Life With Cats or How Soon We Forget

We have had a cat in our house for our entire married life, almost 29 years.  There have been a few months off between the last two, and the last one left us about a month and a half ago.  You'd think we would be used to cats and their behavior, right?

Well, right now we are learning that cats all have different personalities, and that cats under stress have even more quirks.  We are fostering our friends' cats while they deal with tornado damage and finding a temporary place to live, etc.  These are cats I have met before, they are sweethearts.  They also miss their own people and tell us so.  Yes, we are good cat servants, and they like us a lot, but we are not THEIR people.

As you may know, if you know me in "real life", or have read previous blog posts, our own cat, Madame Skye, died last month.  We had been owned by that cat for almost 10 years.  Before that, we had been owned by various cats, most notably Tazzer, who lived to be 17 years old.  We are NOT inexperienced in the ways of cats.

This did not prepare us for suddenly finding ourselves responsible for TWO cats, though we have had multiple cats in the past.  These two are fully as spoiled as any we have been owned by.  Lulu, who is regal and dignified despite her name, is fairly quiet, and pretty well behaved.  She is 16 years old, and has the presence and dignity befitting her age.  She has relaxed to the point where she will get on the bed with us at night, and even sleep on me if I lie still long enough.  She has taken over my wing back chair in the living room, just as Skye used to. 

This is Lulu snoozing in the wing back chair. 

Mr.  Peabody is a burly cat. He is BIG.  He has the deepest chest I have ever seen on a cat, and shoulders like a linebacker.  He is overweight, but a lot of his bulk is muscle.  He is very elegant, with his all black coat and his white feet, white bib, and white whiskers.  Quite a smashingly well turned out gent, he is.  He is also talkative and very opinionated, which is why they named him Mr. Peabody. 

This is the only picture I've gotten of Mr. Peabody so far. He is enjoying the view out my office window.  That is a rather large window, by the way.  I am surprised that Mr. Peabody was able to fit on the sill. 
Mr. Peabody woke us up at 3 the other morning simply to tell us he really, really wanted HIS staff to come back.  Ralph and Julie had come by earlier that evening, and he had watched them leave through the front door. I guess he thought they'd been gone long enough.  He started crying and crying and when we went to see what all the noise was about, we found him in the front hall, staring at the door, as if to tell us to open it so he could find his people.  We finally convinced him to settle down and let the rest of us sleep. 
Mr. Peabody could moonlight as a backhoe.  He excavates the litter box, he doesn't just dig.  He sometimes removes almost half the litter onto the laundry room floor simply because he can.  Lulu gets a bit upset with the mess, and will come find me and "tell" on him.  She meows insistently and when I follow her, she leads me to the mess in question. 
Both of these cats are really appreciative of catnip.  They get really enthusiastic about it.  I have a few of Skye's toys still, and so I got them out to help these two amuse themselves.   Then I bought fresh catnip and filled the little zipper pouch in the "plat mat".  Oh, boy.  They both roll on it and pounce on it and rub their faces in it, and then they lie around kinda glassy eyed acting like they can feel the rotation of the Earth. 
It has been great fun to watch them get used to being here, and relaxing.  They are good house guests, and considering all the stress they have been under (they were in the closet with Ralph, Julie, and the dog, Melvin when the tornado hit their house), they have been surprisingly relaxed around here.
They even came out and made friends with our friends Mike and Nancy when they came over Monday evening. 
We all got a full night's sleep last night, I hope we do tonight as well.  Mr. Peabody seems to have decided that the staff will return when they will, and for the meanwhile, he'll make do with us. Lulu has decided that we are just FINE as staff, and seems perfectly happy here.  She sometimes looks at Mr. Peabody as if to tell him to behave, and not ruin a good thing.  (If we couldn't keep them, they'd have to go to Ralph and Julie's son's house with them and Melvin, and the son's dog Cloven.  Cloven is very large, and thinks cats enjoy rough-housing.  The cats are not fans of his.)
Honestly, we are happy to do this for our friends, and we are enjoying the heck out of having the cats around.  It is nice to have somebody here when we get home again, somebody to demand I get up in the morning.  No more being lazy for me!  (Which is a good thing, I get more done when I get up when I'm supposed to...)

Life continues to find it's "new normal" for everyone here in Moore.  It is going to take a long time before we are back to normal, but we are working our way toward it every day.  For the folks like Ralph and Julie who have to sift through years and years of memories and belongings trying to decide what's salvageable, and who have to find a temporary place to live, and deal with insurance companies and what they decide about replacing the house and the lost household goods, the return to normalcy takes even longer.  I cannot even imagine how difficult it is to deal with such a loss.  The disruption would be devastating to me.   I need order and I need my own space, where I can be alone and write.  It would be hard to do without it even for a little while. 

I hope having our place to retreat to when they need to, and to have their cats cared for by someone who loves them, helps Ralph and Julie be better able to deal with their disruptions and losses.  They have keys, and I have told them to feel free to come over for a kitty fix whenever they need one.  I think the kitties would really like that, too.
Better go get stuff ready for tomorrow and get ready for bed before Lulu comes looking for me.  She has started taking over Skye's duties of telling us that it's TIME TO GO TO BED, Silly humans!

Overwhelmed, Grateful, Weary, Hopeful and Teary

That pretty much sums me up right about now.
I had a bit of frustration trying to get in to work this morning, and I am glad my windows were up, or the folks walking on the sides of the road might have heard some words that would have singed their ears.  The dude in the truck in front of me was obviously lost.  I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he was a volunteer looking for a place to park, but I'm afraid he was yet another lookie-loo.  At any rate, he stopped FOUR TIMES in a 2 block space, and I REALLY needed him to get OUT of my way.  I barely made it in the door of the library on time.  At least the cops had done pretty well at discouraging people from parking in the Library Staff ONLY spots.  Ya want the library open so you can use the nice restrooms?  Let the staff have their parking spots.

We don't have a whole lot of stuff coming back in yet, but that will come soon enough.   Trips to the book drop were an adventure.  There are several groups here cooking for anybody who needs fed.  The library parking lot is where the city set them up, for some reason. 

