We All Might Be Refugees

At the old Fountain Theater in Mesilla we saw a moving film (moving moving picture?): Funan, a complex animated feature that tells the story of a Cambodian family caught up in the Khmer Rouge madness of the late 1970's. It destroys their lives. Only one woman and her young son escape to Thailand, and ultimately to France. 

Very fine movie. Maybe the animation, though highly effective, helped distance us emotionally – just enough to make the unbearable bearable. The characters are 2D recreations of humans. (At some of the toughest moments, while I was contemplating a new horror visited upon the family, I was also thinking “Wow!” at the subtle way an animated face had changed, or at the slender white line that appeared, stretched itself, and quickly disappeared to indicate a tear.) 

Mother and son escaped. Filmmaker Denis Do dedicated the film to his mother and brother. Not hard to hazard a guess he's a young half-brother, born after their escape. (The husband gives his life to make sure they escape.) 

Animated or not, the film was effective. We witnessed normal lives destroyed, replaced by horrendous work-camps run by Khmer Rouge fanatics with automatic weapons, then by death or a harrowing escape, with nothing at all.

Afterward, a little shell-shocked, we walked through the familiar streets of Mesilla, where I lived nearly fifty years ago. The world felt secure again: solid adobe structures, peaceful streets, a mild autumn evening.

We are (mostly) not living in fear – nor escaping fear by migrating to a miserable border area lock-up.

Maybe it's obvious to think of those gentle Central American refugees who've washed up here this year, not long after their lives – partially but not wholly through our government's actions – fell apart and fleeing became the only real option.

But in those animated detainees/refugees, I see us too. Climate-change is here; and like the aliens from outer space in the old horror movies, it's going to grow voraciously and destroy the fabric of our lives.

Already two billion people on this planet are experiencing some degree of food insecurity due to climate-change; the climate is hinting that Hatch chile may not grow in Hatch much longer; superstorms have decimated Houston, New Orleans, and Puerto Rico, turning folks like us into homeless folks on cots in a big gym. In India, flooding from extra-heavy monsoon rains displaced more than 1,000,000 people – and killed hundreds. Galveston is asking the Dutch how to protect low-lying land. Alaska's sea ice melted for the first time this year – and Iceland has held a funeral for a dead glacier. Weather extremes during the last 20 years have killed people. In about 10 years, the warming will be about 50 percent greater than what we've experienced.

 

Maybe we'll all be refugees migrating North – or to a suddenly green Siberia, where we'll be at the mercy of Vlad Putin's successor.

Residents of Miami and Bangladesh and the Marshall Islands will suffer first – like the minor characters the monster eats before the protagonists wake up to the danger and get organized. We're safe for now. But this ain't some MGM epic and we're not stars, who can't die, and always win. 

Donald Trump says it's nonsense. Not worth getting upset over. So enjoy today's NFL football games.

But, if you've kids or grandkids, make time to study climate-change a little. For them.

                                                  -30-

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 29 October 2019, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website [Don't Dismiss the Attack of the Changing Climate] and on KRWG's website [Make Time to Study Climate Change].  A spoken version will also be available shortly on KRWG's website and will air during the week on KRWG (Wednesday and Saturday) and Thursday on KTAL, 101.5 FM, Las Cruces Community Radio (www.lccommunityradio.org).]

[Funan is no longer at the Fountain, but for those who saw it and wondered about things, I've inserted below a portion of an interview with Denis Do that's on-line at https://blog.toonboom.com/10-questions-with-denis-do-director-of-cristal-award-winner-funan:

I read Funan was inspired by your mother’s life in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. How much of the film was drawn from reality?

DD: There was a balance between sticking to the historical reality and creating the film’s environment. My goal wasn’t only to represent, but to also re-appropriate the pictures and memories — to make them live and to live with them. Animation is perfect for such a task.

