Monday, September 14, 2009

Small shrine.

Here's some of my stuff. If you're me, it has a small aura of the sacred:


















This weekend, we had to have our cat put down. Only a couple of weeks ago, she was out in the field, hunting mice, looking very spry for her rather advanced age. But very suddenly, she lost weight. So we took her to the vet, she got hydrated, and we discovered that her kidneys were failing.


















We brought her home with some cans of special food, a syringe to feed her with, some medicine, lots of instructions, and many many what-if scenarios to consider. Or if this, then this scenarios.

When we woke up Sunday morning, she was hiding under a futon we have out on the enclosed porch, where we had ensconced her in a nest of toweling so she'd be comfortable. Hiding, I think, in case an enemy sensed her weakness and attacked.



















When I was little, we lived in Japan. One night we spent the night at our housekeeper's place. She had a little shrine with the picture of her father, and a small altar for an offering. I need something like that--a little dish in which to place a branch of catmint, the effigy of a mouse. A bouquet of stray bird feathers.

There's a knot right at my solar plexus that keeps coming undone when I think about her, when I go out to that porch to do a load of laundry, when I walk by the chair where she often slept, tucked into the corner of seat and back. Her dish on the floor.


12 comments:

  1. Thank you. That was wonderful. Loved the shrine.

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  2. i've just been watching season five of the closer, where kitty has to be put down. i am sorry for you and your kitty and i am sure you will find something just right for your shrine.

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  3. Lisa, I'm so sorry.

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  4. Yes, you need a shrine. I have one by my back door - a terra cotta dripper plate from a broken flowerpot where my children (still) lay their offerings: oak apple, feather, colored leaf. If I were your neighbor I would bring you one . . . or maybe this beautiful post is your tiny altar?

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  5. i miss you kitty...
    i look forward to a lovely shrine.

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  6. Oh little meow. I'm so so so sorry. I think this post is a nice shrine to your kitty too.

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  7. She was there for you and with you during so many things. Truly a great cat.

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  8. Shrines are good. I have one of sorts for my dead parents. There are some dead family pets in it too.

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  9. I'm so sorry for your loss.

    I love your household shrine. LOVE.

    Organized Chaos in it's finest. My kind of shrine. Loved your side notes.

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  10. I'm very sorry for your loss. Our dog Ru Ru passed away on my first day of teaching this semester. I didn't make it to the vet in time to spend her last moments with her, though two other family members did. It was devastating--we've had her longer than we've had our kids, and they've never known life without her. My son has recently added her photograph to his dog shrine.

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  11. I like the juxtaposition of the Tiger story and pictures of your shrines.

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