June Volz's Blog: JuniMoon

 Well....here we are.  We made it through the night.  

Because it is springtime and the pollen and dust and whatever else is flying around, I had to take an antihistamine last night in order to sleep.  Watery eyes, runny nose, coughing, sneezing...I had to do something. I hesitate to take them because they make me very drowsy...VERY drowsy, so much so that the effect lasts into the next day.  And, considering the news yesterday, that was alright with me.

The world is on edge.  Quite literally.  And it is all because of one person.

Enough with the chaos, enough.  History shows us very clearly what this is and how it plays out.

It is long past time for Congress to do its duty.  Party doesn't matter, personal beliefs don't matter.  What MATTERS is their oath to the Constitution.  What MATTERS is that their job is to represent the PEOPLE of the United States.  What MATTERS is sanity, safety and world order that was fought for, died for and carefully constructed after WWII.  

The creature is mad, unhinged.  Age is a factor, no doubt, but seriously, who doesn't know that there was a conviction on 34 counts of felony?  Who doesn't know that rape charges have been filed multiple times?  Who doesn't know about the sexual abuse trial?  And none of that takes into account all the other fraud and sexual abuse cases that were settled out of court.  And then, of course, there are "the files."  Something the creature is so desperate to hide that a new daily distraction is manufactured, even if it means scaring the living daylights of people all over the globe.

The founding fathers were well aware that King George was not in his right mind.  The 25th Amendment exists for a reason, previously unnecessary but most relevant now.

They need to do their duty, invoke the 25th and remove this stain from the White House.  Stand up.  Grow a spine.  Staying "loyal" to this self-serving, selfish, cruel, greedy and grandiose mockery of a human being is NOT going to help them after all is said and done.  How can they not see this?

Serve the people.  Serve the Constitution. Be adults.  Remove the heinous, destructive creature.  NOW.

 I was going through some old pictures and found one that brought back a veritable flood of memories.  

When I lived alone in my studio apartment in Manhattan, back in the late 70s, early 80s...I was working full time but also going part time to Hunter College.  I was surrounded by people all day, yet, there were times when I felt lonely.

I knew some people in my building, but they weren't "friends" per se.  Acquaintances.  And I knew the other gals in the medical office I worked in, but they didn't live in the city and one was engaged, another was married.  And I didn't find anyone at school to connect with, either.

So, I packed myself off to a couple of "events" at the 92nd Street "Y" which was just around the corner from me.  A couple of times some ladies there tried to hook me up with their sons.  Nerp.  

Then, one evening...there was another young woman.  We started talking.  She was French.  She was in NY for a "semester" of in-house experience.  Not sure if I recall correctly, but I think it was a perfume company.  She was lucky that she had an aunt who lived in Flushing Meadow, near the site of the 1964 World's Fair, where the Unisphere still stands.

Her name was Annie, Annie Bollard.  And although I knew she was only going to be around temporarily, we hit it off immediately.  Her English wasn't perfect and luckily I remembered quite a bit of my high school French at that time...so we understood each other quite perfectly with our "Franglish."

We were together most weekends.  Sometimes we would walk along the "fancy" streets, Madison and Fifth Avenue.  As the weather got warmer, we would go to the park, strolling or sometimes lying down in the grass, staring up at the leaves and the sky.

We would also noodle around Greenwich Village, we would go to the movies (she LOVED getting ice in her drinks!) or we would get some ice cream.  

One time we explored Chinatown.  On a whim we decided to go into a restaurant.  I forget what I ordered (I was not and still am not adventurous when it comes to food.) But Annie ordered some kind of fish.  I will never forget the look of total horror on her face as the waiter put down her plate.  All the color drained from her face and she just sat there with her eyes wide as saucers and said "No...no.....no....no."  It was an entire fish...eyes, head...scales...a freaking fish.  I explained to the waiter that she must have misunderstood what the menu said....they were very gracious and brought her something else.

We had a "sleepover" at her aunt's apartment.  As if we were still teenage girls.  We had snacks and watched TV and talked and talked and talked. 

It was painful to realize that she would be going back to France.  At that time I doubted I would ever have the money or the nerve to travel overseas.  I had met the young man who was going to become my husband and father of my child and Annie was happy that I had someone to be with and to be happy with.  

                                                             Annie and me, 1981.

Seeing the one and only picture I have of her brought it all back.  I'm so sorry we lost touch (it wasn't as easy back then) and looking at the photo made me miss her all over again.

