House Cats?

“Okay, it’s official, I’m a house cat!” announced Lamont.

Lamont Helping Doreen play canasta

“Not me,” replied Paw, “we may be in the house now, but I’m still a Shackteau cat a haert. This place is too big, but I do like the orange chair.”

“I like the house, but then, I still yearn for the Shackteau,” injected Patch. “It was cozier and it had a fireplace.”

“There’s a fireplace in the kitchen in the house,” informed Lamont.

“Yeah, but it’s electric. Fakey fakey, even if it does produce warmth. I prefer the real thing,” replied Paw.

“But we have two floors here in which to play,” Lamont went on enthusiastically. “The views are spectacular. There are all types of places to climb up. Why, I can even get up to the crown molding and inspect the lights behind it.”

Upstairs dining area with deck

“Yeah! Mewreen really likes that,” said Patch sarcastically. “You’re bound to break something someday and they we will all be in deep dodo.”

“Though I prefer the Shackteau, I do admit I like looking at over the backyard,” said Paw. “But I wish we had access to the patio by our food dishes. Maybe in the spring they will let us out.”

“You girls haven’t really appreciated all the new toys and scratching poles, the human servants provided when we moved it,” said Lamont. “They’re a blast. I also like climbing into bed with the human servants. Though I’m not sure Meugh like it when I accidently clawed him in his butt.”

“Accidently? I wonder,” said Patch. “But I’ve found a marvelous new sleeping place amidst the clothes they have they have stacked in the bedroom. I did have to kick out a few of their sweaters and things to make room for me, but it is really cozy.”

Can you find Elmo or rather Patch?

“Yep! I used to be a feral living by the skin of our teeth outside in the cold, then we were denizens of the Shackteau, but now I’m a bona fide house cat,” said Lamont.

“We’ll see.” Said Patch and Paw. “We’ll see. At least we still have our toes which we thought we might lose when we went into the house.”

An Unfortunate Tipping Point and the Hope of New Positve One

I recently read a review of Fear Itself by Ira Katznelson in Christian Century. The book is about the New Deal under Franklin D. Roosevelt and how it impacted our present times. It is on my to order list for my Kindle.

There is one section of this review that caught my eye and imagination. It had to do with the impact of the New Deal on the domestic front in relation to economics and the roll the South played in how the New Deal unrolled; a tipping point* in our history. (The author also believes that the New Deal pulled the world back from the brink of disaster.)

In the early and most radical part of the New Deal southern congressional members were convinced that the status quo of the racial order had to be maintained along with the expanding role of the federal oversight of the economy. As a result large numbers of African-Americans were not part of the new regulations. Regional autonomy was also emphasized.

This is the interesting part that Kratznelson concludes; that if the South had voted differently or had fewer votes “the United States might have ended up looking more like the European-style social democracy” with more of a commitment to the common good.

I have wondered over the years why European countries seem far more socially progressive in terms of social welfare systems than we are. This may well in part explain our differences and why we often seem so backward in social programs and have gone to a troublesome time, which we now see.

Our current do-nothing legislature in the past year did nothing about reforming immigration laws, tax reform, climate change or raising minimum wage. This congress has done less that any congress for 40 years.

We see some changes on the horizon that may make us a more socially responsible country; progressive voices seem to be finding their voice despite the undue influence of the wealthy power brokers in this country and currently make congress their toadies.

On a side note and a positive note, is the election of Pope Francis. I noted the other day a TV commentator saying that this pope is spending less time on social issues and more on the issues of the poor. It was a dumb statement. Those issues of the poor are social issues. What the commentator was trying to say is that this pope is not highlighting infighting in organized religion about entrenched doctrines that hurt people, but accenting the teachings of Jesus as found in the Sermon on the Mount/Plain. This is a social action Pope with his priorities clear on the teachings of Jesus that is paramount in our care for each other and our connections with each other.

While our human nature I believe tends to drag us down and splinter humans into a dog eat dog mentality with the result of uncontrolled capitalism created vast differences between the wealthy and others. I also belief that God lifts up leaders that guide us to a more enlightened and positive path, such as Pope Francis. We also hear the social gospel in the progressives of our era such as Bill Moyers and Robert Reich, to name a couple. This folk call us back to accountability and equality and the pursuit of happiness that all may pursue, not just a privileged few. May this be the new tipping point of our future.

*Tipping point is a concept developed by sociologist Morton Drodzins and later expanded by Tomas Schelling meaning when a group rapidly and dramatically changes behavior by widely adopting a new practice. Malcom Gladwell wrote a book in 2000 which mainly deals with economic moments.

Moving Trauma Abates

After a couple of hours of hiding behind the electronic gizmos under the TV Patch turned Paw and said, “Watch out, here comes Meugh to drag us out of here.” Sure enough he did.

Later Meugh went upstair and found Lamont hiding behind the headboard of the bed and dragged him out and took him downstairs to reunite with his sisters. Patch said, “Ah, there you are Lamont, he got you too. Well, at least you are safe and we are together.”

Pauline took a long look around and said, “You know, this place is rather interesting.” Where upon cat curiosity overcame fear and the threesome began to explore.

Some time later Patch said, “Oh look, Mewreen is bringing us tuna! Oh yum!” One by one they ate some tuna in front of the TV. Between bites of tuna they explored their surroundings.

“Hey, there are new beds here with catnip in them,” said Pawline.

“Yeah, and there is a new scratching post with catnip and catnip spray on it as well. I’ll give it a try. Oh yes, it is a fine scratching post,” said Lamont.

