Jeep.

When I was young my father had a surplus army jeep that we all loved dearly. It was especially fun in the summer when the top and doors were off and we drove it out onto the beach to go fishing. It was beyond basic - the gas gauge didn't work and you had to put a stick in to check the fuel level. On chilly days warmth was provided via a piece of heater hose from under the dashboard that you stuck under your jacket. There was a piece of rope tied between the front seats that you needed to hang onto when it went around the corners to avoid being tossed out. I  often think of it as a metaphor for my childhood - hang on or fall out; it's up to you. As it rusted he replaced different parts of it with sheet metal and rivets, the tailgate fell off and was replaced with some wood. Obviously long before the days of the "safety inspection." I don't think that my parsimonious father was trying to teach us about "making do", but the lesson was absorbed all the same and I find myself strangely able to keep things working long, long after someone else has given up. All I was conscious of at the time was the wild exhilaration of feeling the wind in my hair and seeing the road whiz by through the holes in the floorboards.

Her Choice.

My cat arrived on a cold winter night in January. I got a call from the shelter asking if I could foster a mother and 4 kittens who had just been brought in. I do not know how she survived outside during that snowy, snowy winter. Yet, her kittens were in robust good health. She herself was skinny and missing patches of fur. Despite her privation she was a surprisingly picky eater and I would offer different types of food and pet her to coax her to eat. When the kittens were 8 weeks old it was time to ween them and mama went back to the shelter to be spayed and then adopted. I wrote her name on the cans of food that she preferred. Sometimes I went to the shelter in the morning before work to see her. A month later the kittens were old enough to be sent on their way in the world. We took a cute picture of them and it went up on the shelter's website - the day that they were available there was a line at the door in anticipation. Mama, however, had not been eating and was in another foster home. I got another call in March - could I take mama back for a few weeks? She was not doing well. She was down to 4 pounds when she returned to my house. As soon as she was back she began to eat; she was home. She is a delightful companion and all she wants in the world is to be in my lap. She is with me now was I write. I am amazed that this seemingly helpless creature would have the ability to find good homes for her kittens and choose the home that she wanted for herself. She reminds me every day of the possibilities in my own life.