 I went to the local animal rescue and was looking for a kitten.  I wanted an orange kitten, one that would sort of, but not really, "replace" Huey.  Well...that is not the way the world works...nor should it.  I went to the local animal rescue and there was only one cage of kittens.  Three or four....not sure now.  Anyway, the others huddled in the back and only one came forward.  He definitely was NOT orange.  He was a gray and white splotchy baby....adorable....and he played with my fingers.   OK.  This one.

Rathbone.

Rathbone was a wonderful boy.  Laid back.  Sweet, easy. He let my young daughter put him in a bassinette, in a "shopping cart"...dear god, she put make-up on him.  She danced with him, she slept with him.  He was the perfect cat.

His fur was slightly longer than the average cat.  Just a bit.  And it was silky.  My daughter called him "the VERY softest place."  He was.   

Boney.  Rathbone.  Such a wonderful boy.

And somehow, whenever I pet Scruffy, I think of Rathbone.  Scruff is gray and striped.  He doesn't look at ALL like Bone.  But...he's soft.  Oh!  SOOO soft.  Scruff feels like a bunny.  His coat, like Rathbone's is just a tad longer than usual. His isn't silky, like Rathbone's, but soft, fluffy...fluffy Scruffy.  

Yeah...this boy  Bunny fur.  Super softee.  AND he is mellow like Bone.  I doubt that that is a trait of soft furred cats, but it is in this house.  Mellow and accepting and yet, the leader.  

I adored my Huey, but Rathbone and Scruff have filled his shoes (paws?) in ways I never imaginged.

 I've mentioned before...there is a cat outside.  Not every day, but nearly.  Looks clean and well fed, but still, I hate to see cats outside and now it is getting cold.  And I can't help but wonder where on earth this cat goes when it rains. 

I thought it was a male, but....one day out of the blue the cat appeared in our kitchen window, sitting on the ledge outside.  I had to herd my clowns out of the vicinity...thank goodness there is a door just outside the kitchen, closing off both the kitchen and living room.

We thought about opening the window and letting this cat in.  But where would we put this obviously lonely fella?  I texted my upstairs neighbor.  She must have looked out her window and saw our visitor...."Oh, that's Paulina."  Paulina?  Its a girl???  And my neighbor said she "belongs" to the woman next door.  The only problem is, there is no one precisely "next door."  The place is empty and being rehabbed inside and out from past earthquake damage.  There is scaffolding up all over, which I think is how Paulina made it over to our window.

This is not her, but it looks like her.  She sat there for quite a while, talking and making biscuits.  Tearing my freaking heart out!!

Whenever I look out and see her, she turns?  Does she have a sixth sense?  How can she possibly know I'm in the window?  

And now it's raining and cold.  I worry about her.  I wonder if I bought a portable, insulated shelter...if the actual "owner" would use it for her?  Or, does she have someplace to go?  Is the owner still in the neighborhood?  Or does a friend fill in?  IDK.  All I DO know is, she tugs at my heartstrings and I wish I could help.

There she is, on the wall at the right.

 My mother did the Christmas decorating the day after Thanksgiving.  That was way back before "Black Friday" was a thing.  NOTHING was open on the Friday after Thanksgiving except maybe the movies.  

Anyway, one of my favorite decorations was a star my mother always put up right in the center of the living room entry.   It was large-ish...sparkly, or just shiny....and all pink.

It disappeared when we moved to Long Island.  

As an adult, I looked around for a star that I could hang somewhere, hoping to find something similar to the one I remembered.  I never had any luck.  

That is....until MANY years later, after moving to California, then Michigan and then getting divorced after 20 years.  I needed to get out of the midwest, I needed to go home.  So I moved child, dogs, cats and a fish back to the city.  Except this time I couldn't afford Manhattan.  My city had changed.  I wound up in Queens.  

After several years in Astoria, Queens....I had a new beau.  And we went Christmas wandering...just looking at what was around, enjoying the "vibe," the lights across the streets, the lights in the stores.  A couple of times we wandered into a store.  And there they were.....STARS!!

A bit flashier than my mother's, but times change.  I had to have one.  In fact, I bought two. 

I still have the second one in its wrapper.  I wonder if my daughter will take it.  She has the kind of bohemian taste where she could pull off having the star up all year long.  

I don't know...it just makes me feel connected...to my past, to THE past, to what used to be.  And for some absolutely incomprehensible reason it makes me happy, even though things with my family didn't turn out that way.  It evokes a happier time, when I felt safe.

 At our former address, we used to love sitting out on the balcony even after it got dark.  The expanse of sky before us, the town to the left.  The parking lot, especially during the summer, was obscured by trees and greenery.

