Loving Twister

In a recent tornado in our village a farm was devastated. (Thankfully, no people were injured.) Most farms have feral cats that inhabit their barns and outbuildings earning their keep by keeping the small vermin out of the grain bins and hay. This farm was no different and being spring, there were three NEW litters of kittens in the barns. Most of them died when the barns collapsed and blew away but a local meteorologist found a TINY Calico kitten buried in the debris.

In the next hours...they found two more of Twister's siblings amongst the debris. They were appropriately named, Twister, Lucky and Storm. The two smaller kittens were just TOO small and Storm passed away at the vet's office. We brought the other kittens to Killeny Glen, (the farm family was overwhelmed with having lost their farm) to see if we could nurse them back to health but sweet Lucky passed away under the watchful eye of our Emma. They so needed their Momma, and the storm was too much for their little bodies...but Twister...she continued to fight.

 Little Twister captured our hearts (and all who were exposed to her story of rescue and survival) and even MORE so, the heart of Rudy...our Papillon. Rudy is gentle spirited and sensitive and KNEW the need of this tiny kitten. He nuzzled her and licked her and played with her and she thrived with his attention and love. (AND, feedings every 3 hours!)

The happy end to this story is that the family offered sweet Twister to the local Meteorologist and he happily adopted her. Madeleine and I took Twister to the television station to meet her new owner.

We certainly are going to miss that little ball of fur! But, she will be cherished!!! Thanks Rich!

Boats and Sump Pumps

Another STORMY Wednesday night in our little village, still reeling from tornado touch downs a couple of weeks ago.
We are sitting in our High School Broadway Show when Mitchell sends a text with below photo and the words:

"Holy Garbanzo Beans!"

This photo is Killeny Glen and we do NOT have a river through our front yard! Our  TWO sump pumps could NOT keep up with the FIVE INCHES of rain that fell in LESS THAN two hours...Bob and the boys went to WORK bailing out our basement in an attempt to save the contents of our basement. (We just happen to have the contents of a University student's apartment in our basement while he is home for the summer!! YIKES!) As the evening progressed their work was rewarded and four VERY EXHAUSTED guys could slow down their MANY trips up and down our stair case with five gallon buckets of water. 

As we rejoiced in a battle won we got word that a group of homes a mile and a half from our home were under water and a boat was being used to evacuate people and things. MANY homes were filled with water and many others had basements under water from the Flash Flood.

 My Aunt has said on NUMEROUS occasions: "It's a good thing we care about people and not things." Our victory over our basement seemed miniscule in the sight of the homes just down the road. 

~~ I wrote this more than a week ago...and have been reminded on numerous occasions of the MEANINGLESSNESS of "things."