On a warm and snowy day, I eat at Family, get barked at, pass by Wasilla's Hall of Wisdom and receive a generous offer to help Royce

During my all too brief meagre hours in bed, I kept looking forward to getting up and heading to Mat-Su Valley Family Restaurant for breakfast. I had made up my mind before going to bed that this was what I would do and I was excited about it.

That doesn't mean that I popped right out of bed. I don't think that I have been to bed before 3:00 AM since Margie left for Arizona and sometimes not until 4:00 or after. And then I always lay awake for at least an hour, after which I wake up frequently through the night. So I wasn't popping out of bed for anything - not even breakfast at Family Restaurant.

But, at about 9:30, I carefully extracted myself from the quilt of cats that weighed down the blankets that covered me, took care of a few tasks, including some in this computer, and then headed over about 10:40 or so.

I got a new waitress, a woman who I do not recall seeing before, but she was good. She made sure the hashbrowns were done just right, and she took her time pouring the coffee, because one thing about this new little Canon s90 pocket camera - it is very slow to turn on and prepare. That's why she took her time, so I could get this picture.

I truly appreciate it.

Now I back up a few minutes, as I drive over, just to show you that it was a warm and snowy day - the first snow since before Christmas. Here I am, stopped at a stoplight, as this guy in front of me runs a green light.

One more shot from Family.

On my walk, Tequila came running, barking, growling, through the new snow.

Of course I know that she is a nice dog and does not mean any of it, but she forgets that I know. Or maybe she thinks that she can fool me this time into thinking that she really is mean.

Uh, oh! She gets bogged down in the new snow.

Oh, dear...

It's a humiliating thing for a nice dog who is trying to convince you that she really is mean and nasty to get bogged down in the new snow.

An empty school bus passes by King's Chapel, across the street from Metro Cafe. Well, if its empty, Bill then who is driving it?

I had a haircut scheduled for 4:15. I did not want to get a haircut at 4:15, but that was the only time available, the scheduler told me.

Along the way, I passed this hitchhiker. See that place behind him? The Mug Shot Saloon? You are probably already familiar with it - at least from the inside. As everyone knows, the national media all descended upon Wasilla after John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his VP running mate.

Invariably, it seemed, the media always wound up here, inside the Mug Shot Saloon, seeking local wisdom, asking intelligent, probing, incisive questions to highly knowledgeable, clear-headed, sharp-minded individuals. They then dispensed this wisdom and knowledge upon the rest of the nation. Yes, they saw the Mugshot Saloon as Wasilla's Grand Hall of Wisdom and so came by to see how much of that wisdom they could soak up themselves.

After the haircut, an experience that I will not bother to describe, I went to the bank to transfer money from our business account to the personal account. It was a most discouraging experience - but I remain optimistic.

Now, I hardly know what to write, even though I have been thinking about it on and off for hours. In the comments to yesterday's post there is a message from Funny Face - the same generous person who surprised me with two gift cards to Metro Cafe.

After she read about Royce's trip to the vet, she offered to start up a little fund-raising effort to pay Royce's vet bills.

I am deeply touched and moved not only that she thought of this and even called the vet clinic, but that she got positive response - even from Mocha, who just lost a cat. I never imagined anything like this happening.

I did not respond right away because I had to think about it and I had to consult both with Melanie in Anchorage and Margie in Arizona. 

Royce came to us in December of 1994 through a stray cat that followed Rex home and then camped out with us for a couple of years. By the time Royce was born, we had already had a house full of cats and so we determined that we would give away his entire litter of four. One, a black cat, went to friend of Jacob's named Angel and she named it "Little Guy." Angel lives in Phoenix now, Little Guy still with her, and she often leaves comments on this blog.

Melanie fell in love with Royce. When we told her that too many cats already lived in the house, along with the dog Willow, and that the orange kitten just had to go, she was crestfallen but tried to be brave.

One day, a woman who had seen one of the ads I put out called and told me that she wanted an orange kitten. "Is the orange one still available?" she asked.

I was just about to say "yes," but then I spotted Melanie and Royce, snuggled up together, loving each other.

"No," I said, "I'm sorry, but the orange kitten has been claimed."

Melanie grew up, went off to college, got two new cats and now the three of them live together in Anchorage with Charlie and his cat Epizzles, or "Poof" as regular visitors, but she still loves Royce as dearly as she did when she lived in this house with him.

So I had to get her input. "I want to pay for his care, Dad," she told me.

I also talked to Margie. She noted that, sooner or later, after every natural disaster of major proportions, stories come out about animals in need of rescue. Margie suggested that Haiti might be a good place for the contributions that would go to Royce to be sent.

I am greatly touched. Part of this is probably also a desire to help me with this blog, something that a number of posters have expressed a desire to do.