That all changed when the parking lot was expanded to three times its original size.  Trees were felled, bushes removed, earth turned over...and LOTS more streetlights installed.  Between the noise and commotion during the day and the extra light at night, we no longer lingered out there.

Then, when the back wall started to crack...well, I wouldn't go out there if you paid me.

Here, we don't have outdoor space.  There are tiny little balconies, if you can call them that, outside the two back double doors.  They are really for plants, not people.  Besides, with six cats, those little "balconies" are not going to be open.  

But there are advantages here.  More space, overall.  More light, because there are twice as many windows and most of the windows are as large as patio doors or they ARE patio doors.  The cats love it here.  They have umpteen places to sleep and lots of room to play, which they sometimes do with abandon and lots of sunbathing to do.

Like most older people, I usually have to get up in the wee small hours and head to the bathroom.  Sometimes, when I do, I will check on the clowns to see where they are.  And sometimes, I will look out the kitchen window which faces the mountains and has a view of the sky.  I've mentioned discovering the moon before.  Such a delight to see a big, full moon over the hills and mountains. 

I was gazing out the other night...no moon as yet...but the sky was completely clear and the stars were very bright.  And I found myself looking at Orion!  There he was, the warrior, right THERE in front of me...I haven't seen a constellation in years!!!  It reminded me of California, up in the hills outside San Francisco, where the skies were clear and full of stars.  Wow!!  Orion!  Long time, no see!  I didn't want to go back to bed.

And today we get a sink in the back bathroom and a new kitchen faucet.  A new round of upgrades is in motion.  I see a new rheumatologist in a week or so, too.  I intend to speak my mind. I want very much to feel better and be able to walk about town once again.

Maybe it isn't so bad here after all.

 Scruffy.  He was the kitten I wanted first. I fixed his goopy eyes when he was just 3 months old.  He scrammed out the door but came back the next day....eyes wide open and schmoozed me for the first time.  He understood.

Scruff is 6 years old now.  No, he wasn't the first in the door.  Not my fault and not at all what I wanted.  Missy Tee marched in the door all by herself.  "Honey!  I'm home!"

Calzini succumbed to temptation...TUNA!!..and got trapped in the cage.  Imp was terribly sick and near death.  Finally...finally....Scruffy!!!

So, here we are a bit more than 5 years later.  And Scruff is (and probably was always meant to be) the quintessential housecat.  He hardly ever sits in windows....only sometimes.  He loves to snuggle,  He shows up for breakfast (which is critical because he has feline asthma and I put his medication in his food).  AND he loves to play with toys.  But not just any toy.  No.  It HAS to be "Mousie."

There have been various incarnations of Mousie along the way.  It was inevitable, after all.  One gets lost forever...who knows where?  One loses its eyes, ears, tail and most otf its covering....ugh.  So, it has been necessary to replace "Mousie" from time to time and hope he accepts the newcomer.  

I found "mousies" online..similar...and they were filled with catnip.  I tried it.  Well, yay, he was happy.....but only, as usual, with ONE.  What is the special magic, Scruff????

But what this boy does with THE ONE is incredible, especially considering he is 6 now!  These floors are shiny and slick, so when he bats it, Mousey goes FLYING....ZOOM!!!  But he also gets up on hind legs and slam dunks it or sends it across the room....I have found Mousie on the kitchen counter, under furniture (most common) inside shoes, on the bed, and, sadly, in their water bowl, requiring a 2 day dry out.  He's hilarious.  Bend it like Beckham, boy!!  

We have about twice the space here, so he is having a blast.  AND his asthma is better here.  He hasn't had any bad attacks.  I think because ...more space, the ceilings are higher, more windows and there is no one (teens who used to hang out under our balcony on the passaggiatta) smoking nearby.  Less car exhaust, too.  So, the air is cleaner and he is more comfortable.  So am I.  I am considering lowering his already low dose of medication even lower and skipping a day here and there.  I will see how it goes.

No one would ever guess this sweet baby had ever been a street cat.

And speaking of street cats!

The street cats still left at the former domicile are being cared for by our former neighbors.  We provide the food and they do the feeding.  It IS a protected colony.

BUT, there is someone back here....there is a house next door, with a garden...no one there because the place is being rehabbed periodically and sporadically (I don't understand how things work here, exactly) but there is no one there except when there are workmen.  There were guys doing stuff inside during the summer, now there is a big scaffolding up...3 stories...perhaps to work on the roof...I have no idea.  They put up the scaffolding and disappeared.