Funan is based on personal and historical events, but it is also a work of fiction. We took creative liberties in terms of script and imagery. Because the content is based on my family’s story, it has followed me from my childhood until now. It was inevitable that I would do something with it because this heritage is very strong in my mind — and will stay like that forever.

Source: Les Films D’Ici.

The film also touches on a point very relevant in today’s world: The life of the exile, the migrant. I’m sensitive to this as I am a second-generation immigrant. My family has a long history of exile; my grandparents left China during the Japanese invasion and fled Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Such a background impacts you and the way you think, through generations. I always have the feeling this life can stop, everything can turn bad and we will need to leave again.

With such serious subject matter, why did you feel it was important to tell this story through animation?

DD: Animation let me avoid representing the character of my mother through a real actress. Also, while animation might have less space for spontaneity, it allows for greater control at each step of production. Funding the film was quite interesting; Funan is not based on a famous novel or comics, was my first movie and had adult content — the ingredients of making a project hard to fund.

Thanks to the French funding system and other European sources, we were able to start Funan. To be honest, the budget was still not enough. Artwork was made during the night, on weekends and during free time. The last two years of production were intense. We worked with six studios around the world, each with a small part of the film to do. Having funding meant the film could be made, but it never meant it would be easy or comfortable.

And why did you decide to pursue a hand-drawn 2D animation style?

DD: I love 2D animation and I am very sensitive to Japanese productions. Their storytelling is very efficient, avoiding useless actions. As I wanted less movements and actions, it was natural for me to think about 2D animation.

Someday You'll Be a "Person in Need of Protection"

Two realities of our world are longer physical life-spans and an epidemic of Alzheimer's and other diseases attacking our cognitive capabilities.

That makes guardianships and conservators a growth industry. It means states, grateful for what these folks do, need to facilitate their work, but also closely monitor the process. 

A tough but common dilemma is how to help our parents, siblings, spouses, and friends whose cognitive abilities are slipping away. 

When does Dad's driving slip from a family joke to a serious danger to him, us, and innocent strangers? When does Mom's carelessness about money warrant discussion of a conservator handling her finances? How many long-expired food items in Aunt Sally's refrigerator signify a real need to protect her health – and what the hell do we do?

It's an impossible set of interlocking puzzles: what to do is rarely clear; it can be challenging to convince Aunt Sally, and maybe overcome her paranoia (and your lifelong deference to her will) without losing her trust; and as we weigh her desire to live independently (emotional or spiritual needs) against her need for assistance (physical well-being), we must also consider how a court-appointed guardian or judge will evaluate our decisions. 

In the nightmare cases, relatives discover that a court-appointed conservator and guardian, and lawyer, have taken control of Sally's life and finances, putting her somewhere, and (sometimes) freezing out family and friends. Well-documented abuses led New Mexico (thanks largely to Chief Justice Charlie Daniels) to initiate reforms, somewhat opening up the process to public view.

Delay in taking the keys away or removing that out-of-date food can and will be used against us. Lawyers acting as guardians ad litem, and corporate conservator/guardians, will look at everything very, very carefully – as they should, to safeguard against elder abuse. What mix of greed and genuine concern about Sally motivates each of these professionals in a given case is known only to his/her conscience. But judges rely on them often, and tend to trust them. 

In one local case, the guardian and guardian's lawyer fought tooth and nail to maintain control of my client's stepmother, and even testified that at a meeting they'd seen food on his tie. (Damn, if that were determinative, I'd never have gotten hired for anything!) His lifelong love of his stepmother and his PhD in counseling were no match for that spot on his tie (and his delay in traveling from California to put his willful stepmother into some institution). 

Sadly, we must face these ticklish matters honestly – and early. Doing otherwise increases the risk that “the system” – in a vicious profit play or out of genuine (if sometimes misplaced) concern – might take control of our lives and separate us from loved ones. Each wrong move we make, each procrastination, might someday be viewed in the harshest possible light in some windowless courtroom. Our family members may love us and want the best for us; but judges have seen so many family members rip off siblings and parents that a son or daughter might face an uphill struggle to help us. 