The photo at the left shows what I saw when I left the front doors of the library with my donated shopping cart (thank you, Walmart Neighborhood Market) to head for our "big green" book drop out in the circle drive.  I was sure there would be nothing in it when I got there, there's no way for people to drive up and put items in the drop.  WRONG.  There were several items in the drop.  Seems people have been parking and walking up and dropping their items in the drop.  They have also managed to find ways around the relief truck blockade and put things in our back drop that empties directly into the building. 

You can see the drop chutes in the far upper left of the photo at right, which shows cases of water that have been stacked against the back side of the library since Monday night. We are INUNDATED with supplies, and volunteers here in Moore.  Our officials are very appreciative, and are trying to co-ordinate between volunteer agencies and the governments of other cities hit by the tornadoes to maybe get some of those volunteers out to the smaller communities who were hit and REALLY need some help.  Not that we don't need help, we do, but those little towns just don't have the resources we have, and they are away from main highways, so it is harder for the media to find them.
People keep calling to find out if we are open. People come in, and are actually teary-eyed when they look around and see that their library is just like they left it the last time they were in. All the books and all the staff are OK, and still here for them.  I almost cried several times on the Customer Service Desk this morning.  Our customers love us, and we love them.   Mahlon, the young lady I was most worried about during all of this, came in today, and I hugged her SO tight. I've known that girl since she was one of our "volunteens" in Summer Reading when she was maybe 13 or so.  She's a college student now, and she is a clerk working at our South OKC branch.  She is a sweetie, and her mom is about the same age I am.  I was SO glad to see with my own eyes that our Mahlon is all right.  Bless her.  She was almost crying herself.  She's been worried about all of us, too.Thank God for Face Book and Twitter, or we'd all be a lot MORE worried about each other.
I do have a great deal of sadness, though.  Mr. Hemant Bhonde, a regular customer who always brought a smile with him, and left us smiling, was taken by the storm.  He had been ill recently, and not in as often, but we still saw him once in a while.  He always stopped to talk to me and Julie, and joked around with us.  He was from India, and worked at the GM plant.  He was also a volunteer in our Computer Training Center at one time.  He was a sweet man, and I will miss him.  I always smile when I think of him, though.  He left that legacy with his library friends, that thinking of him makes us smile.
Some of those children who died were customers that I can remember seeing in the library.  It is always especially sad to lose children, and it hits home even more when those children are ones who came up to you on a regular basis and asked for their library card number, or gave you their books to check out. Summer Reading starts soon.  There are now a few less kids to come and read with us.  We are all very sad about that.
 We are grateful for all the support and help that has been pouring into Moore.  It is very overwhelming when you are trying to do anything around our building or even our area of town, though.
Here are a few photos to prove my point:

 To the left, you see the view of our parking lot between us and the Community Center. "Big Green" is visible by the hedge on the far left of the photo.  The building with the large air conditioning units visible on top is the Community Center.  The cookers and the semi trailers are from a company based in Arkansas that has been here since Tuesday cooking and serving meals to whoever wants some.

 To the right, this is the view looking North on Howard Street from the library circle drive.  Those are customers' cars and volunteers' cars parked on a street that really ISN'T supposed to have parking on it.

 The photo on the left was taken from the south end of the drive that runs behind the library.  Those are the semi trailers full of chicken that the cookers are fixing for everybody.  I often jokingly tell customers on the phone to come get something to check out and pick up some free food while you're at it.

 To the right, you see the view out the West lobby doors of the library.  Brown building on the right is the temporary police station.  (New one is being built at Main and Broadway, will be finished sometime late this year, maybe.) Clouds and a highway full of lookie-loos.  Just what we need.

 This is the view out the staff door on the west side of the building.  Police station, Interstate beyond, and I think the farthest building there is a church across the Interstate.  Lots more vehicles than are usually in this location on a Saturday afternoon.

To the right is a view of the parking lot immediately in front of the Community Center.  As you can see, one of the fire crews had stopped in for some food, and an ambulance crew, too.  These folks have been working 12 hr. shifts with little or no downtime all week.

It means a lot to know that all these people just wanted to help our city.  Many just up and left and are giving up their Memorial Day weekend plans to be here to help take care of Moore, Oklahoma.
Many, many people have told me this week that relatives have told them they should leave, that obviously Moore wasn't a safe place to live.  They all then said what I've always said.  There's just something about this town.  The people are so special, even when they disagree violently with your politics, they still care about you, they still love you.  They look at you with tears in their eyes after something like this and say from the bottom of their heart "It is SO GOOD to see you!"   Complete strangers come and ask if they can help.  It happens every day here, you need something, someone will ask if they can help.

We are all weary of the weather right now.  Leery of it, too.  Those clouds out there were being viewed with great suspicion.  There was a slight chance of a thunderstorm here today, but any that popped up were far to the south of Moore.  Still, people are nervous.  I bet it's quite awhile before we hear our weekly siren tests again.  People's nerves are still too raw.  (And besides, they know all the sirens that are still here work.  They gave them quite a workout on Monday.)
We had people calling to ask us to check the Weather Service website for them.  A few were where they had no access to a weather radio or TV.  Some don't have smart phones, so they call us.  We are the all-purpose reference tool, after all.  (And sometimes it feels like people expect us to know everything, just because we work in the library.)  (We all know a lot of things, but none of us knows EVERYTHING.  Our heads would explode.  Seriously.  )

Those of us who were here in '99 have one advantage over the newer folks in town.  We remember how things were before that tornado, and how they were re-built even BETTER afterwards.  That's where the hopefulness comes in.  I know this town will rebuild, and I know it will be even better than before.  Our city government does all it can to help residents get the information and help they need to get their homes rebuilt safely, and the Chamber and other civic agencies help business owners.  Those of us who live here help by shopping at our local stores as much as possible.  We support the retailers that believed in Moore and put their stores here.  We really support Bill Warren and his theater because he has always believed in Moore, even though he's from Kansas, and has supported this community from the day he decided to put his theater here.  He builds all his theaters with severe weather in mind.  (It's because he's from Kansas.  They get lots of tornadoes, too, you know.)
I have hope that our hospital will be rebuilt, and it will be better than before.  Norman Regional owns it, and their newer buildings are beautiful.  We are hopeful that the new hospital will be one of those beautiful buildings.  I had an appointment at the hospital Breast Care Center for next month.  They have already called me to reschedule the appointment at the Porter Road campus of the hospital.  They were even able to give me the same day and the same time.

