So, with mixed feelings I report that Magi, aka Stinkbug, came to live with us last week. He really is a cute little guy. He has been isolated in a spare bedroom because of a cold and an eye infection. We took him to the Extreme Vet yesterday and got some medication for him. He stays isolated until another Vet visit next week. But he seems happy, friendly, active, and he eats well. That is Magi at the top of the page. Adorable, I must admit. My lack of total enthusiasm about him is strictly my own self-centeredness, for I no longer am the only black cat.
It has been another wildlife week here in Happy Meadows. A few days ago we went for a walk and encountered a big snapping turtle. He was over 20 pounds, for sure. I went up and sniffed at him and he hissed at me. So I hissed back at him as I backed away, happy to give him all the room he needed. This is what he looked like.
And this morning as Mike and I were out for our walk down Happy Meadows Trace a Marietta Police car pulled up and stopped. The officer said he wanted us to know that a black bear had been seen in the vicinity. When we got home Mike told Judy who checked the internet and found out that the bear was seen at a park less than a 1/2 mile from where we had walked this morning. How cool is that! If he comes by maybe I could hiss at him too! Or maybe not.
In other news, I suppose you have all heard that John Lewis died a few days ago at age 80. He was one of Mike’s heroes. Representative Lewis was immensely courageous as he fought for the rights of the underprivileged all of his life. He was relentless and outspoken. He was arrested over 40 times as he practiced civil disobedience as a non-violent tactic for change. He called this getting into “Good Trouble.” He had little regard for material gain, living as he did by the guiding principle in life of “love your neighbor.” Far less famous but equally highly respected in Atlanta civil rights circles was Rev. C. T. Vivian who died the same day at age 95. He was well known for his education and for his extensive library, and was regarded as the “intellectual” of the core group of civil rights leaders. There has been an enormous outpouring of love for both of them since their passing. They both earned the love and respect of everyone whose lives they affected. Representative Lewis was known as the “Conscience of the Congress” as he always took the position of what was right, not what was expedient or advantageous for him personally. He had the advantage of not having to worry about the next election, as so many of his colleagues in Congress seem to do. Mike says if our elected officials worried less about their re-election and more about doing the people’s business we would all be a lot better off. Not one of them would have any trouble getting a good job if they lost an election. And while I am on this topic, Mike wants me to say that he thinks there should be term limits in Congress just like for the presidency. He suggests 2 terms in the Senate and 5 or 6 terms in the House of Representatives. This would avoid the problem of people gaining too much power, never a good thing.
So, we continue to be under siege by the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 infection. There has been tremendous resistance from too many people to the public health measures recommended by our leading scientists, and the whole issue has been politicized. Since it is a new infection, we are only learning about the illness and the behavior of the virus in real time. Clearly, it is a novel infection. Mike follows the medical information fairly well from his quarantined office here in Happy Meadows. It is starting to look like many survivors of infections may have long term neurological, cardiac, and pulmonary consequences. And although the elderly and infirm are more susceptible to severe illness and death, young people are not immune. There was an article in today’s paper about Kyle Gregory, a 24 year old man who played high school football near here and got an engineering degree at Georgia Southern. He died of COVID-19 a couple of days ago. Please say a prayer for him and his family. While you are at it, say prayers for the over 140,000 Americans who have already died from this disease, and for their families. We can disagree about a lot of things, but 140,000 dead people is not fake news.
I hope you are all taking good care of yourselves, and not putting yourselves in harm’s way. You will hear from me again soon. Until then please wash your hands, wear your mask, keep a safe distance from others, be kind to everyone, and pray for world peace. I love you all. So long from Happy Meadows.