This means taking what preemptive action we can. For example, Sally could execute a Power of Attorney, partly to encourage the court to appoint as guardian a trusted niece, not a corporate stranger; but don't wait 'til she's largely 'round the bend, or she'll lack legal capacity to sign a POA. 

So carpe diem.

                                                         -30-

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 22 September 2019, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website KRWG's website.  A spoken version will shortly be avilable at the KRWG site, and will be aired during the week on both KRWG and on KTAL (101.5 FM / or stream at www.lccommunityradio.org)]

[First of all, I hope to supplement this column at a later date with more specific and helpful advice on what folks can do with regard to these matters.  I'm no expert, but I can ask some lawyers who specialize in this kind of work.]

[This column was sparked by a recent afternoon when I was watching a court hearing related to a guardianship situation and received a text urgently informing me about another guardianship matter that was garnering some community interest.  I'm no expert.  I got involved in one of these cases because a favorite farmers' market vendor introduced me to a guy who needed help freeing his stepmother.  (See this October 2018 post.)  Such cases can be painful -- for all of us.  I don't mean to suggest that corporate guardians/conservators aren't sometimes the best solution -- even the only solution -- or that they don't frequently do a fair job.   However, many families can, too -- with the added benefit to Aunt Sally (often called "the person in need of protection") of love and familiarity with her caretaker.]

[It has also struck me that there's a wider need for us to wrest back some control of our lives from the well-intended professionals -- in medicine, the freedom to die, and other fields.. But that doesn't mean I don't need and deeply appreciate professionals, often!]

Dorian Trump

As we age and our cognitive abilities diminish, often it's not the mistakes we make but our overreactions to them that really give us away.

Like Donald Trump getting confused about where Alabama was. No big deal. I laughed; but I also wondered if I could still fill in all the state-names in the right spots on the wordless maps Southwest Airlines used to have on napkins. I guessed I could, taking my time; but if someone else couldn't, so what?

But the Donald couldn't just laugh and shake his head and correct himself.

Trump was talking about Hurricane Dorian, mistakenly announcing it would harm Alabama. Huge hurricanes have huge consequences, including evacuations and even deaths. So correcting himself, to avoid confusing the South Carolinians facing possible disaster or scaring Alabamians into various unnecessary actions – would have been a significant kindness. But the Donald didn't do that.

This wasn't “my crowd was bigger than Obama's” or “I know more about climate change than anyone,” but garbling an urgent message to people facing danger.

As usual – though more absurdly and dangerously – he doubled down. He made misleading statements and provided a sharpie-altered map, and his minions gave U.S. Weather Service personnel a hard time for correcting him publicly. Yeah, they had some duty to give clear information about who was in danger and who wasn't; but to the Donald, establishing beyond peradventure that he hadn't erred was more important than little folks' lives and safety.

Trump isn't saying “models are models, you can never be sure.” He's insisting that as Dorian approached the U.S., and the models showed the hurricane passing near Florida's east coast, he was right to tell Alabama, on Florida's west, that it was in grave danger. However, all that stuff is easily verifiable. Two days before Trump spoke, the authorities agreed the storm would pass east of Florida, maybe touching it, then head north. 

None of this is particularly interesting. Me driving to the Pan American Center to watch basketball isn't interesting. Nor is turning the wrong way at University and Espina; but if, having watched basketball there since 1969, I haven't a clue how to get there, that could be troubling. If I get agitated and insist the basketball arena used to be over by Denny's, or that the City keeps changing all the street names, I have a problem.

In a sane world, where everyone wasn't rooting so passionately for his or her political team that rational discussion was impossible, this might be the moment many would finally say, “Aha! I see. This dude simply isn't presidential material. He doesn't have the temperament or character for it; and he might be dangerously 'round the bend.” 