I get teary when I think about what could have happened on Monday.  It was really, really bad, but it could have been SO much worse.   We had warning enough for most of us to take shelter, the tornado missed our large retail stores (where there were lots of people), and the kids hadn't gotten on their buses to go home yet.
I get teary, too, thinking about how close it came to my own home, how we STILL don't have a shelter (partly my fault because a good one costs so much), and well, this is all so stressful, it is making a lot of us teary.  Like I said, customers come in and tear up because they are so glad we are still there, and the books are still there, and I get teary because our customers are all right, and it IS good to see them.
It makes me tear up when all the ex-pat Okies I know start raising funds to send to the relief efforts, and how so many tweeted and messaged on Face Book, and emailed and called to see if we were all right.  I get choked up when Matt hears from the barbecue cookers who want to come and cook for folks.  They are here and serving lots of hot meals to people who might not otherwise have one.  Matt has done a lot to get the cookers in touch with folks who may need them.  He also spent the day helping clean Veteran's Memorial Park.  I'm proud of him.  He pretends this stuff doesn't upset him,  "Shit happens" he says, but I know deep down he really cares, and he wants to help make things more normal for folks, too.
Another emotional thing going on today was all the pictures people are finding in their yards and bringing to the library so the folks who are looking to reunite them with their owners can collect them.  Sad, mud-spattered, some edges torn, some water damaged. Wedding photos, Basic Training portraits of young servicemen and women, portraits of children, somebody's photo ID from work, all little pieces of someone's life.  And you find yourself hoping the people in the pictures are OK, and that they'll be getting those pictures back soon. That's my prayer for my little adopted home town.  That the people are all OK, and that they'll be getting those little pieces of their lives back in order real soon.
And maybe the lookie-loos will grow up and stay out of the way for awhile, and then we can get somewhere on I-35 again, maybe the volunteers will get better organized and not park all over Howard Street so we can almost not drive through, and then maybe I'll be able to get to work in less than five minutes again.  (Unless there's a train.) In other words, we'll find our "new normal" and get on with life.

Two Poems Written This Evening.

Tornado Song

By C.K.Armistead
5/24/2013

The sky grows dark
The winds whip up
Then eerily die down.
The birds disappear
The quiet is unnerving.
Then the thunder starts,
And the winds whip up again
And the rain and hail
Pelt the earth with fury.
And the storm opens
Its horrible maw
And the tornado teeth
Come and chew up the land.
Sometimes only trees
Sometimes houses
And lives.
So capricious it is
About what it will eat
And what it will leave
Untouched.
One house completely gone
Next door, only a broken window.
Three times they have come
Since we've been here
And every time
We have been lucky.
Our house wasn't appetizing
To the monster.
But every Oklahoman
Knows the fear,
And watches the clouds
With cold dread.
All have warning radios
All keep the news tuned in.
Most of us know our neighbors
And will take note of who
Is home or not
Before the storm gets too close.
Some call and offer their storm shelter,
Especially to those with kids.
When the storm has passed,
If the outcome is bad,
We hug each other,
Count our blessings
Survey the losses,
And find a way to go on.
For we can't let the monster win.
Love and hope are stronger
By far
Than ANY storm.


 One Day Of Peace
By C.K. Armistead
 5/24/2013

In a world suddenly
Turned almost inside out
(In some cases, literally)
One peaceful day
With nothing much to do
But enjoy the sunshine
The birdsong
A good book
A cup of tea
Is a blessing beyond price.
Others do not have
This luxury just now.
They must sift
Through the wreckage
Of their lives
Finding memories
Mud-splattered
Among the rubble
That was once a home.
I wish for them all
That their peaceful day
Will come sooner than they think
With new memories
Waiting to be made
In a home that stands
With all hope
Against the Oklahoma wind.

A Little Bit of Normal

Today felt a little more "normal" around here.
Ralph and Julie went and started really salvaging things from their house.  I went to work for my usual Thursday afternoon/evening shift.  The computers were back up, thanks to our tech guys, the Cox tech guys, and some guys from AT&T who had been furnishing us temporary hotspots until Cox could get their fiber connections reconnected.  (Had to tell the AT&T guys how much I love my U-Verse at home.  Best, most reliable, fastest Internet we have ever had. Cox does a great job with business services and the library's service, but their home services were not so hot.  At least not in our experience.  AT&T U-Verse has performed much better for us at home.)
The day at work went by much faster than usual.  There were friends I haven't seen since last week to catch up with , and Julie wasn't there, of course, so I sorted and checked in the delivery.  I got to talk to several of our "regulars" on the phone who were worried about us, and since I've been there since the last big tornado, (14 years now), I was the one  to talk to several of those who called, because they knew me.
Being on the desk this evening was a blessing.  It was really quiet, but that allowed me to focus more on each customer who came in, and even if some were not our usual crowd, those that are our usual Thursday folks were so very glad to see us, so happy to see the library intact, it was hard not to get choked up.  People kept calling, hoping the Zumba class was still on tonight, but all programs are cancelled until the traffic and roads clear up a bit more.  (Nowhere much to park near us right now, the Community Center is a Red Cross shelter, the church next door a volunteer meeting point,and there are generous folks from all over cooking wonderful food right outside our doors. )

One of the men who was with the group cooking out front came in to thank us for letting them set up out there, and I thanked him and said it meant a lot that folks cared so much and wanted to help.  He said he was so glad they could do it because everybody he met here has been terrific.  I said, well, that's why this is such a nice place to live, even with tornadoes.  Moore has an atmosphere of being a close-knit small town, even with its modern shopping areas and restaurants and theaters.  You still see folks you know when you go out and about here.  (Though, if the truth be told, the entire OKC metro area is one big small town.  I see people I know a lot of places I go all around the metro.)

