Well, That Was Easier Than I Expected

Y’all know I’m a cat lady. Kenn and I have always had a mixture of both indoor and outdoor cats. There were always a lot of un-neutered feral cats in our old neighborhood. Since we always had food out for any critter (cats, dogs, possums, whatever) that needed it, it wasn’t unusual for mama cats to bring their kittens to us to show them a food source. Over the years we socialized and spayed/neutered countless mamas and kittens. Any that wanted to make their home with us were welcome, but they had to remain outside with occasional forays inside for some.

When we moved to The Cabin several years ago, we brought three outdoor cats with us: Nellie, Marvin, and Roscoe. We “inherited” an additional one since Stumpie was already hanging around when we moved in. However, being an outdoor cat comes with any number of hazards. We lost Roscoe to a systemic infection due to an injury; he was so aloof, we didn’t even know there was a problem until it was too late. We lost both Stumpie and Marvin last summer which left Nellie as our only official outdoor cat. Over the past few months, all of the extra cats that had started hanging around have moved on with the exception of Ghost, who is getting a little braver. However, having Nellie outdoors by herself has been killing me. Girlfriend is now thirteen years old and I couldn’t help but feel that she was a little lonely without Stumpie and Marvin.

Outdoor Nellie

Our previous attempts to move Nellie indoors hadn’t gone well, so I was a little leery of trying again even though I knew the move was in her best interest. However, things came to a head last Saturday. I was petting Nellie when I noticed an issue with with her right eye; it was cloudy and slightly enlarged. A closer inspection revealed damage to the cornea so, moving her inside became paramount. After a brief discussion, Kenn positioned one of our larger pet carriers under the carport so it would be there when an opportunity presented itself. I went out and spent fifteen minutes or so petting Nellie and then picked her up. She was never thrilled about being held, but much to my surprise, she allowed it. Even more surprising, I was able to walk her over to the carrier, place her inside, and shut the door without her freaking out. As far as I am concerned, it was a miracle!

Indoor Nellie

Nellie is now sharing my office with Molly, who is both my mewse and another senior citizen. (Molly is fifteen.) Things were a little tense the first couple of days, but are going better now. Nellie went to the vet on Monday and is now receiving an antibiotic ointment on her eye twice a day. We go back to the vet next Monday to find out how we proceed. More antibiotics? Surgery? Either way, she is now indoors and safe from marauding dogs, cars, etc.

On another note, are you familiar with the Nat Geo Wild show Critter Fixers: Country Vets? Those are our vets! Dr. Hodges and Dr. Ferguson are both great, as are the other vets and techs on their team. I guess using their veterinary services is one of my brief brushes with fame. Tell me about your brushes with fame!

I Missed the Memo

Okay, y’all. What the fox is going on with gas station etiquette? Apparently a memo went out seven or eight months ago – I can’t be more specific about the time frame since I didn’t get a copy – and states that it is now socially acceptable to leave your vehicle unattended at the gas pumps while you wander inside the associated store for a shopping spree or meal. As what seems to be the lone dissenting voice crying in the wilderness, I beg you, for the love of all that’s polite… please don’t do this!

After months of frustration with getting trapped at pumps, an eye-opening conversation with our son and daughter-in-law may have shed some light on the thinking behind this “trend.” We were at dinner with the kids and venting our frustration at, once again, getting trapped behind a vehicle. The kids glanced at each other and then admitted “We do that too.” They then hurried to add, “But, only if other pumps are available.” I have to admit, I temporarily lost my power of speech, which was probably a good thing – it meant I couldn’t yell, LOL. Once I was able to form words, I explained that it’s not a matter of if any other pumps are available, it’s whether anyone can get to those pumps around you, and more importantly, can anyone behind you get out?

Image from depositphotos.com

Winding your way between vehicles “abandoned” at random gas pumps may be easy when you drive a small car; when you drive a Toyota Tundra, not so much. When said Tundra is pulling a travel trailer, even less so. Those of us driving RVs or towing travel trailers don’t have the luxury of backing up from a pump at a busy travel center, at least not without risking serious problems and possible (probable) accidents.

The worst incident was at a small travel center (I think it was a Pilot) the morning of the last leg of our trip home on our 2023 road trip. We pulled up to a pump, and there was a car at the pump ahead of us. We didn’t immediately notice that no one was pumping gas, and when we did, we just assumed they had run inside to get a receipt or something. After a few minutes, two teenagers came out of the convenience store and climbed into the back seat. Grandma then got out of the passenger seat and headed inside. Now, it takes a few minutes to fill up a thirty-eight gallon gas tank, but even after that amount of time, no driver appeared. I got out and took a picture of the license plate, intending to go inside and have the driver paged. While I was doing that, Kenn handled it with a phone call. In a few minutes, an annoyed lady walked by carrying a bag and drink from the fast food store inside the store. She seemed to be embarrassed about having been paged, but I felt no sympathy; at this point, we had been finished and unable to leave for somewhere between ten and fifteen minutes. Did Embarrassed Woman move into one of the six or more parking spaces easily available from her location? She did not. Kenn went and knocked on her window and asked her to please move as we would like to leave and had been trapped behind her car for some time. What was she doing? SHE WAS EATING HER SANDWICH. WHILE STILL SITTING AT THE 🤬 PUMP! She got huffy, but she moved.