As one Republican who served in the White House under Reagan and both Bushes wrote, “Trump is not well.” How unwell is he? I'm neither a shrink nor in personal contact with Mr. Trump; but this incident reinforces widespread reports that his staff and friends are more concerned than ever about his cognition and temperament. 

These aren't political observations, although they'll be construed as such. This isn't about policy differences over progressive tax rates, medical care, or climate change. It's not about whether or not Republican policies or appointments pose long-term dangers to our environment, economy, and international standing. It's about ascertaining the facts and assessing whether Trump's mental condition poses a more immediate and insidious threat.

                                                   -30-

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 15 September 2019, in the Las Cruces Sun-News as well as on the newspaper's website ("It's not the Mistake, it's the Inability to Admit It") and on KRWG's website ("Thoughts on Trump's Hurricane of Controversy").  A spoken version will air on KRWG and KTAL (101.6 FM -- www.lccommunityradio.org) during the week and will be available shortly on KRWG's website.]

[As I read this over, one question arose: is it unfair to link all this to Trump's age?  Did he ever know things he doesn't know now?  As an old guy, I could take offense at this column, if some young person had written it.  But at any age, that kind of obsession with avoiding any appearance of fallibility, even at the cost of actual damage to people, would be a symptom of something amiss in that person's troubled mind.  By the way, you can read the piece by Republican former White House official Peter Wehner here. ]

[For another view, this is the first comment I received soon after the column appeared in this morning's paper: 

"Thanks for your observations about our inmate in the White House asylum.  My dad would assess some people saying "he's crazy like a fox".  A lot of the old snake oil peddlers used diversions to sell their snake oil.  

"It's agreed that Trump appears to be nuts.  However, like Hitler, he's doing a whole lot of damage to everyone who's not a billionaire.  So I still think poorly of his mother for giving birth to him......it's not right for a human to give birth to a weasel......." ]

[If anyone thinks Trump might have been close to accurate, as he claims, in warning Alabama of great danger, go on-line.  He spoke on the morning of Sunday, 1 September.  Google the phrase, "September 1, 2019" with also the individual words "Trump" and "Dorian" and you'll get not only various articles on this, but the actual weather experts' models and predictions.  As early as 30 August, experts were in agreement that the storm's basic path wouldn't include Alabama.  (Substitute August 30" for "September 1" in the Google Search.

 

For example, Force 13 Morning Update at 9 a.m. On 31August had Dorian stil a Category 4, w up to 145 mph winds, and said that although it still might impact Florida severely, it was now possible it would not even make landfall on Florida, but move up the coast and hit South Carolina, noting “the trend has been quite clearly a turn away from Florida. – a report you can watch here.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/08/31/hurricane-dorian-storm-strengthens-path-toward-florida/2177471001/ :

On August 31, at 8:14 a.m., the USA Today headline was, “Dorian, packing near 150 mph winds, on track to skirt Florida coast”, and the story started:

As a strengthened Hurricane Dorian bore down on the Bahamas Saturday, new tracking forecasts suggested the storm would likely turn north before hitting Florida and skirt the coast toward the Carolinas.

But even as Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina braced for a possible hit, forecasters and government officials warned Floridians not to ease up on preparations for a devastating storm early next week. 

"Everyone's waking up and saying, ‘Whoa, it's a little farther east, maybe things are OK.’ But we’ve got to be careful at this time,” said Ken Graham, director of the National Hurricane Center in Miami, on Saturday morning. 

No mention of Alabama.  At 11 p.m.  August 31, the report had Dorian now Category 5, and gave the distance from several cities (including Wilmington, N.C. 575 miles, but no cities  or towns in Alabama), and the map showed the hurricane turning north, moving north quite near Florida's east coast, and up toward Georgia and the Carolinas, then out to sea. – watch at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ii3Y7Mry2ao

On Sept. 1, the president wrote on Twitter that Alabama “will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated.” A few minutes later, the National Weather Service in Birmingham posted on Twitter that “Alabama will NOT see any impacts from Dorian. We repeat, no impacts from Hurricane Dorian will be felt across Alabama.”]