People called all day asking if we were open, was the building OK, were all of us OK, it was amazing.  We knew we were loved, but we didn't know they loved us that much. Our Friends group called to check in. The Friends volunteers are pretty much all accounted for, so is our regular volunteer, Don, who is a retired AF enlisted man.  Don's house was destroyed, but he and his wife are OK. 

The mail has been delivered to our house every day this week, even though the Post Office that is diagonally across I-35 from the library has significant damage.  Our local carriers have stepped up and gotten the mail out to anyplace that they can still safely deliver it.  Today that mail brought me some goodies I had ordered.  I got the new T-shirt I ordered from Listen+Breathe=Vision.  It is the same design (Blue Sweater is the title of the painting on it) as the last one I ordered, but this one is on a navy blue shirt, and it's a large instead of an extra large.  I really like this painting, and I am happy to report that the quality appears to be as high on this shirt as it is on the black one I already own.  Michael M. Ornstein is the artist. 
I also got the USB drive I ordered that has enough capacity to hold all the music I have purchased and have on this computer.  I download my purchases from Amazon to the Media Player, and they are also available to me on the Cloud Player.  I would still like to have all that music backed up somewhere, just in case.

Ralph and Julie came by after I got home from work to collect Melvin and go to their son's  house.  They are going to stay there for awhile while they figure out the next steps.  The cats are still with us, and they seem to be enjoying our house.  Miss Lulu seems the most at home, but Mr. Peabody is adapting quickly.  They didn't even freak out too much when I did some vacuuming this evening, and came back out from under the couch as soon as I stared putting the Evil Vacuum Cleaner Machine away.  I will miss having Ralph and Julie here, and I'll miss Melvin, too.  I will especially miss Julie because she won't be back at work right away, the the library doesn't seem right without her.  We always tease her that the place will fall apart without her, and you know, it would be hard to function without Julie.  She is our corporate memory, always keeping details straight, and keeping the rest of us up to speed on changes to certain procedures, and she and her sense of humor help keep the circulation staff going.  Julie was the one who spent the most time training me 14 years ago, and we have been through a lot in those years.  Parades, festivals, programs, tornadoes, spouses being ill, loss of pets, you name it. Julie and I have gone through it.  Julie and Ralph have always been there when we needed them, I am SO glad to be able to offer what help I can now when they need us.  That's what friends are for.
We also have to pay forward the help that other friends have given us over the years.  The Rosenfelds were friends in Germany who helped us a lot when we needed it, and of course, we must try to be worthy of our friends the Rogerses.  Mike and Nancy Rogers are superlative friends.  They have done so many wonderful things,not just for us, but for all their friends, that we will never be able to repay their kindness.  Being able to pass along the help and reciprocate the help you get from others is a great feeling.  I don't think I deserve any special thanks or praise for helping, after all, they do US a kindness by letting us try to show how much we appreciate them. Since we were fortunate enough to still have our house, the LEAST we can do is offer the comfort of this house to  friends who can't enjoy the comfort of their own house right now. Why else do I have this place and the stuff that makes it welcoming?  It isn't just for us, it's to share. 
I have just looked at the clock and realized that it is a good thing I am off work tomorrow.  (Or I should say, today.)
Just some rambles from the town I have grown to love.
Hope they make at least a little sense.
As Ever,
Katie

The Love Is Pouring In

"There's a crack in everything, that's how the light gets in" - Leonard Cohen


There must be a crack in Moore.  There's lots of love and light pouring in around here today.  I've been helping Julie run some errands today while Ralph is sorting through and salvaging stuff from their house.  Everywhere we went, people were happy to help.  The health department was offering free tetanus shots, so we went over there.  Turns out, Julie had already had a recent booster.  I had no idea the last time I had one, so they gave me one.  (My records are all at Tinker.)  The health department ladies all know us sort of because they used to be housed in the building right behind the library where we work.  (The police station is there now.)

We reserved a trailer for Ralph to rent at the little U-Haul place that is at the gas station I always go to.  The man there recognized me, and I told him Julie worked with me at the library.  He had a trailer the right type and size for them to use, and told them right now it is 24 hour bookings only, but that's all they need.  If they need it again, they can see if they can reserve it for another 24 hours.

Julie and I walked up to the Crest grocery store on the corner of 12th and Eastern and bought some stuff to make sandwiches for lunch.  Ralph was back over here after picking up the trailer, so we all had lunch.

Turns out, we could have just gone over to the library parking lot and gotten BBQ chicken, or a burger, or hot dog, lots and lots of good food being cooked right there at the library/community center parking lot.  We found this out when Julie and I went over to drop off the oatmeal-peanutbutter-chocolate chip cookies I made at the police station.  I told the ladies there that Ted Belling, Jerry Cambpell, and Daniel Melendez could vouch for the quality of my cookies.  They laughed.  But they gladly took the cookies.

There are organizations from all over the country here cooking hot meals for people who no longer have kitchens, landlords that have offered unoccupied properties to victims needing a place to stay, college campuses opening the recently vacated residence halls, animal welfare groups working with local vets to set up a shelter for displaced pets at the fairgrounds, so very much love.  People are not as awful as some would have us believe.  People see something like this happen, and they want to reach out, they want to help.  It is heartwarming when it is your town that needs the help.

