Letters from Ascension Hermitage and Sanctuary

Much to my surprise, when I fed the cats their breakfast this morning, I discovered that Jemma had left us sometime during the night. Jemma was a young 13-year-old - I often still thought of her as just beyond kittenhood - and she had given no sign that she was ill. She loved to eat and climb and jump: her favorite spot was the top shelf of the cat tower. Jemma and her siblings came to Sanctuary House as tiny kittens - they and their mother, Queenie, had been dumped in the heat of summer on an asphalt driveway at a county trash transfer station. One of Jemma's brothers, Joshua, died unexpectedly as an adolescent; her brother Jackie, who had rather severe epilepsy, was, nevertheless, one of the cats who was stolen from Sanctuary House in 2017. Jemma's other siblings, Jonas, Jesse, and Rosalie, and their mother still live at Sanctuary House. Jemma liked other cats but was just as happy to observe humans from a distance. She and her sister Rosalie were always best friends. Rosalie...

Blanche the chicken managed to stay dry, but she's standing in water as she and her sisters search for worms. The ducks are just delighted with puddles deep enough to cover their heads! But in case you aren't a duck, here's another reason to celebrate today - it's NATIONAL COFFEE DAY!!  

Today, September 28, 2020, there will be a memorial service for my mother who died on September 5. The following text is from one of her "absolute favorite" hymns: Sunset to sunrise changes now, for God doth make his world anew; on the Redeemer's thorn-crowned brow the wonders of that dawn we view. E'en though the sun withholds its light, lo! a more heavenly lamp shines here, and from the cross on Calvary's height gleams of eternity appear. Here in o'er-whelming final strife the Lord of life hath victory, and sin is slain, and death brings life, and all on earth hold heav'n in fee.      -- St. Clement of Alexandria, paraphrased by Howard Chandler Robbins, (alt.) May she rest in peace, and rise in glory.

It is unusual to lose two cats in one day, and yet that is exactly what happened today - Victoria left for the Rainbow Bridge and Katmandu followed just a few hours later. The two cats were nothing alike in personality but in the last week had become very close, often napping together. Victoria came to Sanctuary House years ago as a kitten with her sister Veronica - they had been found huddled together in a rainstorm and were completely devoted to each other. They liked other cats - people, not so much. Later in life, each developed her own circle of cat friends, but both remained distant and rejected any idea of being held or petted. [Veronica is still very much with us, managing to ignore me completely!] Victoria was quiet, mysterious, always thinking her own thoughts and keeping them to herself. Katmandu, on the other paw, loved other cats and people! He lost an eye early in life but didn't let that stop him for a moment. He loved to run and jump and climb. He, too, had come...