County Administration and County Elected Officials

The Doña Ana County Commission needs to schedule a work session with other elected officials – Sheriff, Clerk, Treasurer, and Assessor – concerning a key problem.

A city's comptroller and police chief aren't elected. The U.S. President appoints the FBI Director and U.S. Treasurer, with the Senate's “advice and consent.” If you and I were assigned to create an effective local government, we'd likely not fill so many positions through elections.

Elected county officials are a vestige of New Mexico history, for better or worse. That creates problems; and problems, like carpets, need to be aired out now and then. Beaten with a broom, maybe. Neither averting one's eyes nor manipulating the ambiguities to grab power is helpful.

There are grey areas regarding how county manager and elected officials work together. Voters elect a clerk or treasurer or sheriff based on his or her reputation and ideas; each enters office intent on doing a good job; but in certain areas – notably human resources, purchasing, and the legal – the elected official's power and discretion is limited. That naturally creates conflicts.

How we view those conflicts can depend on the elected official. Some who supported Kim Stewart's request for a big raise for Undersheriff Jaime Quesada would have lost their breakfasts on the commission-chamber carpet if Kiki Vigil had obtained commission approval of a similar raise for Undersheriff Ken Roberts. Kiki objected violently to county interference with his personnel decisions; but what sane observer wasn't relieved that the County managed to sack Sheriff Todd Garrison's pal, Rick Seeberger. (Full disclosure: Seeberger sued everyone in sight, including me; the U.S. District Court eventually took his money, not defendants'.)

Some of what goes on would be comical if it didn't waste our money and our county government's energy. The County needs to avoid paying gobs of our money to unqualified cronies of elected officials; but maybe when officials need to retain a genuinely valuable employee, HR should work with them more flexibly.

County Manager Fernando Macias would undoubtedly say he acts to preserve the County's funds and ethical rules. Some folks in other departments see some of his actions as “a power grab” and resent both the content and the manner of those actions.

I'm neutral, but I'd urge the County Commission to look at this and either figure out the rules or make some. Some rules seem familiar. For example, the elected official can name his or her chief deputy; but is that person's compensation fixed by the official, the county manager, the commission, or some combination? 

Where there are actual rules, let's publish them. Where there are unwritten rules, let's find out where they came from and decide whether or not to retain them. What kinds of contracts involving elected officials' departments must be blessed by the County Commission, and why? Should the Law Department's legal review of contracts be limited to changes that are clearly required by law or clear practical concerns? (The contract for Magistrate Court security is a great example of how things shouldn't work. Even two-year-olds – or cats – could have done better!) 

Finally, this process should involve the Law Department; but the discussion should also include questions to the Attorney General, where appropriate, and the commission should hear from other lawyers and former officials familiar with the problem. We need an open discussion – open to the public and open to creative ideas.

                                                    -30-

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday. 8 September 2019, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and  KRWG's website.  A spoken version will air during the week both on KRWG and on KTAL, 101.5 FM (Las Cruces Community Radio), and will shortly be available on demand on KRWG's website.)]

["Should we continue to have elected county officials other than commissioners?" is a bootless question.  We have them under our state constitution.  Theoretically, they give the people more direct control over county government.  Whether or not these offices should be political popularity contests is a fair question, but not one that New Mexico is likely to examine seriously in the foreseeable future.

That very fact accentuates the need to figure out, as best we can, how to deal with the situation.  That won't necessarily be easy.  How do you write a rule or procedure that works both for a situation where a sheriff is saddled with a bad hire high up in the administration and has appointed a sheriff with substantial police experience and a clean record and for a situation where a sheriff has appointed a political hack or crony whom other local law enforcement laugh at?  We generally don't want commissioners or county manager dictating policy to other elected officials or telling them how to do the jobs; but we've had some ugly situations recently, ranging from Treasurer David Gutierrez remaining in his office despite admitted bad conduct and his own party's suggestion he should resign through Seeberger to Undersheriff Ken Roberts, whose questionable management skills and questionable conduct was fine with Sheriff Vigil for quite a long time.]

