25 December 2010

ode to chinsey.

did you ever meet a cat who operated under the notion that he was pretty much a dog ? that's how our old barn cat chinsey went about his days.




he lived in and around the barn for at least a season, but then we gave him to our top customer tim homiller who adored animals. and when tim died, one of his nurses who lived in upper darby took chinsey. i hope he is doing well.


he nuzzled necks like you wouldn't believe and acted so social. he really needed people around, and if we'd leave, he would wander off into the woods because when not seeking the affectionate persuasion of petting, he loved adventure.

he'd also sit on the counter in the store and wait for customers to pet him. most responded sweetly to him, but a few hesitated with an uncomfortable face and stepped backward as he reached out his paws at them. i figured they were either not cat-people, were allergic, or both.

one time when we were working out in the nursery during a snowy time, we locked chinsey in the barn so he'd be warmer, but he kept leaping up onto a small nearby boulder saying hello to us after escaping from the upper floor of the barn where a hole sat between the old pre-1811 boards of wood. that just showed how much of a people cat, quasi-dog he was for being feline.

09 December 2010

shriveling peppers.

these shriveling red peppers are of a life no longer on the maps. their momma plants took hold of the ground out back behind my old apartment on east philadelphia avenue from when i couldn't hide excitement of having even a tiny expanse for a garden and overfilled the root space even though i should have known better. 


i think there's a nail blending in with that paint too, that grey-blue which must have been on sale in bulk decades ago because it's on like every third porch in the borough, including the side porch floorboards of my brick castle.

and sometimes, life is about saying goodbye to neglected strips of what is too hot to trot mouth-wise, apparently. maybe.