What hurts is when the novelty wears off, but the aftereffects are still here to be dealt with.  Then, we need the folks who are willing to help rebuild, to help sort out insurance and other legal details, to advise homeowners who are most likely still overwhelmed and overtaxed.  There are local builders here in Moore who handled this before in '99 and 2003, and they are ready to do it all again. Our chamber of commerce has been through this before, too, and they have a new building because of the '99 tornado.  They are gearing up to help with FEMA and SBA paperwork, help the local businesses get the help they need.  Our library is already back open, offering a quiet place to sit and read, use the computer, find information they may need.  Heck, today my boss was offering suggestions on driving routes that would help folks get where they want to go around the damaged areas.  Our tech team has worked overtime, and just as Julie and I were leaving, internet connectivity was restored, which means we will likely be back to business as usual when I go in tomorrow at 12:30.
Our library will be there to offer whatever services, information, and comfort we can, just like we did last time.  These are our neighbors.  These are our friends.  Some of those little children who died were ones I had come up and ask me to look up their card number when they came to the library.  I will miss them. They, like most of our kids here, were polite and happy kids, fun to have around.

It is a shame, but often it takes something like this to remind us just how much we love each other.  Friends who have been there when you needed them are precious.  How much more precious it is to be able to offer the comforts we have to them when they need us.  It makes me very happy that I can do this.  I will smile a little more at the little ones who come in.  How precious it is to have those children using their library, and coming to us rather than going someplace else to "hang out" after school.  I will hug my coworkers and spoil them more because I really, really enjoy working with these people.  They are dedicated and creative, and they all love books as much as I do.

Then there is our Warren Theatre.  Bill Warren has already said the theatre will reopen on the 29th.  He'd open earlier, but there are some supplies needed to do the necessary repairs that won't be available that soon.  The Warren works with all community agencies on a regular basis, often partnering with the library to sponsor a "Big Read" movie night, when they show a movie that was made from the Big Read book, or is related to the subject of the book.
Our local Chic-Fil-A is going to reopen soon, but today they were handing out chicken sandwiches at the community center and other places around town.  They are big supporters of the library, and are always asking what they can do to help.
One of the liquor stores in town, in my opinion the best one, and the only one I shop at, Moore Liquor, has a marquee out front which is rather infamous around Oklahoma for the jokes Brian posts on it every week.  This week, because of what has happened, it is more sincere and less smart-ass.

I think he's right.  We've done this before.  It's been 14 years, and we've grown a lot since then, but we can do it again.  We can rebuild it even better than it was.  It'll take awhile, and sometimes it'll hurt, but "we'll be okay."

From Moore, America.
Katie

Deja Vu All Over Again

It is May in Central Oklahoma, and of course,we know there will be severe weather.  Our first serious brush with it was in May of 1999.  The very large tornado that cut a swath through Moore went by less than 500 yards west of us.  We had no damage, but had debris all over the house and yard, and no power.  The library was undamaged, but we lost a lot of materials that were checked out to folks who lost their homes.  That was the least of our concerns.  We had staff lose their homes.

Today, I sat hunkered in my closet again, watching it happen all over again.  This time, I think it is worse.  We have lost more people, including some precious little children at Plaza Towers Elementary.  We have lost our hospital, the Post Office is damaged, the local branch of my bank is likely gone, our fabulous movie palace, the Warren, sustained a lot of damage.  I am unsure of the fate of the Harley dealership that was next to the theater, but I think it was on the opposite side of the theater from the worst damage.
I am still in shock.  Shocked that places I loved to go are damaged, shocked that so many children at the elementary school were lost, shocked that friends have had their homes damaged or destroyed.  Absolutely shocked that all this destruction has happened again.  Not on exactly the same path as before, but close.  We were fortunate both times.  Praying that I haven't lost any friends.  Some of the young people I have worked with at the library have not checked in on social media yet.  Very afraid for one of them in particular.
Though both of our pets are now gone, we still care about the folks at our veterinarian's office, and I hope and pray they are all OK.   Of course I couldn't get through on the phone.  These people loved our pets and cried with us when we lost them.  We've been through a lot together. 

My fellow library employees all seem to be OK.  Most have checked in, and others we have heard from "through the grape vine."  Only one of our "library kids" hasn't checked in.  I am worried about her.  She's like a daughter or an extra niece.  She works at the SOKC branch now, but she grew up in  our library.  I hope she and her family are all right.

All of us at the library have been through this before.  We've been through a lot of things together, and this is another one.  We'll be OK.  We always are.  God provides.  We  take stock of what's left, and soldier on.  I have been exceptionally well blessed to not have lost my house either time.  Also lucky not to have lost my life.  We have no below ground shelter.  Just a closet, not even reinforced.  Except by fervent prayer.  I was praying for the safety of all my friends as well as myself and my house.  We have had quite enough to deal with already this year.  We could not have stood losing the house as well.  Here's hoping the storms go away and stay away for a long, long time.  Moore has MORE than paid its dues.
One thing I will say for the majority of the churches here, they truly are God's houses, and true to the teachings of Christ, they are open and offering shelter and comfort to any and all who need it.

Tuesday Morning.
Still feeling very blessed to have my house and have power.  Still feeling frustrated  by lack of water.  If we had water, we could offer even more comfort to our friends who have basically lost their house.  To make matters worse, another thunderstorm has come to dump more misery on the folks who are trying to find missing people and gather what they can of what they have left.  Our friends are bringing their animals over here so they can try to get home and see what's left.  I hope they can make it both over here and back to their house.  Both are likely tricky propositions right now.

Today continues to be an interesting adventure.  Wiping off dishes with disinfecting wipes so we can stash them in the dishwasher until water comes back.  Our voice coach delivered 5 gallons of water and several bottles of drinking water.  Still haven't heard from our friends with their pets, and now it is raining again.  God bless those trying to work to clean up and rescue and restore our poor town, and God, please, send the storms on another path.  Have mercy on our little city.  God has been merciful to us in many ways.  The loss of life is not nearly what it could have been, many of us still have our homes and workplaces, and are looking forward to being able to do more to help, once the city decides what they need us to do.
Blessings and messages of concern and hope have been coming to me from all over the world today.  I am grateful for the "friends I have never actually met" who have made getting through this easier by their supportive "presence" on social media. 
Also grateful to the local friends I HAVE met, who have checked in to tell me they are OK, see if I am OK, all those who have offered help, you are all precious to us, and we are SO glad you are all right.   Glad my "library kid" Mahlon has checked in and that she and her family are all OK.