BUT there had been a cat out there since we moved in.  And when we moved in, I noticed a bowl on the ground....so, whoever did/does live there....they knew this boy came by.  He must be a boy...he is LARGE, like Percy....maybe 20 lbs or more...but he is white with patches of tortoise shell in black and gray.  He is a gorgeous cat.  

Since naming more than 20 cats over the last several years, this one just became, (I'm sorry to say) Fatso Catso.  Yep.  Fatso Catso.  He comes to nap.  Sometimes he plays with butterflies or just stands on the wall in the back and looks at the view.  Recently, I saw him lounging on the scaffolding, since the garden was in the shade and the scaffold still had sunshine, keeping him warm.

I'm certain he is another unneutered male...the macho in this country sometimes drives me nuts....but he seems, like Calzini's dad, a nice cat, nevertheless.  So, I look for him every day.  He doesn't always show up.  Clearly, he doesn't need feeding.  That's a relief.  

He has seen us.  He knows we are here.  I can't stand people who just let their cats roam and whatever.  They are DOMESTIC PETS.  TAKE CARE OF THEM!!!!

 Sooooo...we moved.  And, as far as we could tell, there was only one "working" bathroom.  We originally saw this place on a chilly, rainy day and since no one had lived here for about a year, there was no water, no electricity..nothing.  We were "shown" the bathroom, conveniently across from the bedroom...and it looked "normal" albeit with a bathtub that was somewhat small, but this is Europe.  These things happen.  And we didn't have a flashlight.

Sooooo, turns out, after we moved in, we discovered that said "bathtub" had TWO levels.  An upper level that would have been fine as a seat.....IF it had even been remotely possible to STAND in the lower level.  BUT the lower level is cupped, like a fucking tulip.  Seriously.  Who?  How?  What????

Sooooo, the era of sponge baths ensued.  

Finally, we were able to have a guy come over who owns a contracting company.  Young guy, very nice, personable.  And he speaks English as well as Italian.  Turns out he lived in the US for some years!! His father moved the family there from South America. 

After discussing, it was decided that the SECOND bathroom in the back would be better suited to an immediately working shower.  First a large and heavy (and ugly) dry sink had to be removed (and is still sitting in the back) but that provided the water source.  On the other side there is a toilet and bidet and the bidet could have been removed, but this is another room with a curved ceiling, so a shower would be impossible.  

They took out the sink, put in the shower, fixed up the wall and we also replaced the double door to a small balcony, so there are no drafts, leaks or bugs.  

The work has stopped next door, there is no one there.  I love taking a shower midday, when the sun is shining in.  It almost feels like a spa.  Those doors, even when shut, will tilt in on the right, just enough to get a breeze, some fresh air.  
Yes, we have a curtain, and when it starts getting dark, or if and when someone is ever next door, of course, it will be closed, for the most part.  But right now I am loving this feeling of being bathed in sunshine with all the greenery outside while showering.  It reminds me of the years that I would take my daughter to the water park in Michigan.  We could rent a tube for the day, there was an area to sit under umbrella and have lunch or a snack.  There was a wave pool and a water slide.  She loved it, I loved it.  
Eventually we will remove the bidet and put in a sink, hang a mirror and voila!  
Eventually we will rehab the stupid bilevel tub.  Eventually......  hopefully within a year.  Eventually every room, other than the bedroom which is done, needs to be painted.  But, hallelujah, I am clean.  Yippee!!

The cats were freaked out by moving.  We had to bring them in shifts.  And none of us were familiar with the terrain, as it were.  

Scruffy was one of the most severely traumatized.  He disappeared for about a week, even though they were confined to one room, said room had once been a kitchen and he found a way to wiggle into the cabinet below the sink.  I was beside myself because if he wouldn't come out, clearly he wasn't eating or getting his asthma medication.  AGGHH!!

Notte wasn't too happy either.

The BIG surprise was Calzini.  Calzini, the one we weren't going to adopt, but he made himself so at home after he was neutered we decided he would stay.  Nevertheless, Zini was somewhat standoffish.  He never made a sound and you could not touch him. 

Gradually, over the course of some time, he allowed himself to be pet.  He snuggled with his buddies in their usual spots.  Eventually, he started asking for attention.  "Hey!  I'd like a scratch, please!!"  And after sweet, lopey Lupo came along, he really came out of his shell.  They were play buddies.  And Lupo is VERY affectionate and vocal.  Zini learned.