[One tends to think county government interference with elected officials should be minimal, but four years is a long time, and -- as we all saw with Gutierrez -- recall is dauntingly difficult.]

[By the way, speaking of local elections, we'll be doing a series of candidate fora on KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org), starting this coming Wednesday, 11 September, with candidates for Las Cruces Public School Board Position 5 (8-9 a.m.) then Las Cruces City Council, District 1 (9-10 a.m.).

The full schedule is currently:

                                           8-9 a.m.                                               9-10 a.m.

11 Sep		L.C. School Board Pos. 5 Ed Frank Carol Lynn Cooper  Gloria J. Martinez  Maria G. Pacheco	LC Councilor Pos. 1 Kasandra A. Gandara Shelly A. Nichols-Shaw 496-4701 Shanntiles@gmail.co
18Sep		8-9 City Council District 2 Tessa Stuve Philip Van Veen Jason D. Estrada  Jack L. Valencia, Jr.	Could run over into 9 hr. if more candidates join the race Consider Constitution Day this hour or shortened for 18 Sept.
25Sep		8-9 City Council District 4 Johana Bencomo  Robert Palacios Antoinette Reyes	Could run over into 9 hr. if more candidates join the race
2 Oct		8-9:30 Las Cruces Mayoral Race Bev Courtney  Alexander Paige Baca Fresquez  Jesusita Dolores Lucero  William “Bill Mattiace Ken Miyagashima  Eugenia “Gina” Montoya Ortega Jorge Sanchez Gregory Z Smith Isabella Solis Mike Tellez	8-9:30 Las Cruces Mayoral Race [ could run past 9:30 with so many candidates! ]
9 Oct		LCPS Board Election – 4? Jesus Joaquin Favela, Jr.  [by pre-recording] Margaret Montoya  Jeffrey R. Silva  Teresa Tenorio Janice Marie Williams William J Zarges	DASWCD Supervisor 1 1 Kurt SJ Anderson 1 Jerry Guy Schickedanz
16Oct		Presiding Municipal Judge Joy Goldbaum Richard Jacquez	DASWCD Supervisor 2 2 Fernando Clemente 2 David Joseph Martinez Supervisor 5 5 Christopher Kost Podruchny Cardenas 5 Joshua L. Smith
23Oct
30Oct
6 Nov	Post-election

Epitaph for a Cat Named Bear

Bottle-feeding a weeks-old kitten creates a special bond. Your smell and lap and hands are his earliest memories. They are home. 

In July 2007, three related cats, feral, had litters in my backyard in Oakland. We brought one little family inside. Then that mother's sister deposited her five two-week old kittens on the back stoop, for us to raise. Their extreme youth made it tough. 

One was a long-haired Tuxedo with white on his paws. The hair made him seem solid. I called him Bear. 

Something in his yellow-green eyes suggested we knew each other. I wondered if he was my mother, reincarnated. I can't say I really believed this; but I outlined a short story in which a man was convinced a kitten was his mother in her next life. Of all the kittens, only Bear truly became part of our life. 

When Bear was four, we moved to Las Cruces. Bear hated the long drive. 

Home now was a vast expanse of desert near the Organs, not a lush garden. Solitude, not a crowd of siblings and cousins. Strange and dangerous critters. At first, he never went out. Then he did, and stayed out later and later. Instinct told him not to approach rattlesnakes. He survived seven years without becoming some coyote's supper. 

Everyone's pet is special. Bear was a pal. We took midday naps together. He appears in many of my poems. He never harmed the birds we loved watching. Often, acting more canine than feline, he lay on his back, untroubled by his vulnerability, inviting some hand to rub chest or belly. 

