STRAY CAT STRUT-THE CASE OF THE ORANGE CAT

BY PETE HOLLY-COPYRIGHT-2008



EVERY SPRING FERAL CATS START TO CONGRAGATE AROUND OUR APARTMENT

COMPLEX.YOU USUALLY ONLY SEE 3 OR 4 OF THEM AT A TIME BUT YOU CAN TELL

BY THIER LOOK'S THAT THERE'S ABOUT 20 OR SO DIFFERANT CATS.THEN EVERY FALL THEY DISAPPEAR AND WE GET A NEW BATCH THE NEXT SPRING.THERE IS ONE

CAT WHO IS DIFFERANT.SHE'S ORANGE AND SHE HAD A LITTER OF SIX OR SEVEN

KITTENS IN ONE OF THE PLANTER 2 SUMMERS AGO.SOMEONE CALLED THE ANIMAL

CONTROL PEOPLE AND THEY CAME AND PICKED UP SOME OF THE CATS.BUT SPRING OF LAST YEAR THE ORANGE MOTHER CAT WAS STILL HERE AND SHE STILL HAD TWO OF HER OFFSPRING WHO WERE NOW ALLMOST AS BIG AS SHE.I KNEW SHE HAD

MADE IT ALONE THRU THE WINTER BEFORE THAT-THE ONLY CAT I'VE EVER SEEN DO THAT.SO NOW SHE HAD MADE IT THRU TWO WINTERS AND GOT HER BABIES THRU THE WINTER SOMEHOW TOO.THIS IS ONE SMART CAT.IT'S BELOW,USUALLY

WAY BELOW FREEZING AT NIGHT FOR AT LEAST FOUR MONTHS OUT OF YEAR HERE

IN BOISE-SO FERAL CATS THAT CAN SURVIVE SUCCESIVE WINTERS ARE EXTREMLY

RARE.IN FACT THIS IS THE ONLY ONE I'VE EVER SEEN MAKE IT.SO WHAT WAS HER

SECRET.SHE AND NOW HER BABIIES TOO HIDE IN THE WARM ENGINE COMPARTMENTS OF THE CARS AS PEOPLE ARRIVE HOME AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY AND NIGHT.WHEN THE ENGINE THEY ARE ON COOLS OFF THEY SIMPLY MOVE TO A NEWER ARRIVAL WHOSE ENGINE IS STILL NICE AND TOASTY.IF YOU ASK
ME THESE ARE SOME PRETTY DAMN SMART CAT'S-NO WONDER THEY STRUT.

THE TIMES AND INFLUENCES OF EMILY DICKENSON

"WITHIN' YOU AND WITHOUT YOU"

BY PETE HOLLY-COPYRIGHT-2008

IT'S INTERESTING TO SEE THE CONVERGENCES OF IDEAS AND HISTORICAL
EVENTS AND THE EFFECTS THEY HAD ON ARTISTS AND WRITERS OF THIER
TIME.FEW PEOPLE ATTACH THE POETRY OF EMILY DICKENSON TO THE CIVIL
WAR YET IT WAS PRECISELY DURING THE YEARS OF THE WAR THAT DICKEN-
SON WROTE THE LARGEST AMOUNT AND THE BEST OF HER POETRY।
TWO OTHER MOVEMENTS IN ART AND LITERATURE ALSO COINCIDED
WITH DICKENSON'S WORK AND SHE WAS WELL AWARE OF BOTH.FIRST WAS
"THE HUDSON SCHOOL OF PAINTING" LEAD BY THOMAS COLE.THE NATURE
SCENES WEE IDEALIZED AND ROMANTIC YET THE IMAGERY WAS SO STRONG
AND BROUGHT THE RUGGEDNESS OF NATURE SO ALIVE THAT THEY WERE
EMOITIONALLY IMPRESSIVE।SOMEHOW ALL THIS WAS CONNECTED TO
EMERSON,THOREAU'S SELF-RELIANCE AND WALT WHITMANS WILD
FREE FORM POETRY.-ALL REFLECTIONS OF MAN'S RELATION TO UNTAMED
NATURE AND SEEKING A WAY TO LIVE WITH IT ON THIER OWN-WITHOUT
SPOILING THE VIEW-SO TO SPEAK।ALL THESE IDEAS AND EVENTS INFLUENCED EMILY DICKENSON AND YET SHE WAS ABLE TO CREATE HER OWN
ART THAT COULD EASILY STAND ON IT'S OWN MERIT-AND ABOVE ALL THESE
WRITERS AND ARTISTS.INDEED;DICKENSON'S PEN NOT ONLY TOOK EVERYTHING IN BUT IT ALSO GAVE EVERYTHING OUT AS WELL.THIS WAS THE SPECIAL POWER OF HER POETRY
AND WHY IT IS STILL AHEAD OF IT'S TIME OVER 150 YEARS LATER!HER MYTH
LIVES ON IN THE GLORY OF HER WORDS.

SOURCES-A HISTORICAL GUIDE TO EMILY DICKENSON-VIVIAN R. POLLACK
THE LIFE OF EMILY DICKINSON-MY WARS ARE LAID AWAY IN BOOK'S
-ALFRED HABEGGAR