Aloha All Ye Who Love, Saturday was a strange and horrible day. I was sitting at my computer, doing nothing in particular while on the other side of the room I had the Bridgestone Invitational Golf Tournament on TV. Tiger was leading by eight shots. My all black, sentient cat Zappo was coming in and going out her cat door about every 20 minutes. On the 13th hole during the third round, Tiger hit a shot which went over and beyond the green and left him on a steep, grass back of the green, a difficult but not impossible shot. Tiger wound up and I hoped he would not over shoot. He put the ball on the green and it rolled directly into the hole for a birdie! Vintage Tiger, an exciting shot so typical of him. About 30 minutes later I heard the doorbell ring and a minute later I heard Leza call me in a strange and emotional voice. At the door were our neighbors who live two doors from us. They told Leza that they had come up our road and found our cat Zappo, a cat that they know well because she often plays with their cat Lucky, lying dead in the middle of the road. They had moved her to the side of the road into the grass and come directly to our home to tell us. Grabbing a pillowcase Leza and I and our neighbors walked down the road to find her. Mary Ann who has on occasion employed me to watch and feed Lucky when they are traveling, was unabashedly crying. Leza was crying too. I, brought up to hide and control my emotions, held them in check as we approached my cat. There lying in the grass was Zappo, still, blooded, eyes open and glassy. I picked her up gently and felt her little furry body was still warm but she was limp and there was no breath or movement of her chest. From the amount of blood on the street it looked like she had been struck and killed instantly or possibly been run over. Leza was sobbing now as she held the pillowcase open and I carefully placed Zappo in it. The four of us walked up the road to our pad. We thanked our neighbors for telling us before Leza and I discussed where to bury her. Zappo was the third cat we have lost while living here in Sudden Valley. My first cat Spooky never returned after walking out the cat door one night about eight years ago. Chi, our beautiful Burmese whom we found abandoned in Sedro Woolley walked out the cat door one night and the next day there was a large pile of her fur with her collar lying in it near a tree across the street, the evidence of losing her life to a beast of the night. Yesterday Zappo lost hers to a car or truck. After we made a decision on where to bury her I began digging a deep hole in the back yard in a spot we can see from the house. There were a lot of rocks in the ground so it took a while to dig it. Leza helped by using the shovel to take out dirt and rocks after I had unearthed them. The hole gradually ended up about 25 inches deep by twelve wide. We decided to bury Zappo in the very pillowcase we used to bring her home because we want her to quickly become the nutrients for little bugs and worms that will be eaten by birds so that we will see Zappo living again and in the sky. I asked Leza if she wanted to be present when I placed Zappo in the ground. She told me she wanted to put dirt on the grave. So I gently picked up the pillowcase which was now spotted heavily with her blood and placed our furry friend for the last two years into the ground. Zappo had plenty of space, at least seven inches or more to place rocks and dirt over her. As I placed the rocks in and then Leza put in dirt, I spoke to her. I said goodbye and I told her I loved her. At that moment I heard the cry of crows and looked up to find where they were. High above us was a flight of six bright, black crows all squawking at once in a perfect v-shaped formation. They were distant but coming right over us. As they were almost directly above, one of them, second from the right, peeled off creating a “missing man formation.” At least this is what I imagined because at that moment, as Leza and I were putting dirt into the hole, after I told Zappo I loved her I lost all control of my emotions and balled like a baby. Leza hugged me while she cried too. It’s amazing how quickly Zappo had become our little feline child. She came when we called her. She slept with us every night. She managed to sit on my lap every time I watched TV of an evening. In the early morning hours she would walk up and down by my feet as I had a glass of water and gargled it. When I turned off the light she would stand there and allow me to pick her up and hug her while she made little gurgling and purring noises. We made a routine of it. I would picker her up and pet her, walk with her in my arms to the window. She would then put her front paws on the window and look out into the night trees and sky. Then we would walk over to my bed where I would sit down, pet her a little more and then with one hand put her on the bottom of the bed. She would then curl up into a ball with her head slightly raised, resting on Leza’s legs. I would get under the covers and fall asleep with my two babes, one with two, the other with four legs. Zappo was born in May, 2011. We took her home about eight weeks later from Lynden, WA where she was born. From the very moment she climbed out of the cat carrier at our pad she pleased us. She ran around our home like a crazed cat, gradually learning where everything was. I picked her up and noted that she could easily fit into one of my hands. She ate heartedly, She used the cat litter right away and she obviously liked us because from the very first night living in our home she chose to sleep with us. Since she zapped around so much we decided to name her Zappo. For the next two years she became like a little girl in our care. After she had lived inside our home for about a month I placed a halter and leash on her and we walked around outside, Zappo smelling and looking at everything. Gradually we walked farther and farther from our back door. After a few weeks I dropped the leash and let her trail it because she stayed mostly in the back yard. Then I let her come and go sans leash. She lived happily with us for two years and one month, and when we closed her cat door at night with Zappo on the inside, she did not seem to mind. She usually had a nap, ate from her food bowl, played with us, sat on my lap, played with Leza who had purchased her a trunk load of toys and generally made us happy by just watching her graceful moves. She may have been a cat but Leza and I loved her dearly. We are in shock. Leza has cried so much that her eyes are puffy and she can’t insert her contact lenses. I’m having trouble typing this because my eyes are misting. Zappo, Zappo! You still live...in our hearts. Leza had the idea to make a little memorial for her next to the spot she was hit. We put that up Sunday, 8-4-13: Aloha Nui Loa, IL Fettucinni
Posted on: Tue, 06 Aug 2013 02:04:46 +0000
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