I have four news flashes to report for the New Year. Well, they were news flashes a few months back, but they remain of interest.
First Flash: Cleo, my cat, has learned a new word. She was sitting at the sliding glass door in my bedroom that leads to my porch. That room is where I do all my writing. Cleo was looking out at the wet gray morning. It looked cold.
I said, “Cleo, do you want to go out?”
She has heard me use the word, “out,” many times. She knows what it means.
She answered my question instantly. Cleo gave a single clear shake of her tail. I knew it meant, “Yes,” and I opened the door to let her run wild for an hour or so. I was proud of my cat. She has learned a new cat sign with her tail, which is for cats, one of their ways to communicate.
Second Flash: Dr. Kelly Walker, one of the fine surgeons at the San Francisco Veteran’s Hospital, removed a “stint” from my kidney. The stint was a simple piece of plastic line meant to keep everything in working order after my last procedure.
The stint removal also meant that they are quits with Paleno and I have a clean bill of health, thanks to the talented surgeon Dr. Walker and her crew of doctors, who worked hard for the last two years and burned out the evil cancer with a midget laser gun. Not only did they get rid of my unwelcome guest, once gone, they made it clear to the offending visitor to stay away for keeps.
A Gold Star for Dr. Walker and each member of her team. A job well done.
Third News Flash: Cleo has a new bed. After sleeping for nearly a year on top of a reference box of folders with my old sweater tossed on top for night, I got smart and made her a better bed.
Her new bed is an 18-by-15-inch cardboard box with low walls and an open front door. I put her bed box on top of the same reference cargo box that sits on my side dresser. With a difference. The files (partly padded by my old sweater) poked her while she slept. Now the sweater sits on a smooth box bottom and gives Cleo better padding.
Last night, before she went to sleep, she smiled at me.
Fourth Good News: We had a record freeze the night before I sat down to write this in January. Calico No. 2, the stray cat I feed every day, would have been cold on my porch (where she stays most of the time), even with the cat house of cardboard I gave her to sleep in.
Calico No. 2 is the sister of the late Calico No. 1, the cat I had before Cleo and who went to Kitty Heaven. Calico No. 2 also knows I can handle only one house cat and that cat is Cleo.
I placed a small space heater on the porch facing her front door bed box and let it run all night to keep her from turning into a catcycle.
She was fine this morning. When I went out to break the ice in her water dish and feed her kitty kibbles, she (like Cleo) had a smile on her face. Later I wrapped an old piece of carpet around her house (for insulation) so she will stay warm without the heater.
Last note: Hurray. I said my say. The Record-Bee published my four-part article on Clear Lake, Dec. 29, 30, 31 and in January. It was intended to report Clear Lake’s present condition and suggest ways to make it better.
Generally it was OK but later Gregg Giusti, director of water resources, came to my house and pointed out a few corrections, which I was happy to change where I agreed. He was a great help.
Yes, I’m a little late in saying this, but here’s to a wonderful future and fellow for every citizen in Lake County; the county that boasts the best looking, smartest county workers, county administrators and residents anywhere.
So skipping from the promising warmth of May back to those damp and cold ones in January, a belated Happy New Year.
Gene Paleno is an author and illustrator living in Witter Springs.
