Hello! After last week’s left turn over into the realm of the serious, I’m back to the bright side, refreshed and ready to once again spread the joy. Now, I must confess, I might be feeling a bit joyful because I just signed my eldest up for kindergarten. One down, one to go. Although, it actually makes me a little miserable that these early years are waning… OK, OK never mind. Let’s move on. I don’t have any tissues handy.
So, this week I have two good news stories to share with you. Let’s begin.
I wanted to first give a giant high-five to young Ainsley McPherson. This thoughtful lady just had her seventh birthday party and instead of presents, she asked her guests to bring money for the Cowichan branch of the BCSPCA.
“She was proudly able to raise $150 for the SPCA,” boasted her proud grandma Miriam Fry.
Way to go, Ainsley.
This next one defies all odds. And it is odd. A real double double.
It’s probably safe to say pretty much everyone knows of former long-time Duncan city councillor and current mover and shaker Sharon Jackson; apparently, too, even the gods. Or the Ministry of Magic. Or who- or whatever is up there/out there/in charge of things… (please feel free to pick the one that suits you, depending on your viewpoint. This is a judgment-free zone.)
Anyhoo the story begins when Jackson and her daughter were minding their own business watching television around 9 p.m. on Jan. 20.
If you recall that was the night of the Super Blood Wolf Moon Eclipse.
All of a sudden they heard a horrific noise. They ran outside and found an injured cat between Jackson’s home and the neighbours.
Thinking that it had perhaps been struck by a car, Jackson got on the phone and called everyone she could think of to get some veterinary help late on a Sunday night. She eventually connected with Cowichan Cat rescue and was able to meet a representative from that group at the Mill Bay Veterinary Hospital to see. Dr. Zac Waddington.
It seemed the exhausted animal knew she was in good hands.
“She was given a little oxygen mask and she used her little paws to pull it closer into her face,” Jackson noted.
After a night of sedation (for the cat not the humans), the vet was able to examine the animal. That examination revealed deep talon marks in the poor kitty’s neck.
Unbeknownst to them at the time, it appears that an owl had swooped down and scooped up the feline from who knows where and then flew between the houses, dropping the cat Harry Potter style into Jackson’s side yard.
Now, cats don’t like a lot of things. I don’t mean to be presumptuous but I’d assume being dropped from heights by a bird of prey would be one of them. No wonder it was unhappy.
Cowichan Cat Rescue is gratefully accepting donations to help pay the vet bills.
“These people perform miracles and they do need to be supported,” Jackson noted. “They get no government grants and survive on your generous donations alone.”
Cowichan Cat Rescue’s Jean Hamilton said the cat is expected to make a full recovery and is a good ambassador for being an indoor only cat.
As for Jackson, we’ll she’s got a new pet in four-month-old(ish) Hester (after Hester Prynne, from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter).
“The fact that she was ‘delivered by owl’ at the height of the dark red eclipse makes her almost magical to us,” she said. “When an owl drops a cat in your yard in the middle of the total eclipse of the Blood Moon, you keep the cat.”
