On My Walk Yesterday

Snow melting in the forest

 On my walk yesterday in the forest I visited my critters' graves. It is not as well cared for as it once was. My husband took good care of it, but in the last few years not so much. I guess he got tired of it. The land behind it was bought and made into a hunting camp. He does not mow the path to it anymore or go out that far now. It was promised to be sold to us but the guy who owned it, a local politician, did what all those people do. He sold it real cheap to someone else, but for us he put a high price on it thinking we would want it so bad we would pay any price. No, I refused. Now it doesn't really matter to me as I am not going to be staying.

Peaceful Forest Cemetery 

Regardless, my beloved pets, Cinders, my black cat, Pepper, my other black cat, Lil' Red and my treasured pet, Rhode Island Red hen, are all buried there. Then in 2013, Nikita, our dog and best friend in the whole world died at at age 15 and she is buried there. She still does not have a stone on her grave. The next year, 2014, Callie Cat died at age 13 and she doesn't even have a marker yet. I need to take care of those two stones this year, as soon possible.

Nutmeg

My last Siamese cat, Nutmeg, is buried in the backyard with a very nice stone, but I never got her name put on it. I would like to do that this year, if possible. She was 17 years old. She had been through a lot with me and lived in Florida when we moved there. On the road in an over-the-road truck as hubby took us on his job, we got to see the whole country. It was fun for her and me.

Cinders

In 1999 we moved here with Nutmeg, Nikita and Cinders. Cinders was a male cat that had been neutered, but he still wandered out into the forest. His hunting instinct was sharp and he always brought back something to share with Nikita. One time he went out and never came back. While he was out, I heard a gunshot and for some reason my immediate thought was, "Cinders"! Well I never saw him again. I loved him so much and looked for weeks for him. I felt so bad about losing him. I guess it was my choice to live here and that meant my pets were at risk. In my previous life, I would have never allowed them to be outdoor cats. That was my fault in moving here.

Lil' Red and Nikita were best friends

Copyright © 2018 Kathleen G. Lupole

All Photographs Copyright © 2018 Kathleen G. Lupole