
needed, but ended up not so sure about that.The last time we did a water run, I wrote about the bucket that cracked
across the bottom and flooded the kitchen floor. Last time I
went to Wasilla, Greyfox gave me the 23-liter water jug he’d salvaged
out of the dumpster. That seemed like the perfect working of the
Flow, as if the Dumpster Deva knew just what I needed at just the right
time.As it worked out, the Dumpster Deva was working for Greyfox this
time. That “new” jug leaks. It’s not leaking as fast as the
bucket did, but sometime before I go to bed I need to find a clean
container in which to dump that water before it overflows from the pan
I put under the jug.The
big tomcat in the foreground here (Behind him is Hilary, our climber.)
is Potemkin, our new cat. A few days ago, he was out there when I
opened the door, so I put warm water and fresh food out for him.
He let me pick him up and hold him for a little while, and then made it
clear that he’d prefer to be down where the dishes are. He drank
thirstily and ate as if he’d been starving. The next day, he let
me hold him again.Doug saw him this morning, picked him up and brought him into the house. Potemkin
is scruffy and scarred, but apparently not feral. He uses the
litter box. Under all that thick fur is a muscular form, and he
has extra toes, too, a snowshoe cat.There was some hissing and growling among the assembled cats (Potemkin
makes nine, plus Koji the dog.) but they soon relaxed and accepted
him. He went outside before we left for the spring, and came back
in later. That time, he stayed. He is in Doug’s room now,
with orange Nemo, the indoor cat, the only one of our whole bunch who
didn’t growl or hiss at Potemkin at all. So mellow, she is.When I noticed the water on the floor this time, I
immediately suspected a leak in the new old jug, and put a pad of
newspaper under it while I went back to climb up and access the
inaccessible storage area where I keep my gardening supplies. I
could see that the jug was too large to fit into a dishpan, so I went
for a plant flat knowing that it would fit.This worked to Greyfox’s advantage because while digging out the flat
to catch the leak, I found the electric timer he needs so that he can
set his engine block heater to come on when he needs it, instead of
having to get up hours early to plug it in or leave it plugged in all
night and waste energy. I had looked for it in all the other
likely places, so I suspected it was up there with the plant stuff but
hesitated to climb up there after it. As long as I was up there
anyway to stem the flood, I searched for and found the timer for
him. Sneaky entity, that Dumpster Deva.
Doug wasn’t eager to take pictures on the water run. I
almost just let it slide when he said he didn’t want to take his gloves
off. That was understandable and justifiable, given the frigid
temperature. I suggested that he try it with his gloves on, and
that he did. I also kept my gloves on for the two I took of him,
and it wasn’t easy. My gloves had gotten wet and the water had
frozen, so I had ice-sheathed fingertips with which to trip the shutter.By the time I had gotten all the jugs and buckets filled, my fingers
and toes were numb with cold. Everything else was okay. I
had worn five layers on top and just as many on the bottom. One
of those bottom layers was the down filling in my snow pants.
Movement was somewhat restricted, but I was well-insulated.The gloves can’t be that thick, because I need to be able to use my
hands. The mukluks are warm, but I think I compromised my
circulation kneeling there and sitting back on my heels when I lifted
the buckets out of the waterhole. In the car after we were done,
I changed into warm dry gloves and the feeling returned to my fingers
painfully enough to assure me that they were still alive.All but one of my toes similarly came back to life on the drive home in
the heated car. The large toe on my left foot was still not
sending me any neural signals, so I hurried into the house, got out of
the mukluks and massaged the toe until it started hurting.
Sometimes I wonder, in such situations, if it might not be preferable
to just break off the frozen parts, they hurt so when they warm up.
After we were
all packed up and ready to go, I captured the shot of the hatch falling
on Doug, probably not a great event to be documenting, but it is a
regular occurrence in winter when the hydraulic thingamabobs that hold
it up are too cold to work properly.
Comments (10)
a snowshoe cat! excellent! i love those feet of theirs.
he’s a handsome lad. glad a few of the cats are becoming more welcoming.
and…can you use caulk specifically made for sealing plastics on the bucket? would it hold or not? of course, i don’t know how easy it is to find a new one instead and not go to the trouble of caulking.
and as for the hatchback. ow and damn! my mini-van used to do that to me. hurts.
BRRR! Hats off to you who live in such a cold place…..what an adventure. I have lived in cold weather before up near the Canadian border but I am ever so glad not to live there anymore..our climate here in the Pacific Northwest is temperate, if a bet wet, especially this year with so much rainfall.
That’s one beautiful cat.
Hydraulic thingamabobs.
That was way cool. :bounceup:
You’re the only one I know who can make a water run fascinating. I’ve began a new blog. I was too aware of all the readers to write without inhibition and I’ve come upon a moment in my life when the present and future are not so clear but surely a stroll back in time might give me some insight to where I’ve been and where I want to go. I hope I can write a memoir with the honest and lyrical way you have. You have this way of making it all like Janis’ “Take Another Little Piece of My Heart”.
Yeah. What she said! :::Looks Up:::
Doug looks all groan up. Tell him I said “hello”.
Poor Doug
:littlekiss:
What a vivid picture of the beauty and harshness of life there. I love the way you juxtaposed the pictures of the stream and “carefree” kitties with the water collection and cruel car! If I click on Doug’s pictures I can see the frost and his fogged up lenses.
See. Isn’t the universe wonderful?
ha! Moscow has nothing on you.
Hilary’s a climber, eh? As is Mt. Everest? Or as in Mt. Clinton?!