Sooner or later, hopefully in February, (although I had once planned to do it in October, then November, then December...) I plan to restructure this blog a bit. One of the things that I plan to do is to create a store where I can make prints available. Then, anyone who wants to help will be able to do so and get a print, too.

Funny Face, I thank you, greatly.

And be assured - Royce will be in at least one of those prints, along with Kalib.

I expect to see Kalib tomorrow. So he will be in this blog again.

Comments

[mocha]

Wonderful idea about a store! You know Bill, what I would love love love is if you had some little 5x7 softcover books of some of your everyday, around-town pictures. I was laughing when I read today's post and saw the picture of the lady pouring coffee and thought, I could enjoy a book of pictures about Coffee! Why? I don't know, but I enjoy your pictures and your narrative immensely. In the meantime, I will make a donation in Royce's name to Doctors Without Borders, and when I see something about animal rescue in Haiti, I'll post it here.
(((Royce, Bill, Melanie, Margie)))

[pvaz]

why aren't you banking at a small bank?

[AkMom]

Awesome idea about the store. I will definitely buy a print or two......or 3 or 4 or.....

[Rocksee]

Mr. Hess I am STOKED that you are going to have a store with your prints. I LOVE THEM. They are everything about Alaska that is good and honest. I can't wait.

Margie is a good woman. I am going to see where I can go donate!

[dahli22]

bill have you ever looked into print on demand services? i used one called CreateSpace @ www.createspace.com....i was blown away by how inexpensive a full color, full bleed book was (we did one with 150 pages full color all photos, 8.25x8.25 inches...one book costs $11...we mark it up from there). they have a lot of sizes to choose from. anyway, just a thought that occurred to me when i read mocha's comment.

[Ash]

Loved the story about how Royce joined the family.. :)

[debby]

I can't wait to see this project take off! I cannot wait to see what prints you decide to offer.

I am glad you are generous. Here's a challenge for everyone. Money is tight, but how about sitting down, wrapping your spare change tonight, and donating that money to Haiti. If every single person in the world did that, well, the possibilities are endless.

PS I laughed out loud at Wasilla's Hall of Wisdom. That is priceless.

[Funny Face]

Well, you did it again! You managed to make our household laugh and cry.

Thank you for the touching Royce/Melanie background story. Amazingly THEIR story was like reading My story..exactly parallels what happened to me, but sadly mine did not have the same outcome. My beloved kitten was given to a shelter and her brother & sister together were adopted by a family acquaintance. The Mom cat continued to live with us for may more years. It has been forty + years, and it still makes me sad today. Melanie is so lucky to have a sensitive dad like yourself. Royce is HER cat......I thought he was yours.....I UNDERSTAND.

God bless you, your family and beloved pets. The character and integrity that you and your family exhibit is exactly why I continue to visit your blog daily.

[Suji]

I deeply pray for Royce to recover. It pains to just read about Royce so I know how bad it will be for Melanie and you. BDW I am all excited about Print offers :) Kalib would definitely be the first print I would want!
I cant just explain how addicted I am getting to your blogs..and I reallly wished and told Manu that once in my life I will visit Wasilla...atleast after my retirement, once I save enough money! I am in love with Wasilla only because of your narration about the life and weather and eat outs and everything else in that place. Love you all .Keep smiling.

[KarenJ]

Have you had the results of the blood tests reported to you yet, Bill?

I hope the vet has good news, and some answers about how to go forward with Royce's care.

[Ruth Z Deming]

i can visualize hanging up some of your whaling pictures in my purple-walled living room. i ain't got much money but i can always spring for a beautiful B&W print. or two. or three.

[Wasilla, Alaska, by 300]

Mocha: That's a really neat idea! As I drove into Anchorage today, thanks to you, I was actually composing text for such a book in my head.

Pvaz - That's a nice, righteous, question. Well, we began banking at United Bank of Alaska, which was a small bank. It got ate up and bought up by another small bank, albeit a little bit less small. That bank then got bought out by a still another bank, bigger yet but still small. And then that bank got bought out by Wells Fargo. And I, who travel a great deal, discovered that wherever I went in the US, from Barrow to Seattle, to San Francisco to New York to Washington, DC., Wells Fargo was right there and it made banking easier and cheaper for me.

AkMom - How about three dozen?

Rocksee - I appreciate the encouragement.

dahli - I have been thinking about such services, but have not done any depth exploration. This is the first that I have createspace. That is, without a doubt, the lowest price that I have seen. When time allows, I will check them out.

Ash... I will tell Royce.

Debby - Yes. Everybody. Let's do it!

Funny Face - I am very glad that you understand. And I remain touched by your generous gesture. I will be sure Melanie knows how your stories parallel each other.

Suji - Each time I see your name in here, it gives me joy. All my family that you see here are your family, just as your family is mine. I hope you and Manu got to do some good cuddling!

Karenj - I got the report on my way to Anchorage today. Thyroid, all right, as reported in my Saturday post.

Ruth - That will be good.