Silent Evening:

A Vignette by Deborah Niven

The silent evening brings peace; the silent evening helps me gather my thoughts. There is tranquility in the silent evening.

The oven door is cracked open enabling the last vestiges of heat to waft out, bringing welcome warmth to the chilly nightfall. The left-over smell of fresh biscuits hangs in the air.

I hear the clock ticking. It is a calming sound transporting me back to the long ago evenings of my childhood. Tick-tock, tick-tock, I am wrapped in warm blankets listening to the night; I am 10 years old. The old clock in the living room ticks away and I drift off to sleep. 

March 30.....

New posts in "Teaser Tuesdays" and "Book Reviews", too!! :)

 Alma 60:13

"For the Lord suffereth the righteous to be slain that his justice and judgment  may come upon the wicked; therefore ye need not suppose that the righteous are lost because they are slain; but behold, they do enter into the rest of the Lord their God."

Rip Charlie and Braden
The only thing that can comfort after hearing of the horror of a father killing his children is the Savior's love and our hope for a better future where things like that do not happen.

Margaret Atwood Interview

Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid’s Tale was recently interviewed and the interview was posted in the Kindle Daily Post. I’ve read The Handmaid’s Tale and it was interesting, revealing, disturbing, and is a dystopian story worth pondering and discussing.

(Atwood speaking) “Right now…The Handmaid’s Tale…is resonating.  

                                  How does it feel to be so prescient, people ask?”

“The future is like the afterlife; no one can actually go there and return. So I can’t predict the future; it just looks like that sometimes. I don’t stargaze; I read the newspapers. And the magazines. And the blogs. They don’t tell me the future, either, but from them I can gather bits and pieces that might be fitted together into something fictional but plausible.”

In speaking about her new short story I’m Starved for You, which takes place in the fictional town of Consilience, she adds, “…All the equipment needed is already with us…We are probably the most spied upon generation in history, and the future world of Consilience is no exception….What do they read in Consilience? Because above all else, any self-respecting controlled society wants to control your mind…”

“Well, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is that, for obvious reasons, the citizens of Consilience don’t have access to the Internet…The good news is that you do. Or you wouldn’t be reading this.”

Interview with Margaret Atwood, author of the internationally best-selling novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” as well as forty other books of fiction and non-fiction.

Belle Cat!

I’ve decided I’m sick of the winter and ready for spring! It’s been so gloomy lately I need to see some sun! It seems it is sunny when I have to work and am stuck in the windowless lab at the hospital for 10 hour stretches and overcast when I am off. I was able to walk the dogs twice last time I was off, but this time there has been snow and wind, brrr and grrr.

My laptop memory is full and I’ve had to remove a bunch of files to storage devices and

I have been madly making CD’s of my audio books and podcasts and then I delete them to free up some space.

We’ve been dealing with a very sick cat lately and on Weds. She left her broken physical body behind and moved on to another plane. We miss her but know it is better for her now. I’ve been reading a book called The Pet Psychic by Sonja Fitzpatrick and the chapter about losing a pet has been really comforting to me.

Belle sitting on a bag.

One thing I did not want to deal with was the fact that she was dying and would most likely need to be put down. I couldn’t face it and tried to ignore it, I hoped she would die on her own, but our kitty turned into a bag of bones, she was barely coherent and would not eat or drink for weeks. It was hard to face it that the time had come to make that horrible decision. Yes that hard decision was made and I still questioned it but right after her passing I felt a great peace. As I hugged her soft fur I knew that was what she needed, permission to go. Her humans were just hanging on and she did not want to disappoint us. She was one of the best cats we’ve ever had. In remembrance of our lovely Belle, I’ll tell her story…You are free now beautiful one, and I will look forward to meeting you again one day when I make that inevitable transition in my own life some day. 

Belle was thrust upon a relative by her first owner who was moving and did not want to take her with them to their new home. She was a youth at the time, full grown but not very old. She had been declawed, and was a common domestic black and white short hair cat. The relative did not really want her. They had her live outside and were not very diligent in caring for her. We lived next door. Our family was animal lovers and we had two cats of our own. The cats had nice accommodations in our garage along with lots of love, safety at night, and fresh food and water. Belle decided to live in our garage along with our other cats. She chose to stay there. (The Pet Psychic says that animals can tell if humans are animal lovers and will come to your house as a result. Over the years we had several cats adopt us and decide to live with us at that house.) We did not really mind Belle joining us because she was a good natured and loveable cat.

Belle keeping little Brianna company

The time came for us to move to a new town and we wondered whether we should take Belle with us. She was technically not ours but we had been caring for her and she had lived in our garage for a few years by then. We could not just leave her, especially since the neighbor did not really want her anyway. We took her and our other remaining cat, Carl, with us when we moved and we have enjoyed another 12 years with Belle since then. Not really knowing how old she was, but adding up the time she had lived with us she was about 15 years old.

Belle on the side cuddling with Jazzmin the chihuahua and a new kitten, Mr. Titus in the middle.

Belle had her unique quirks as a kitty, she loved being brushed, was a good purr machine, loved sitting on plastic bags, and loved sitting on top of our son’s back when he lay on the floor. She would tell you of her love by nibbling on your head while she sat up on the back of the couch. In her later years she rarely even left the back yard preferring to sun her self on the deck, but occasionally she would wander and taste the grass. Once in her more adventurous wandering she got a foxtail grass stuck in her eye. After having the foxtail removed, the eye unfortunately ulcerated and eventually was at the bursting point from infection. She then became our ‘pirate cat’ with only one eye after the vet operated on her. She was so energetic and had a new lease on life after that, in spite of being a senior cat. She had nicknames- one being ‘Blubber Cat’ because she was so fat and well fed at one time her belly nearly dragged on the floor. I will always have fond memories of sharing a part of our lives with our kitty, Belle.