Monday, January 25, 2010

Finding Beauty in Death


I know few of you northerners had sympathy for us southerners during the cold weather at the beginning of this month, but perhaps you could dig deep and feel sorry for our plants. Most of them really suffered from the freeze, although I can't tell yet if the damage is permanent. René says this isn't the time for pruning. We're to leave everything alone and see what develops in the spring, which should be in another week or two.

In the meantime, look at how gorgeous these palms are. True, those copper fronds are probably dead, but what colors! In the sun, they're golden. In the shade, bronze. And the plant itself is still alive. I have a cactus of some sort, thanks to Vicki, that's now reddish, too, thanks to the temperature. Based on what happened to a frozen aloe a couple years ago, I think the cactus will resume its green, given time.



Now here's a picture of Silver who, despite the title, is not dead. He's an outdoor cat from down the street who occasionally takes an afternoon nap on my bed and usually shows up once a day for fish. I woke up one recent morning and opened the door to the porch. There was Silver in a chair and there -- stepping backward then -- was something slightly spongy underfoot. It was a three-legged squirrel, an apparent thank-you gift from Silver, for those soft naps and the daily Meow Mix.

The stump seemed pretty well healed, and there wasn't any blood anywhere; nor was there life. For all I know, Silver just happened upon a fresh corpse and decided to cash in on it. Well, why not?

I figured I'd pick it up like I pick up after Benji. I'd put my hand into a plastic bag, snatch up the poor squirrel, and then push the bag down off my forearm for a tidy package. Alas. I turn out to be much too squeamish for that. I couldn't stand the idea of feeling the squirrel's not yet rigid body with just the thinnest of plastic between us. I had to put on a big yellow Playtex glove and, holding four folded-over paper towels (that's eight layers now), lift the squirrel by the merest last hair on its tail, and lower it nose-first into the bag, trying very hard not to watch, yet wanting, at all costs, to have perfect aim.

Interestingly, I also had to make noises. I suppose it was just my version of whistling in the dark, but I had to make eewing and gakking sounds, and I had to gibber out loud. "Oh man. Silver. Jeeze. Thanks but really. Yuck. Ouch. What was that? Aw man."

Whenever I watch suspense movies, I picture myself in her -- always her -- shoes, and I know I could never keep my mouth shut while the demented stalker searches for me, muttering and panting while he tosses his knife from one scarred, rough hand to the other. I could tolerate about four seconds of hiding behind a post in a midnight parking garage before I'd burst into the open, hands in the air, shrieking, "Here I am! Here I am!"

I was going to take a picture of the dead squirrel but decided against it, even though it wasn't especially disturbing. (You're welcome, flahoos.) Instead, I'll include a picture of its initial resting place, a sort of funeral parlor. Or maybe this is the critter version of the Catholic Purgatory (assuming they've still held onto that little bit of dogma). Here's where the squirrel waits until it ascends into that Great Landfill in the Sky.


Two friends later told me I should've put the body in a public waste basket, like at Walgreens or by the Beach Bazaar downtown. That way, it would be taken away the very same day, instead of having to wait the whole weekend for Pickup Monday. So that's the Body Disposal Tip for today. You're welcome.


9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I guess it takes an artist's eye; it was pleasant to learn that someone besides me sees the beauty in the de-greening of our neighborhoods. I am reminded of autumn in the north; just as our growing season, and State Fair, come at a different time of year --different from Wisconsin and Illinois, I mean -- so also, while spring will soon be approaching there, we're seeing fall colors here. As for the squirrel -- I've had many years of living with cats, and several years as a biology major (which included a number of dissections, one of which was a cat), so I'm less squeamish about disposing of the remains of critters whose spirit has passed on. (And yes, I do believe they're endowed with spirits too.) -- Eunice

Anonymous said...

Yeah, my yard is brown and all that work I did last year has to be repeated. As for the squirrel, I'm glad it was dead. I picked up a dead squirrel once and it came back to life. I guess it had bumped its head and was unconscious. Never do that again.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, my yard is brown and all that work I did last year has to be repeated. As for the squirrel, I'm glad it was dead. I picked up a dead squirrel once and it came back to life. I guess it had bumped its head and was unconscious. Never do that again.

flahoos said...

Free pruning tips from Rene, an offering from Silver, handy tips on disposing of the offering...you have an amazing wealth of friendship, BN!
I keep hotdog tongs with my gardening tools for disposal of icky things, by the way.
I recently finished reading "The #1 Ladies Detective Agency" by the way, and thank you thank you for the tip, I absolutely loved it.

flahoos said...

By the way, the fact that I used "by the way" twice in close succession appalls me by the way.

Barbara said...

I absolutely share the anguish of flahoos. It's like I use ONE mindless word or phrase ONE time, and suddenly I'm using it THRICE without even noticing. If it takes me X-time to write a blog, it takes me 2X to proof the thing, and even so ...

Yeah. I love Alexander McCall Smith. A photograph in Scotland who took Smith's photo for a book jacket is now my Facebook Friend!

Diane said...

I wonder if it is legal to dispose of the squirrel in our garbage cans. Did you hear on the news a couple weeks ago that it is illegal to throw away dead fish? Remember those fish that died during the freeze.The news said the only legal way to dispose of the dead fish is to bury them.

Barbara said...

Oh, I doubt very much that it's legal but, um, I don't seem to care much about that. I actually thought it was illegal to bury a pet. And maybe it is. Maybe the Animal Cremation Lobby made it so.

I didn't hear about burying fish, but I DO avoid The Media ...

R U Bourd said...

I have a pending photo shoot of the freeze damage. Maybe later today. As to the suspense movies, perhaps you can consider... well this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmLxWXJkq1c