Since I am still here, I guess there are things I still need to do on this earth.  Finding them and doing them well will be my challenge, I guess.
God bless all who live with the specter of disaster, whether recent or long past.  These things never leave you completely.  Know that we grieve with you, we hope with you, and we pray for your restoration.
As Ever,
Katie

 Some more poems.  Written just this evening as I sat here.  I am off and on helping Matt wrap the ribs he is prepping for smoking, and listening to the Wicked Tinkers in honor of Craig Ferguson's birthday, and checking Twitter and Face Book.
Promised I would keep writing, Michael. 

Enough of my randomness, here they are:





Passing Time
 C.K. Armistead 5/16/2013

And another day
Has rounded to its end.
Another week is gone,
Another month,
Another year.
And all as quietly
As a moment
Slipped away
When we weren't
Looking.
But I can't regret
A moment lost
Looking
Into your eyes
Seeing the love
And the wonder.
You teach me
How to look
How to see
What is there
To be found
In a fleeting
Moment.

Magic Things
C.K. Armistead 5/16/2013

Journeys to take
Adventures to have
Friends to make
Hurts to salve.

Thoughts to share
Rhymes to enjoy
Puzzles to dare
Strategies deploy.

Facts to learn
Feelings to understand
Passions to burn
Facts on hand.

All for yourself
Whenever you look
Upon the shelf
And take down
A Book.

Homeward
By C.K. Armistead 5/16/2013

Plaintive the cry
Moving the drum
As the piper calls
And the band moves us on.

Misty the hills
Cloaked in heather
And mystery
Drawing me.

Never have I seen
With my own eye
Scotland's hills
But yet they call.

Somewhere in me
There is a Scot
That longs once again
Those hills to see.

I only know this:
The pipes, they move
My heart with joy,
With pride.

The drums,
They move my feet.
To march on
To dance on

Homeward
To the land
I love
But have never seen.


It's In My Genes
By
C.K. Armistead
5/16/2013
So tired I can barely stand
But my feet just can't keep still
When they play the jigs and reels
I have to move!
 Like some magical drug
The sound of the pipes,
The beat of the drum
Make my heart leap!
 A typical American
Pretty much a "mutt"
But most of the mix
Is Celtic.
 Scots, Irish, Welsh
And some French.
An odd bit of English
And a German, maybe.
 But mostly Scots
And wild Irishmen
And some Welsh
For the singing.
Piper, play on
And I will follow.
And pay you well
With good whisky
And a smile.

These last two were inspired by The Wicked Tinkers and their fabulous playing.  It truly moves my soul.  (And my feet!)
 Hope you enjoyed them.

Things I Have Learned

Things my marriage has taught me:

1)  The minute you get an interview for a good job, he will get orders to move to a new duty station.

2)  There is a great deal to be said for the alone time available when the spouse is TDY.  You learn to be independent, and if you're lucky, he isn't gone all that long.

3)  Extra flight caps stored in the car are an absolute necessity.  Especially if your man leaves his on airplanes all the time.

4)  Any major appliance about to fail, or automotive or other household disaster that may be looming will wait until spouse is TDY to drop on your head.

5)  Forget wondering where the missing socks go, where the heck do the missing forks end up?  Seriously.  I don't want to be standing in the way when they show back up.  (We are down at least five forks from one set of flatware alone, and this one hasn't been involved in a PCS move, so we can't blame the packers.)

6)  The true test of a marriage is its ability to withstand the riding of a tandem bicycle.  Especially if he is a former road racer who likes to spin the pedals ALL the time.  (Also bad if he takes revenge for being tickled by running over bumps and not warning you.  If you are the stoker, on the rear seat, as I was, bumps will tend to launch you off the seat unless you know they're coming up...)
(Note, almost 30 years later, we ARE still married...)

7) Tolerance of one another's enthusiasms is a good policy.  He doesn't say much about my Beauty and the Beast fandom, and I don't say much about his Bernadette Peters obsession.  (Truth be told, I appreciate her work, too.  She is one heck of a good singer and actress.)

8) Things you can do together are important.  We both like to cook, we both sing.  Sometimes, we even collaborate on recipes and we sing duets!  (When he doesn't sing over me.  He has a very powerful and dark Baritone, I am a lyric Soprano.)

9)  Unfortunately, nagging doesn't work.  Some things he will just have to learn from difficult experience.  You are NOT his mother.

10)  No matter how bad things seem, no matter how angry you may be, never go to sleep, or let him leave on a trip without telling him you love him.  You never know.  (And you do know you love him.)  (At least, I know I love Matthew.  He's still alive, isn't he?)


Things I have learned from my job:

1)  Flexibility is necessary for growth.  That rut you like being stuck in is not good for you or anybody else.  Go with the flow, learn new ways of doing things.

2)  People will respond well to being treated with kindness and given your whole attention.  There will always be some cranky stinkers, but most people are glad to be pleasant if you are.

3)  Young people today are not as bad as you may think. In fact, many of them are stellar individuals who have an excellent work ethic, and are kind and caring human beings, too.

4)  You are only as "old" as your attitude.  You can choose to dwell in the past and be left behind, or you can learn about new technology and fit right in with today's society.  I choose to learn all I can about new technologies.  Some of them have proven fun AND useful.

5)  Library staffs run on chocolate.  (It's true.  Chocolate is absolutely necessary.)

Things I have learned from life in general:

1)  You are never as skinny as you think you are.  Always try the clothes on before you buy.

2)  If you water the garden well, it will rain for three straight days shortly thereafter.  If you DON'T water the garden, it will be hot and dry for three days straight.  Your plants will all die.

3)  A good haircut is worth what you pay for it.  Ditto for color done in a salon.

4)  You are never too old to put your favorite music on and dance like crazy around the house.  It is good therapy, and makes you feel like a teenager again - at least for awhile.

5)  Buy yourself flowers.  Most of the time, nobody else is going to, and sometimes you need that beauty. 

6)  Find something you love to do, and put your whole heart into it.  I sing.  I love it when I can stand up and bring out a sound that rings clear and true. 

