Freedom Run (Week Sixty-Two)

05/22/2021

Freedom Run (Week Sixty-Two)

As regular readers might remember, a few months ago, we went into our backyard and found a mother cat who had just given birth to three kittens. With the help of a local Trap Neuter and Return (TNR) group, we managed to trap the mother and the kittens, who were all taken to an informal shelter (someone's apartment). The mother raised the kittens but unlike her offspring was too feral to be adopted. After being spayed, she was ready this week to be returned to her home, which in her case was the streets of the city.

The woman from the TNR group delivered the mother cat -- now named 'Mercedes' -- in her cage, which was covered with a sheet to keep her calm. I wondered what it would be like to be in her place, and whether she would miss the food and shelter she had received over the past few months. If she did, she didn't show it: she hurled herself against the cage, which we quickly opened.

She rushed out of the cage and up the stairs. "You go, girl,' said the TNR woman between doing play-by-play for her Instagram followers. 'This is Mercedes and she's on her freedom run.' For her part, Mercedes seemed to know exactly where she going.

After climbing to the top of a wooden fence, she paused for no more than a second. I tried to imagine how she felt: excited, relieved, angry, grateful, and afraid all seemed like possibilities. I wished that I could have interviewed her. I bet she would have interesting insights to offer the many others who, following a period of captivity, are about to embark on their version of a freedom run.

I also wondered if I would ever want to take my own.

Posted at 11:41 AM in Expression, Science Projects | Permalink

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Music: Death Culture at Sea and Saturnine

Listen or download songs and records from my indie-rock past with Saturnine here and Death Culture at Sea here.

Music Video: Remembrance of Things Past

Watch the rock opera Remembrance of Things Past written and performed by Saturnine and Frances Gibson, starring Bennett Madison and Sheila McClear.

Video: The Chaos Detective

The Chaos Detective is a series about a man searching for 'identity' as he completes assignments from a mysterious organization. Watch the first episode (five parts) on YouTube.

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Expression//Reaction//ScienceProjects

05/22/2021