Which of us was entitled to possession of the desk chair was never clear. Sometimes he was on my lap, sometimes scrunched against the back while I sat up straight on the front. Eventually he started climbing up onto the chairback to perch there, just behind my shoulders.

He shared our joys, and comforted us in sorrow. During discussions, we consulted him and each translated his sounds, expressions, and tail flicks in ways that supported our own view. (Turns out, he had surprisingly frank comments on our foibles.) I speculated with him on which of us would die first. I didn't want to leave him. He expressed no opinion. 

When we moved into town, he took weeks to settle down, but quickly told the neighborhood cats whose turf the garden was. 

A month ago, he went off his feed. We took him to Jornada. We learned he had a huge, aggressive tumor in his guts. Without surgery, he had weeks to live. With surgery, the prognosis was still grim; “success” was unlikely, and at best might gain him another year or two. 

What to do was a decision where emotion and pocketbook intersected. Also heart and conscience: we loved Bear, but if we could afford an expensive operation, we could afford a handsome donation to Camp Hope to house a homeless person.

If Bear was leaving, we wouldn't draw out his departure, to retain his company longer as he grew miserable.

So we took him home and gave him as much love as we could for two weeks, treasuring his every meow, then returned to the wonderfully caring folks at Jornada to set him free.

Maybe he has another life coming soon. He acquitted himself pretty damned well in this one. I hope he's earned a good rebirth. But, damn, we miss him!

                                                 -30- 

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 1 September 2019 in the Las Cruces Sun-News as well as on the newspaper's website (sub nom Goodbye Bear - Ode to a Pet Set Free), and KRWG's website.  A spoken version will air during the week on both KRWG and KTAL, 101.5 FM, and is available on-demand at KRWG's website.]

[There were always feral cats around the house I bought in Oakland. We ignored each other, except that when I approached an area they  quickly vacated it. Then one day a dignified, clean-looking black cat approached me. He was soon rubbing happily against my pants-leg. Eventually I scratched his neck. I started feeding him; but, oddly, he seemed to value affection more than food. I called him Mr. Cat.  He never came inside, but we hung out together outdoors. He soon attracted females, one of whom had kittens and stayed around after Mr. Cat disappeared.

The three who had litters in 2007 were a daughter and two granddaughters of Mr. Cat's. One we had started to feed and bring indoors. But when she had her litter, she kept insisting on taking them outdoors. Then we'd find them and bring them in, and she'd follow.

Her sister, I guess, saw how well the indoor kittens were doing. She left her litter on the stoop, and we took them inside, but she made no effort to join them. They were so small that we may have fed them with eye-droppers instead of little bottles at first. Weeks later, we found the litter that Mr. Cat's daughter had had. She was completely wild, and had tried to attack me once when I went near them, then had moved them, but I guess she'd gone somewhere. We found only two still alive. Each had literally hundreds of tics. We spent hours that night washing them thoroughly, killing tics. One died by morning. The other, Tom survived, but was quite a character.  Their vulnerability to ticks might have been a reason Bear's mother gave her kittens up to us.

Eventually I was living with eleven or twelve cats. I found homes for most – and when Dael joined me, Bear soon started sleeping with us. He was most focused on us, and the others preferred the garden to the house. When we moved, a woman in Oakland who had a place for cats took Tom, Sygga, and the one of Sygga's sons who was still living with us, Tiggy.]

Bear with cousins Andreas and Tom -- Feb. 2008

Bear January 2010

Bear Lets a Visitor Sleep - 2012

Rediscovering this one brings a smile, because Michel -- the visitor -- is allergic to cats.  Bear looks as if he is about to remark on that fact.

Bear on windowsill - 2011

Bear in Bed - 2011

These -- crafted as Craigslist ads to interest nice folks in nice kittens -- suggest the sweet madness of life with ten or eleven cats.  Really sweet people responded, as it happened.