7)  If you were good at something that you have given up, try it again.  You may actually find you are even better at it now.

8)  Try new things.  New foods, new ways of doing things, new authors, new activities, anything you haven't tried before.  It keeps your spirit engaged, keeps you from becoming stale.

9)  Yes, that "old lady" in the mirror is you.  No, you do not look as bad as you think you do.  Most people you see every day now do not know or do not remember how you looked at 22, so don't dwell on lost youth.

10)  Tell ALL the people you love that you love them when you have the chance.  Even if they are not family, tell them.  If you love what they do, their sense of humor, their smile, the fact that they are always where they are supposed to be when they are supposed to be there, tell them you love them for it.  There is no such thing as too much love.  Everyone you appreciate deserves to know they are appreciated.

Those of you who actually read this blog, I do appreciate you.  Those who also write, I appreciate you because I know how hard it can be to stare down a blank page.  Those of you who have inspired me, and you know who you are, (ahem, Anne Lower,  Michael M. Ornstein)  I appreciate you and I love the fact that you share your talents with the world.

Poetry Collaborations

The other day I participated in a poetry collaboration of sorts that Michael M. Ornstein started on his feed.  He invited any who wanted to do so to finish the poem.  He then posted the results.  
I am trying a similar thing on Twitter and on Face Book.  I will give it until this evening, and then I will publish the link to this blog so any interested can read the poem that happens.
Here's what we have so far... 



I started with:
Across the plains
 Behind the rains
 The air was humming
 Something is coming...

Across the grasses
 A heavy foot passes
 Sets rabbits running
 Something is coming 

 Towards the towns
 Over the ground
 Dusty and rumbling,
 Something is coming.

Liz Vargas Hambly adds
  Wind chimes knelling
Unearthly foretelling.
  Apprehension summing
...something is coming.

 Karleen ‏@GKarleen  adds

 the sun starts to set

 it will be a long night I bet

 a slight drizzle begins

 something is coming

 As of now, this is all I have received for the poem.  If anyone wants to add, please comment, or add it on Twitter (tag me - @ckarmi) or on Face Book, those of you who are my friends, just add a comment to the original post or message me.

 

Thursday Again

Thursday again, and what a difference a week makes.  Matt had the procedure to correct his heart rhythm last Thursday, and today he had his follow up with the cardiologist.  His checkup was very satisfactory.  He is doing really well, the doctor is pleased at his attitude and his progress.  This Thursday is a lot more upbeat than last Thursday.
Also, MY weight is down some more.  I have been logging on LoseIt! again, and have gotten a FitBit.  (Matt has one now, also.)  I am amazed at how much walking I actually do that previous pedometers have not recorded.  (Like all the numerous trips from one end of the house to the other putting stuff back where it goes, and going back for what I forgot, etc.)  My blood pressure is doing lots better, will probably be low normal again once I get the rest of the weight off.
This is the long day for me at the library.  I work until closing on Thursdays.  Some Thursdays are truly crazy, others are more normal.  My coworkers on Thursdays are a special bunch.  We usually have fun in spite of what else goes on.  It's my night to pick the music we listen to in the work area.  Hope my coworkers are up for Rod Stewart and the Pogues.  (The Pogues are Irish traditional music with a twist.)  Our customers are always fun.  Lots of cute kiddos yesterday afternoon.  I got to give away a bunch of stickers.

It is hoped that poetry
Will present itself once again to me
To keep the skills sharp
To keep the tune in my heart's harp.

This Thursday at least will be more normal for me.  To be at work nails down routine and gives me purpose.  Those mountains of picture books are not going to sort themselves out.  Someone has to do it.  Not to mention the backlog of Inter Library Loans that need to go home or out to customers.
I have said in the past that I forsee my death as coming at the hands of an avalanche of children's picture books.  In summer, this is not so far fetched as you might believe.  Here are a couple of pictures to illustrate, and this is not even Summer yet.

 As you can see, the majority of what is in the drop bins is children's books.  The center photo is of a very dangerous book stack made by a colleague.  This behavior almost always leads to the heartbreak of picking scattered books up off the floor.  If you are my age, that is a very difficult punishment to bear, as the floor seems harder to get up from every time I get near it.

Our shelvers have my undying admiration.  They routinely put things on very low shelves.  This is backbreaking labor, and very painstaking, especially if you are working with non-fiction children's books which must be shelved in order in our modified Dewey system.  The ordeal comes in that the books are very thin, there are literally thousands of them, and their cutter numbers wrap around the spine to the front of the book.  When your eyes are as challenged as mine, shelving in children's non fiction is a job that takes forever.  Thankfully, I don't often have to shelve. I spend most of my time checking in, answering phone calls, dealing with damaged items or missing pieces, booking meeting rooms, processing ILLs, and sorting checked in items for shelving.  I also work the Customer Service Desk, where I have the opportunity to greet and work with our wonderful customers.  Yes, most of them are pretty wonderful.  There are a few stinkers, but that is true of any group of people anywhere.  Most of our customers are friendly, polite, and patient.  They like that they can recognize some of us outside the library, out around town, because we live here, too.  They are our neighbors, and they know we'll do right by them.
Anyway, it's time I got done with this and got myself ready to go to work.  Here's hoping I survive this Thursday at the library.  I'm anxious to see how many steps the FitBit sees me taking in an eight hour work day.  Yesterday's four hours wasn't typical, because I had 2 hours in a meeting, and 2 hours at the desk.  Not my usual amount of walking, bending, lifting and stacking.

Some More Poems - Written This Evening

Cast Upon The Waters
By C.K. Armistead
5/7/13


A word awing on the ether,
A thought carried thousands of miles.
Friendship given, if you're a believer
In the beauty of Cyberspace smiles.

Shared laughter resounds on the net
Appreciation of what others have found
The best friends you've never met
Always there when you need someone around.

A song heard faintly from a distance
An image to gladden the eye
Affinities formed in an instance
A shoulder upon which to cry.

