Wednesday, October 29, 2008

I'm back -- sorry I was gone for so long and silent

I want to thank the people who looked for me and got in touch during this hiatus. It started because I couldn’t stand to read one more word about the American Presidential election or about Lambeth. Just wore me out.

And then it continued when I found out on September 11th that I’d be leaving for Texas on the 27th. I didn’t have a passport, I didn’t have a driver’s licence or a learner’s permit, I had one week’s vacation left at work and I was going for a month. I got everything I needed. You can pay $30 extra in Canada and get your passport in less than 10 business days – they have it the day before your trip, and you have to take proof you’re leaving. I went straight from picking up the passport when the office opened at 8:30 on the 25th to write the test for the learner’s permit. Found out the 5:00 a.m. bus from Hamilton to Buffalo Airport only runs weekdays, so I left at 7:30 Friday night and sat up overnight in the airport. Took three planes to Tyler the next day. We had wireless there, but it was slow, and we were busy.

It was a HUGE culture shock. I will write more about it. I wrote down about some of it as it was happening, and I’ll reproduce here, with some pictures. While I was there, I learned to drive a pick-up truck without hitting anything; I learned why I need to be able to shoot something sometimes, and how to do it – with long guns and a lot of time, anyway, I can hit the target pretty well. With handguns, I anticipate the recoil and move and miss the page altogether. I can go out the back and poke through the metal collection and do something. Removing rust from sewing machine treadles with a wire wheel is VERY good for some kinds of frustration – if you don’t give the project 100% of your attention, you get hurt. I learned how to cut up railroad spikes, old files, and hardware cloth with a chop saw and a plasma cutter, and to put them back together different with a MIG welder – that was lots of fun.

And there was a 12-day old kitten whose mother abandoned him three days before I got there, who was being fed with an eye-dropper. I took that task on gladly. I fed with an eye-dropper and later with a baby bottle. I carried him outside and showed him how to dig little holes in the sand, and applied warm water while I held him over the hole til he peed in it, then told him how good he was. He started eating solid food three days before I came back. His name is Yeshua – when he woke up he was so hungry, he hollered and the walls of Jericho could come tumblin’ down, and almost all the other cats have Hebrew names, so so does he. I’ll post some pictures from the time I was there, and I’ll keep getting some and post them from time to time too.

Let’s see. I got scratched when we went for a hike through a thorny forest and I was wearing shorts. I stepped on a fire ant nest and got stung on the ankle. Got ringworm from the kitten. He’d hold the back of my hand for dear life when he was sucking the eyedropper, and I expected scars, cuz he always got the same place. But I didn’t scar. Took off skin and fingernails on the afore-mentioned wire wheel. Got burns on my arms from the welding, and once a big coal fell inside my sneaker and burnt the same foot I got stung on. And when Yeshua learned he could climb up pant legs, it didn’t occur to him that he shouldn’t climb my legs cuz I was wearing shorts. I’d be cutting up vegetables with the kitten hanging off my bare knee. Those are the marks on the outside. On the inside, I’m a whole new person.

Gotta go out tonight. I’ll post some of the other stuff on Friday or Saturday. Thanks again to everyone.

10 comments:

Fran said...

YOU ARE BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have missed you so.

And so many adventures for you... amazing!!

Kate Morningstar said...

You're ALWAYS the first, Fran!!! I've missed you too.

Yeah, I'm back, and I'm so sorry I took off for so long and didn't leave any details. At least it was life getting in the way, and not melancholy. More on the weekend.

Jan said...

I'm so glad you're back. Thanks for the message on my blog about your return. Sorry we couldn't get together in this big state. I'm amazed and glad that Texas helped you rejuvenate yourself!

Sherry Pasquarello said...

i am so glad you are back.

Kate Morningstar said...

Jan, I'll be back in 2009, and I'll have my own driver's licence and vehicle, which means I'll be able to go places and do things on my own. No way I'll miss coming to see you in Corpus!!

And Sherry, thanks for stopping by too. It's good to be back here with you all.

Unknown said...

Kate,
Great to have you back. But I must have missed a post along the way that explains why you went to Texas.

Whatever the reason, it sounds like you did some interesting things.

Kate Morningstar said...

You haven't missed anything yet, Pagan -- I still have to tell why I went. But I will. It was an adventure.

grace said...

Intrigued! Looking forward to hearing the story. Have you still got the kitten?

Doorman-Priest said...

Good to hear the catch-up. Was wondering.....

Kate Morningstar said...

Thanks, Grace -- the kitten's still in Texas, and I get regular baby pictures and reports.

And thank you too, D-P -- there's more catch-up on the way.