Goodbye Mona

Before I left NYC on Monday, I had plans for writing about the wonderful time I experienced. I still hope to do this, but today I'm sad and need to write about something different.

Because my apartment is on the top floor, I worried that my cat could be uncomfortably hot while I was away for nearly four days (the air conditioner is still in storage). She's also never been alone for an extended period of time, so I asked my parents to take care of her for the weekend. My parents have two cats as well, and I knew my mother would be at the house all weekend, so I thought it was a good idea to leave Mona, my cat, with them.

Everyday I was away I called my mom to ask how Mona was doing. Initially the cat didn't want to come out of the bathroom where we put the pet carrier and her litterbox, but after a day or two, she started following my mother around the house as she went about her daily chores and rituals.

On Monday, during my 3+ hour trip back from New York, I called again to see how she was doing, and to let them know I'd be back to pick her up in just a couple of hours. My mother, upset, couldn't talk to me, so my father took the phone. "Your mother is devistated about this," he told me, "Mona got out through an open window."

Because of the heat, my mom had opened a window in her bedroom, assuming there was a screen there as well, but as absent minded as she is these days, she didn't think to check. They don't know when my cat escaped, but they haven't seen her in almost 48 hours now. I love my mother dearly, and though I'm sad and angry about Mona being able to run away, I know it was just an accident.

Last night and this morning was especially rough for me. Over the past year, I have grown accustomed to the trouble she caused. She was an explorer and liked to get into boxes and closets she should have left alone. She was forever knocking over items and attacking my shoes. But she always gave me kisses in the morning, liked to play fetch and enjoyed drinking the running water in the bathroom sink while I was in the bathroom every morning. She played rough, I still have the scars to prove this, but she was a sweet companion.

She came into my life forcefully, when my ex-girlfriend brought her home from work one day. I told the ex that I would not be responsible for the cat, but after we broke up, she didn't want the cat any longer either. I took her because I grew attached to her little grey face, but I knew she would be trouble for as long as I had her. I never imagined she would be gone so quickly.

I miss you, Mona. I hope you're safe wherever you are.

Killing Time in NYC

This weekend I'm in Manhattan, visiting my friends Jon & Christina. They've been very lovely about me making a mess of their apartment just so I can get the hell out of Harrisburg for a few days. In case you ever read this, Jon, you're a better friend than anyone deserves.

There's something about New York that makes me relax. Where the mellow, back to basics mood is supposed to come from a stint in the mountains, for me the Big Apple remains the cure. I can't exactly explain it, but time in Harrisburg or on a trail in the woods for that matter (both places are the middle of nowhere to me), leave me feeling anxious and afraid. The moment my feet hit 33rd street (off the Path after parking the car in Hoboken), it was like an opium fix. Not that I've ever had opium, but from stories I've heard, there is quite the feeling of contentment. That is how I felt on Friday at 6:45 PM.

Being in NYC for the weekend has given me some perspective, previously skewed by heartbreak and (relative) poverty. And life feels pretty good. I still have no idea what I'm going to do for the next few months: new job? new girl? hit by a car? but whatever it is, I have some direction at least - I need to get to New York. And so I shall. The clock is ticking away. I make it late April 2007 for my arrival.

In the meantime, I'm back online with cable internet, so expect more silliness to come. Politics, Science, and the Occasional Rant will be topics more often than "Why'd She Hurt Me." I promise.

Thin Ice and Fat Heads

The sad news for the planet just keeps coming:

"Polar bears and hippos have joined the ranks of species threatened with extinction from climate change, unregulated hunting, habitat destruction and other man-made dangers, leading researchers said Tuesday in a listing of the world’s wildlife."

The world we know and love, and desperately need to save is slipping away from us. Meanwhile, there are still those deniers who claim "alarmism." While "Without a reversal of global warming trends, the IUCN predicted polar bear populations would drop more than 30 percent in the next 45 years as melted ice caps deprive the animals of their habitat," we just keep ignoring our responsibility.

Doesn't suprise me much that we're headed to catastrophe. American's vote for people like George Bush. Why don't Americans worry about the state of the world? Well, most can't even find Louisianna or Iraq on a map, anyway!