Many hide behind a mask
But others' true hearts do shine
It might be too much to ask
But I consider those true friends of mine.



Songs In The Night
By C.K. Armistead
5/7/13
As sleep eluded
The snare of my eyes
I heard the sad song
Of a train passing by.
How mournful,
How lonely
That diesel horn blew
The only one awake
For all he knew.
The evensong
Of the robin
Has long since hushed
The rushing of traffic
Quiets too.
But the winsome song
Of the diesel train
Plays on
The whole night through.


Inside My Head
By Carolyn Kay Armistead 5/7/13

The far off call of the bagpipe
Haunting and drawing me on
The words of a half forgotten song
Ringing through the fog.
The sound and smell of the ocean
The whisper of the wind.
The crunch of leaves underfoot
The warmth of sun on my skin.
The incessant murmur of the freeway
Sounds of childhood come again.
Some days I still hear the cattle
The ones from the old dairy
Lowing and crying
As the truck carried them away
Before houses were built
On their pasture.
Or I hear the goats complaining
At being left out in the rain
As I walked by their pen
At University.
How long ago that's been.
Or the calls of the bulls
On the German farm
Where we were loved like family
Only there for four years,
But they are still in our hearts.
The song of that old train
Carrying freight south in the night
Both annoying and comforting
Familiar but not taken for granted
Like the love I find around me,
In places I'd least expect.
From near and far,
Ahead of and behind me
My heart caught in its net.
All this and endless words
Running through my head.


These have been written just as I sat here at the keyboard, over perhaps the last hour.  They are not perfect, of course, but they are honest.
The pictures are just for fun.

Random Compositions Written Today

Today's Poem
C.K. Armistead, 5/6/13
(For Matthew, obviously.)

Don't you dare leave me
You have to stay
Don't you dare grieve me
My heart dies that way.
Why did you scare me?
You know I love you.
Why try to dare me
To put up with you?

You know I'm staying
I've been here so long
You know I'm not playing
I'm trying to be strong.
You've been beside me
Through loss and pain
Been there to guide me
Back through the rain.

We can't change it now
The way has been set
We made our vows
We've never broken them yet.
You must survive, Love,
Even if I do not,
You are the prize, Love
That my poor heart bought.



Time Traces
C.K. Armistead 5/6/13

Time is but a whisper,
A phantom on the wind.
You think it runs forever
But your share of it will end.
In youth it moves so slowly,
You think you've got all day.
With age it dawns abrubtly,
You've whiled it all away.

These fingers once so elegant,
Now knotted with age and bent
This jaw once firm and lovely
Now softened, hanging loosely
My eye once sharp and clear
Grows much cloudier every year
My beauty once a truth of me
Now gone with the youth of me.

But time leaves a gift in its wake
If we but look to find it
Experience profound to make
Our memories to bind it.
These hands so many things have done
This jaw set firm too many times
The love that through my years has run
Lost beauty far outshines.


Fickle Spring

C.K. Armistead 5/6/13

Ah, fickle Spring,
Though flowers do bloom
And birds do sing,
Though rabbits do ramble
And squirrels scramble bold,
Yet do you hide your warmth,
And pelt us with cold.
Cold your winds, again frae the North,
Fickle your favors to those on this Earth.



These were written in just the last little while,, as I sat here and stared at the page.  Thanks to Michael M. Ornstein, who brought up poetry on Twitter today, and got me in a poetic state of mind. 

Another Miscellaneous Saturday

Yes, this Saturday has also been a bit miscellaneous.  I am very grateful to have had this Saturday.  I will like it better when Matt is more rested and acclimated to the medications he has to take, so he can be busy, too.  He has spent the day downloading and setting up LoseIt! to help him monitor his food and exercise, and he has a diabetes helper app to help him track the blood sugar.  So far, everything seems to be  going all right.

I went for my walk, and came home and did a few miscellaneous things that needed doing, and then mowed the lawns.  When I was out front, I noticed how covered in blooms the one Simplicity pink rose by the front walk is.  Thought you should see it. 

Even before I went out to mow the lawn, I went looking for something in the side compartment of my desk.  Big mistake.  It made this lovely crapalanche for me to clean up.  Fortunately, I eventually did have a chance to sort it all out (and throw out a bunch of crap).  Below is the result of my efforts.

There is still the small matter of the phone cables that I need to get rid of.  I don't think we'll ever need them again now that we have not only cell phones, but wireless handsets for the landline.
The cables over by the wall are always a mess.  Too many extension cords because I have two printers in this room, and this computer will only talk to one of them.  Fortunately, the laptop speaks to both.

I have also gotten all the laundry done.  This happened before 10 pm.  For some reason, this is a rare occurrence lately.  Something usually happens to delay the laundry.  Not today.  All done and put away except the stuff that has to hang dry.

A little superstitious about what to wear tomorrow.  I could wear what I was going to wear last Sunday, but maybe it's not a good idea.  So much went wrong after that.  Hm.  I have to quit being so superstitious.  Real problem with wearing it this week is that it is probably too cold to wear it.  Last Sunday was lovely and sunny.  It's cloudy and COLD out there tonight.  Supposed to get up to 64 tomorrow, but that's the high, and usually shows up in the afternoon.  Sunday morning is going to be chilly.  Calls for something more substantial than the dress I had in mind.  Oh well.  This is Oklahoma in the spring.

I should also say a few words of thanks to all the friends who have reminded us of their care and concern this week.  It feels good to know we are so well loved by friends both near and far.  The words of support mean a lot.  We know you will be on this journey with us, and knowing Matt, it may well lead to some really good tasting food that is actually good for you.  Just this evening, I made an even healthier version of my chili.  It tasted really good, was only 245 calories  and 7 grams of fat per 1 cup serving.  Sodium was 464mg, carbs 27g, and protein 20.2g.  The sodium is acceptable for limited sodium diets when you consider processed foods and my usual recipe contain much more.

I hope we can modify other things to make them healthier, and we will be sharing our successful recipes, have no fear.

Time to call an end to this.  My brain is still not completely back to normal after this wild and crazy week.