It's December in Iowa and I sit at my computer looking out at the winter wonderland nature is creating again today with such a beautiful snow. It is one of those snows that looks like God in His Heaven has shaken the giant snowglobe of Iowa and the huge, beautiful snowflakes tumble about. Unlike a snow globe, however, these huge beautiful snowflakes will continue to accumulate, blanketing our world with a thick, and still beautiful, blanket of snow.
Friends in Virginia emailed me and noted they were thinking of us in these mid-western winter storms and noted that 'it is only mid-December with so much snow.' I have another 'take' on that: To me, it's a blessing that it is "ALREADY mid-December and we are getting so much snow." I remember winters when 'snow' began October 30th (occasionally earlier) and continued....and continued....and continued.... this year, our first heavy snow came on the second weekend in December. We've dug out from that one. And will be dug out again tonight as another 4-5?? inches continues to fall over the cats in the valley at Rustic Hollow Shelter. It IS still snowing..huge, beautiful flakes.
I am very fortunate here in our little Iowa valley to have a wonderful staff who trudge through the elements to care for the 'fur'lines at C & W. And when only a handful of our staff make it, they simply work together until they cover all of the buildings, cleaning and feeding, and caring for the cats in each building. We have five buildings now and a sixth one will be completed come spring. So, as I sat watching the first BIG Iowa snow over the weekend of December 13th, I had no 'visions of sugarplums' going through my head... just a 'vision of me going building to building tending to all the furballs alone. Needless to say, that vision was over as soon as I saw the first vehicle drive solidly into the driveway, followed by our faithful young high school lad who is our right hand man around C & W. He does all the heavy work and shoveling and is one fine worker. His name is Chad Rich and he is terrific. No one has to tell him what to do. He just gets right to it. So, when he's on site, I know the rest of my staff will be fine.
And, I have noticed they truly do not need (nor probably want) a 'supervisor' (me)to get in their way of tending to the felines....though I did come in handy last weekend when Terry's truck was running and got accidentally locked.. (no extra key at all). The wire they were using kept bending and I went to our garage and found a very thin but very sturdy metal rod and, voila, the window was opened and access to the truck was had by all. Heroin for a moment anyway... hugs all around. And then it was back to work tending to the felines needs.
I would say that cleaning in winter months and snowy days might be a futile effort in our sanctuary buildings, but my team does it for the cats. And, the signs posted on one of the doors says it all: "Life is made up of choices....Take off your boots, or MOP THE FLOOR." And, for the most part, that sign is obeyed.
And, this year, Wanda and I ARE on site on snowy days so we 'can' help out as needed. Managing the sanctuary is a full-time job that we have juggled for the past nineteen years while we worked as Publishers of our local town's newspaper. The deadlines of a newspaper, even a weekly as ours was, is grueling and demanding and it does NOT matter what kind of weather you are having, you have to meet deadlines. Well, we were fortunate to find someone to purchase our local newspaper who will keep it a separate paper for our community, and we 'retired' from the newspaper publishing business in June, 2010!! And now, we can simply stay home and watch the snow fall and work around the shelter when the snow comes. We are at our thrift shop five days a week as it helps with veterinary expenses, but, on a snowy day like today, we'd rather everyone stay home and not get out to shop... and that is usually the case. So, we have a chance to be home too now. No deadlines, no newspaper stories to cover. Just shelter business to tend to, and that, as I said, is a full-time job.
December with the Cats in the Valley also means 'Christmas is near' and the cats have a lot to look forward to at that time. But that's for another blog.
It is STILL snowing those huge, beautiful flakes. And All is well with the cats in the valley at Rustic Hollow Shelter.
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