Storytime Tapestry Newsletter

The newsletter devoted to spreading love and cultural awareness throughout the world.

Special Treat – Ruth MacGill

September 5, 2007

I am delighted to introduce you to Ruth MacGill, our newest writer who becomes writer number 431 for Storytime Tapestry.   Please email her and welcome her to the fold.

Change of Plans

Ruth McGill

The signs are not good, so today I will stay home and commune with nature instead of

going to town to get my monthly supplies. It always hinges how I feel. I’ll be 85 in a couple of months, and trips of over 150 miles alone on the freeway have to be well considered before starting. I didn’t sleep well, and woke too early feeling compelled to write my silly article about the word ‘but’, and then I couldn’t go back to sleep when I tried.

As I look out the window, I see it’s an overcast day, muggy and hot. Any rain we might get will probably evaporate before it reaches the ground, as usually happens. Maybe I’ll wash the car myself instead of getting it done in town. The dust on the back window is thick enough to write ‘WASH ME’ on it, and if it should actually rain afterwards, at least there won’t be mud on the windows.

I just saw a little family of quail over by the holly berry bush, where I had sprinkled some old dry cereal. I wasn’t sure what the little black seed-like things in it were. Did they have legs or not? Once I thought of that, I could never eat it! The birds, rabbits and squirrels would like it anyhow. I also put apple parings, stale bread and melon rinds out by that bush for the critters to eat. It is terribly dry here and we haven’t had rain in many months. I think food is already getting scarce for little animals. There aren’t as many bunnies hopping around in the moonlight as there usually are this time of year.

Another thing missing are bees. In dry weather like this, there should be a multitude of bees around the shallow dish of water I keep filled by our faucet for thirsty birds and animals. If bees are going extinct, that is serious business, and we humans may not be far behind them.

Also, there are fewer wildflowers than usual for the bees to collect nectar. I have allowed quite a lot of wild mustard grow near the faucet, because in early morning and evening there are some bees in them. I have a few other ‘weeds’ I water faithfully. In fact there two flowering plants I have never seen before. They have beautiful delicate-looking green leaves, and large yellow and orange flowers, but both have a multitude of savage, sword-like stickers.

I’m glad Jane dug a strip garden along the dog’s fence, and I planted birdseed in it. There is now a thick hedge of sunflowers and special grasses that make it harder for the four pit bulls to see things to bark at. When it goes to seed it will provide more food for birds and other critters.

My tiny garden has turned into a jungle of tomato plants, pepper plants, bush beans, carrots, lettuce and catnip. I planted it where it got full shade by 3 p.m. I used some commercial fertilizer I had on hand; spread horse and cow manure over the patch, and watered everything every evening. I am surprised it is doing so well. The heat, accompanied by strong hot winds off the desert, don’t make a very hospitable environment for a kitchen garden, but it looks as if I will get a good crop for the size of the plot.

I will have to get dressed and drive to the feed store sometime today. I have one little black and white female cat that I will probably have to put to sleep. Her health problems, especially her teeth, cost more than I can spend. She is almost 14 years old, and has had a safe, sheltered life with lots of petting and plenty of food and treats, so I guess she is luckier than most cats. I have to buy canned cat food for her and give her a nutrition supplement as well. I’m out of the canned cat food, but can buy some at the local feed store. She is the last cat descended from the first pair of cats that adopted me when I  started being caretaker of the Stone Store Museum. All my pets are spayed or neutered, and this one wouldn’t exist except that her mother was too wild to catch, and kept having kittens with her own brother which made the progeny turn out skittish and not very bright. This cat has always been too timid to go outdoors.

I’ve rambled enough. I’m going to rustle up something to eat, and watch the boob tube for a while. I’ll try again tomorrow to make a trip to town.

Ruth MacGill

ruthmacgill@yahoo.com