So, by the time we moved, Zini would sit on the arms of chairs or the sofa and allow himself the attention.  But what surprised me was, after the move, HE was the great explorer.  Once we were settled in and the cats were given the run of the place, it was Zini who looked in every room, every nook, every corner.  He jumped in the windows!  "Whats goin on out there?"  

Now he talks regularly, DEMANDS affection...by either shoving his face into yours or patting you with his paws.  He still hasn't ventured into a lap, but he comes close.  He might put one or both front paws down in your lap.

I don't know, but I think the light bulb went on in his little head....and he realized he was not going to be abandoned in the street again, that he was "home" and home was with us and his companions.  

 It's been a long time.  Things have....happened.  

So, there was a small (about 50 cars worth) parking lot below us....down the hill.  We really couldn't see it in the summer, only after the leaves fell in Autumn.  The lot led to an elevator that rose about 8-10 stories to the main piazza here.

Well, said lot was expanded.  A lot.  I would say 3 times larger, although maybe a bit more.  Why?  I have no idea...no one was filling all that space.  During the construction, land, plants, trees were moved.  Lots of them. And for no apparent reason, all the vegetation next to our balcony, near the TOP of the hill, was also removed.  Trees, bushes, a magnificent elderberry.  

We lost the birds.  The only stragglers were some crows and an occasional sparrow.  What we did get was a whole lot of sun.  So much so that I had to buy a blackout curtain for the bedroom because it was getting ridiculously hot.  The other result?  I could no longer enjoy the balcony.  Too much sun, too much heat, too many bugs.

  But then...ah, then....the back wall of the entire apartment...which included the dining room and the kitchen, where the caldaia (water heater) was mounted on the wall, where we had the refrigerator, and of course, where the balcony was located outside, began to crack.  Seriously crack, as in it looked like it was falling down or off.  If it was windy, you could feel it.  Bricks were exposed.  Not only unsightly but potentially dangerous.  We had to move.

We had to move, and saddled with a place we could not sell. (We are hoping that the Comune or Italy or something, will decide to reimburse us something.  Maybe.) 

I'll make it short.  We found an affordable place on the other side of town, up a hill.  We moved at the end of March and I haven't even attempted to walk down the hill yet.  I'm beginning to feel isolated.  Also because my husband had a fall and hurt his hip and will need surgery to scrape arthritis from said hip in the very near future.  

On the bright side, the place doesn't have outdoor space, but it is considerably larger.  We have a large storage room (which is still a wreck) and two baths, sort of....agggh.  There were surprises in store after we moved.  What looked like a regular little bathtub is some weird thing with 2 levels and the bottom is curved like a tulip, so it is impossible to stand.  We had to have a shower installed in the OTHER bathroom.  

Also, the colors are...for me, anyway, mortifying.  Only the bedroom has been painted, a creamy off white.  (It was what I lovingly referred to as "hospital blue")  The rest of the place is YELLOW.  Like a freaking egg yolk.  

The oven wasn't "new"...it was filthy and didn't work.  The stove had a gas leak.  So, I got a new stove/oven.  The window in the bedroom had to be replaced, and the double door in the shower room.  The one in the laundry/cat room will need to be replaced before winter.

But, little by little, it is...improving.  Our upstairs neighbors are wonderful.  She is a nurse in Pescara and just so helpful its embarrassing.  She gives us peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers and EGGS,  fresh from her cousin's yard.  She has taken me, or my husband, to the supermarket, to the bank...I hate to impose, but she always asks.  

And one other nice thing.  Out the back windows the mountains are visible, and a small garden that belongs to the place next door, which is vacant, so the thing is getting unruly and overgrown.  But I can see THE MOON!!!  I haven't seen the moon in 6 years!  I was so excited the first time I woke in the night and saw the light shining in.  What is that?  And this month, the moon has been nothing short of spectacular.  Yippee, something that males me happy.  

We have to visit the Questura this year to renew our permits.  Needless to say, it is rather nerve wracking, considering what is going on across the pond.  Should all go well, we can then think about getting the rest of place painted in the Spring.  And also installing another shower in the bath with the strange little tub.  

The clowns (cats) have adjusted.  Moving was hard on them, except Calzini, who, after 5 years must have finally decided that we aren't getting rid of him.  He made himself right at home.  Scruffy took awhile.  Our former neighbor is taking care of feeding the "colony" now, while we supply the food.

Lastly, I am gradually feeling better with a new rheumatologist and new medicine regimen.  I hope to be able to walk down this hill at some point and join the living once again.  Fingers crossed.