“Check out the views from the windows,” mewed Patch. “They’re even better than the Shackteau.”

The exploring continued for sometime with the human servants giving lots of petting, brushing and tummy rubs. After a while the human servants made their way upstairs to their bedroom and the cats followed.

“Hey sisters, this is where I was hiding before, but I really didn’t look around. It’s pretty nice,” said Lamont.

Patch leapt up on the windowsill and exclaimed, “Holy mother of cats, will you check out the view here. You can see for miles.”

“Will you look at that pile of clothes Meugh has left on the floor. We could roll around on them for hours,” remarked Paw.

“They have the TV on but they look sleepy,” said Lamont.

After the human servants nodded off with was time for cat play and they did. “Let’s jump on the bed,” said Lamont. “The thing is freaking huge. There’s room for both of them and all of us with room to spare.”

“Right behind you brother,” said Patch. And so they spent the night climbing in and out of bed. Sometimes snuggling up to the human servants.

“Look I can bounce right off the top of Mewreen’s head onto the headboard, see?” said Pawline.

“My goodness, I never knew humans could purr,” said Patch. “Just listen to them. Rather loud and raucous purrs though.”

“Those aren’t purrs silly cat, they are snoring. My goodness will you listen to Mewreen,” said Lamont.

And so the night went until all agreed the human servants hand slept enough, if fitfully with many jumps by cats in and out of the huge bed. “Let’s get them up!” cried Patch.

“Yeah, will jump all over them until they get up,” said Pawline.

“Yep they’re up,” mewed Patch. “Let’s let the pet us and rub up against their legs and then when they go downstairs we’ll all hide again. There are lots of good hiding places around here.”

“Good idea,” said Lamont. “Right after a trip to the upstairs litter box.”

“Yeah, I like it better than the two downstairs which have a new type of litter I’m not sure about yet.”

Moving Trauma

“There were are were purrfectly happy and then our human servant and we thought friend, Meugh, scooped us up and carried us one by one out of our nice home in the Shackteau and put us in this huge place I think they call their house,” exclaimed a panicky Pawline.”

“It’s awful, there I was in a nice snuggle in Meugh’s arms and off we went,” added an alarmed Patchtricia. “Why on why did they do it? And, where is Lamont? He was carried away first and we saw him for a bit in a little room with two litter boxes and a water dish, but then he left and we haven’t seen him since.”

“I think he went up some stairs to who knows where,” replied a fearful Paw. Mewreen sat with me on her lap on a chair in a room with lots of windows, and you were on Meugh’s lap in another chair, which was okay for a while. But they keep moving around.”

“At least we have each other and this cozy little spot behind a TV in which to cower for awhile, “ said a frightened Patch. I think we should just hunker down here for a while and see what develops.”

“Where is Lamont?” Patch and Paw meowed together. “Just when we need his mind clouding hypnotic powers he’s nowhere to be seen. Are there monsters about? Do they have him?” Both huddle closer together and shiver in the warm room.

Winter Flat Tire Repair

Following are directions I found on the Internet to remove the rear tire from my John Deere garden tractor to which I have attached a snowplow. In a previous article I mentioned how when I finally got the tractor to run the tire went flat. I pumped it up the other day a cleared the driveway. The tire was flat the next morning and the air compressor had died.

Instructions

1.      

o   1

Park the lawn tractor on a hard, level surface. Set the parking brake and remove the key from the ignition.

o   2

Place the wooden blocks behind the rear two wheels so the mower will not slide. Place the jack under the front of the lawn mower, directly under the frame, and raise it off the ground. Place the jack stands on both the right and left side of the frame, in front of the tires. Lower the tractor down onto the jack stands, and slide out the jack.

o   3

Remove the plastic cap located in the middle of the tire by hand; this will expose the axle and snap ring. Pry the snap ring off with the flat-head screwdriver.

o   4

Remove the washer, tire, and shim washers from the axle.

At this point other sites just say “slide the tire easily from the axle.” Yeah, sure, you betcha.

This was my experience. The tractor was on a level surface and the parking brake applied. I also jacked up the tractor. I then tried to remove the plastic cap covering the axle. I used pliers, hammers, and screwdrivers thoroughly mangling the blasted thing before it finally popped off. The washer on the axle at this point was pretty well mangled at this point, but I straightened it with a hammer. The snap ring came off fairly easily. Next, “slide the wheel off.” It would not budge. Now remember it is 3 degrees with a wind child factor of minus 10 degrees while this is going on. I shook and pulled and pried and the wheel would not budge. I applied copies amount of WD40 several times give the thing a good whack from time to time to make sure the oil got to the proper places. Next, I took a 2x4 and banged on the end of the axle; this proved the most efficient as the wheel actually moved out to the end of the axle before stopping. At various times I would have to shove the tractor back to keep the jack from tipping and dumping the whole thing. I applied a little science heating the hub of the wheel but not the axle itself in an attempt to expand that part so it would slide off; no luck, it didn’t even warm me up while I was both freezing and sweating from the weather and my labors. I banged the wheel back into its original position and then went at it with the 2x4 again. Finally, I sat on my butt on the cold cold cement floor and wiggled and wiggled and wiggled…millimeter by millimeter it edged closer and finally came off. A very very rusty axle appeared and I think laughed at me.

The tire is now at Fleet Farm getting an inner tube put in it. Grump!

I have concluded my John Deere is a Republican dominated congress. It doesn't do anything except sit there and rust and cause me grief. It cares not for our neighbors who are in need of plowing. It will not sign up for healthcare. It is a do nothing tractor.