Surprised by Light at 5:30

It reminded me of our back yard.

On my way to St. James to pray for detachment I realized I was walking under a 

canopy of lights. A bit French, a bit Italian, a bit of our backyard which always makes me smile,

 no matter what the season.

When I got home, HRH was still waiting for me, though weak. 

The vet called.  The test results were in.

I waited for the sentence.

An unexpected and unpredictable surprise--no cancer cells but BUT

a massive bacterial infection. She was as astonished as we were.

More tests tomorrow to figure out what bacteria these might be and to start the antibiotics.

It's a race against time now.

A friend prayed for a treatable diagnosis. 

I should probably trust him more from now on.

HRH Update

Her Ladyship is still in sickbay.

Taking doses of steroids and more as we wait 

for the official lab results.

She mostly sleeps, snacks a little, and gazes out the window at the birds, 

and yes, at Kittyrood.

Stay Awake

The Advent Season started very quietly last evening at the cottage.

We lit a candle. We listened to beautiful music.

We turned off Facebook.

We made soup and roasted Brussels sprouts.

We watched The Lady in the Van, which we recommend.

It was enough.

Hints of New Heavens and a New Earth

Hello, readers.  Lady Alice here.

I hope you don't mind, but the keeper will be offering her own thoughts for awhile. 

I am a bit under the weather, and am trying to marshal all my energy for healing.

I walked and walked.  And while I pondered autumn and the dance with death, 

the upstart spring kept peeking out with bright encouragement. 

The neighbors painted their door a sunny yellow.

Cherry blossoms a few months early and roses still blooming.

Rhodies and azaleas...oh my!

I know the election threw off my sense of timing, but did the plants also feel it?

However, the beauty berries showed up in a timely manner.

Behold the Days are Coming...

Hello, readers.  Lady Alice here.

I hope you don't mind, but the keeper will be offering her own thoughts for awhile on this blog.

I am a bit under the weather, and am trying to marshal all my energy for healing.

This morning I dropped off her ladyship at the vet for some serious testing.

I kept busy most of the day waiting for the vet to call back. 

And while I waited I went for a caminata, something i haven't allowed myself to do for over a month.

It was a good time to ponder the shortness of our days, 

and the terrible beauty of the ways in which we approach the completion of our lives.

Some of us become like gold and light.

Some of us are so sturdy and colorful, 

it seems we will last through winter 

and embrace the spring.

Her ladyship, Alice, is both of these. Wistful and bright in her diminishment.

And I just found some old documents from the rescue shelter--she may actually be closer to 

fifteen years old, and has probably lived 19 lives.

Happy Thanksgiving

To look at these photos you would believe our Thanksgiving was very somber.

I was in a pensive state, since I am not feeling too well.  

I think I ate too much of the albacore yesterday.

But I let her put on the party bow and I did get up to greet the guests.

I was happy to see them. 

They were not as somber as this photo below.

I had some conversation with WO about what it is like to feel sick.  He totally got me. 

JV is allergic to me, so I tried to be respectful.

After they left I did help myself to some dark meat and more albacore.

I have to fast starting at 10 PM for my ultrasound tomorrow.

St. Francis, don't forget me!

Mexico Reunion

The keeper came home late.

I wasn't that hungry, but she should still come home promptly.

It seems some friends who provided incredible hospitality were in from Puebla 

and they had a bit of a reunion with fabulous spaghetti a la mama di Carlos.

She did give me a new batch of  chopped chicken and turkey puree.And I will pick at it all night long.

Checking In

Hi, everyone.  

Thank you for all of your kind calls and notes and wishes for my health.

The keeper reads them to me. I  think they mean as much to 

 I am feeling a little lethargic and not eating as much at once.

But today I ate two jars of chicken pureed baby food, which I liked a lot.

Then the keeper poached me a new chicken breast and chopped it up.

But I watched her bring in a special turkey and a lot of other things. today.

I am planning to have quite a bit of that.

Thank you, Jesus!

Our friend Jesus came today to help clean up the leaves 

which are all down now.

Before

After

Waning Moon

It's not really a full moon, but we don't have a fancy enough camera. 

But it is truly a luna bella on a chillier night.

Health Report

The keeper came home and was especially nice to me. I wondered what was up.

It seems that she and the vet have been in conversation.

I did not pass all those tests they gave me with flying colors.

No, a few parts of me almost flunked.

Not my thyroid, not my heart, but 

my liver is failing. 

And I only drink water.

I hear there will be a pricey test to see why it's happening and

to see if they can fix it.

In the meantime, I will continue to beg for organic chicken,

chase toys in the middle of the night and sleep on her head.

I will enjoy all the time I have left.

And she best appreciate my howling presence.

!Gracias a la vida!

Super Luna!

A sight to soothe and mesmerize us!

At the end of a year of mercy....

The fence at the Nogales border

We start a new week after the chaos and shock of last week. We have much to think about. And grieve. And we all have work to do like never before. The works of mercy in this new era will not be cheap or that easy.

Our new week started this morning with a fine entrance hymn and a moving homily and after having shared the sacred meal at the table of mercy, processing out through the Holy Doors of Mercy into the city.

The entrance song set the tone: 

O shame to us 

who rest content while lust and greed for gain

In street and shop and tenement

Wring gold from human pain.

And bitter lips in blind despair cry,

" Christ has died in vain."

" Give us O God the strength to build 

the City that has stood

Too long a dream, whose laws are love, 

whose ways, the common good.

And where the shining sun becomes 

God's grace for human good."

James Martin, SJ,  passed on a little mantra last Wednesday which reminds us simply of the mandate: 

      I stand with Jesus who stands with the poor.

    I stand with Jesus who stands with all those 

    who are made to feel as if they don't belong.

I stand with Jesus who stands with 

all those who work for justice and peace.    

Coffee and Strategy

The conversation at coffee hour was lively, to say the least.

And Marcia was able to join.

Sent to the City

And they were sent to be mercy into a very wounded world.

Out To the Doors of Mercy

This afternoon the the Holy Doors of Mercy will be closed.

And the Year of Mercy will also close. 

So, today hundreds recessed out through those designated doors  to mark this ending.

The Veterinary Morning

Yesterday, I had a busy morning.
The carrier came out and I went in.
Next thing I knew we had arrived at the vet.
I can smell it a block away.
I waited patiently for the doctor to do my semiannual checkup.

I now have to take arthritis pills.
I am a little too petite, they say, especially since I am eating so well.
So they poked and prodded and took samples and then gave me a pedicure.

It was exhasuting.

Morning came. . .

.   .    . and evening followed

on the day after the election.

alternate universe

Tonight spun out of control in a surreal way.

Perhaps the morning will bring a saner perspective, or at least, hope.

A Vigil

As all the ugliness and viciousness of this electoral cycle comes to an end, at least with he ballots, they gathered to pray not for miracles but for the emergence of an era of mercy, an advent of civility.

Good words, good prayers.

But the real work is waiting already.

Moon on the eve of the election

All the Leaves are Brown

But the sky was not gray today.

And there were a stubborn few.

Rainy Sick Bay Day

Even St. Francis has a runny nose!

We have been fighting acold/sore throat/ cough/ chills for a few days now.

She keeps me up snorting and hacking.

We started with homeopathy, and now have pulled out all the stops. 

She stayed home from fun today and loaded up on every remedy imaginable.

I am suggesting that she take a nap.  It works for me.