Animals - Do They Ever Forget?

I don't think so. Though I am yet to hear the full report of how it went, last weekend my parents decided to bring our cat Smokey back to our family's most sacred place, the Lake Lot (or 'Brost Post') for the first time in many years. It's been more than half a decade since little Smokey and was at the lakelot, yet from the photographs my father posted on facebook, Smokey hasn't forgotten the place one bit! She acts like a cat who is comfortable with her environment and let me tell you, this cat is not used to travelling. We hardly ever bring her anywhere. She prefers her home territory. Yet this gorgeous little feline somehow remembers the Lake Lot, even after it has been almost half her life since she was last there!



But that isn't the true phenomenon - this photo with her sitting on the rock is. To most, this rock likely just looks like a garden ornament, but hear the story behind it (or rather under) and several amazing things become apparent.



In the early hours of June 2nd, 2009. Mamma Kitty Brost, Smokey's mother, passed away and she was buried at the Lake Lot - under the very rock which Smokey is sitting on in this picture. Smokey was not at her mother's funeral. Barring possible comprehension of the english language, she had no way of knowing that this was the exact spot where her loving dam was buried, yet she reputably visited the grave frequently over the weekend. To me, it seems like she was spending time with her Mamma, just like any grieving human child would do. This behavior is simply incredible. Last year when her mother died, Smokey spent a lot of time searching for her mother, calling and calling desperately for her lifelong friend. Now she's found her. Of course there are those that would critique me for saying this, but I strongly believe without any doubt that Smokey knows exactly what is buried under that stone in the garden at the Lake Lot.

Rest in Peace Mamma Kitty. I'm so glad your daughter finally got to visit you! <3

Wild Fire

The following was written in the summer of 2009, during a wild fire which plagued the landscape near Fintry which is in my homeland of the Okanagan Valley. It's descriptive practice, which I did to remind myself of the peculiar feeling of danger and impending disaster that permeates the world at such times. If you have never been near a wild fire, perhaps from this you will feel a little of what I felt on this day of July 21st 2009 at the family Lake Lot or 'Brost Post.' The following is never before seen and was written directly from my own observations. The original title of this piece is 'What it's Like to be in the Valley of a Wild Fire.' Hopefully you enjoy.

Firstly, it doesn’t smell like smoke. The smell is more like that of a warm crisp waffle cone, a scent that isn’t menacing, yet gives one pause as they step outside. Beyond the safe confines of the trailer, garish yellow light crawls across the dry grass of the lawn, turning all the world to gold. This too, is unnatural and is everywhere, highlighting everything one can see in this colour. It turns the normally soft colour of an orange freezie almost neon as the cold sugary liquid spills onto the grass, bright against the dying blades. Beyond the shore, highlighted against the opposite shore one can clearly note what looks like mist hovering several feet off the water, but what is actually smoke. It hovers there, sinister and alien while looking down the valley, one might actually see cottony clouds of more of the gas, thick and viscous. Above, on only one side of the valley the sky is bright blue, the true colour but down the valley, towards the inferno hidden by the belching burning white gas, the sky is a yellowish sort of cream. There’s a gradient between the cream and the white, which stretches across your horizon. Finally, because it's summer it is hot, but a different kind of hot. This is a humid heat, not from the caress of the distant fire, but from the heat which bounces off the land to be deflected back down at the world by the smoky blanket. It’s an oppressive heat, which can make you sweat proficiently, even while sitting still and relaxed. It gives you cause for worry, as in the forest the animals hide or flee. They know, and distantly you do as well that danger may be coming, that you should leave this place; yet you stay anyway, because reports say the fire is too far away.