We had a similar incident a few days ago at a small Love’s travel center. We pulled in behind a car, which I initially thought was empty, but then saw someone in the driver’s seat. We filled up and were ready to leave only to be unable to do so. Why? Rude Dude was just sitting there scrolling on his phone while there were several easily available parking spaces in front of him. Fortunately, other vehicles left the pumps next to us so we were able to do some jockeying and get around him – without hitting him with our travel trailer – but, geez. Just move your car, people!

Even though I’ve only highlighted a couple of incidents we’ve had several over the last few months. Maybe I’m too Southern for my own good, but I can’t figure out why so many (including my kids, apparently) suddenly think this behavior is okay.

Have you gotten trapped at a gas pump?

Linda Lou’s Library: The Soulwood Series by Faith Hunter

Welcome to the first edition of Linda Lou’s Library! I’m an avid reader and I have a blog, so where better to talk about the books I enjoy? I primarily read fiction; science fiction, urban fantasy, and paranormal are my favorite genres. (The primary difference between urban fantasy and paranormal is that urban fantasy includes magic, paranormal does not.) My plan is not to review books as such, I’m just going to write about the books I enjoy and why I enjoy them. The books I don’t enjoy… well, you’ll never see them here.

Faith Hunter’s Soulwood series is one of my favorites. The series is a spin-off of her Jane Yellowrock series. (Jane is a Cherokee skinwalker working as a vampire hunter in New Orleans.) Nell Nicholson Ingram is the main character in the Soulwood books and makes her first appearance in Off the Grid in the Black Water anthology of Jane Yellowrock stories.

Image from Amazon.com

Nell Nicholson Ingram was raised in a polygamous religious cult (God’s Cloud of Glory Church) and became a sister wife at age twelve. At the beginning of Blood of the Earth, the first Soulwood novel, “widder woman” Nell is dealing with the consequences of having assisted Jane Yellowrock during the events of Off the Grid. Those consequences include being hunted (literally) by the leaders of God’s Cloud of Glory Church; they want Nell’s land and to take her back to the church where she can be punished (aka raped) for her “sins.” (Her so-called sins include such things as being a woman owning land and daring to live on her own with no husband to keep her properly in line.) Nell has also realized that she is non-human, although she doesn’t know what exactly she is. She knows if the churchmen discover the truth, they will want to burn her at the stake. She finds herself working with the Psychometry Law Enforcement Division of Homeland Security or PsyLED for short. PsyLED is the arm of law enforcement responsible for investigating incidents involving witchcraft and/or paranormal beings. Working with other paranormals helps Nell to see that, whatever she is, she isn’t evil, she just is.

In addition to Nell, the primary recurring characters are the members of Unit Eighteen of PsyLED. The members of the team include:

  • Paka, an African black wereleopard shifter. Paka first appears in the Jane Yellowrock series.
  • Rick LaFleur, also an African black wereleopard shifter. Rick makes his first appearance in the Jane Yellowrock books. I do not like Rick due to his actions in the Yellowrock books. We’ll see if he can redeem himself in my eyes. So far, six Soulwood books in, he has not.
  • Occam, wereleopard shifter.
  • Tammie Laine Kent (T. Laine), moon witch.
  • Josephine Anna Jones (JoJo), human hacker.
  • Thom Andrew Dyson (Tandy), empath.
  • Soul, arcenial. Soul first appears in the Jane Yellowrock books.
  • Ayatas Firewind, Cherokee skinwalker. Ayatas first appears in the Jane Yellowrock series and is Jane’s brother. Ayatas definitely suffers from a superiority complex, but there is hope for him. By the events of book five, he is starting to work the stick out of his butt and may actually be in danger of developing a sense of humor. The changes are in large part due to Nell who has no problems telling others the things they need to hear – even, or maybe especially, when they don’t want to hear them.

Soulwood is an ongoing series. At the time of this writing there are six books available.

  • Blood of the Earth, published August 2, 2016
  • Curse on the Land, published November 1, 2016
  • Flame in the Dark, published December 5, 2017
  • Circle of the Moon, published February 26, 2019
  • Spells for the Dead, published July 28, 2020
  • Rift in the Soul, published March 5, 2024

Nell is one of my favorite characters ever. I have loved watching Nell grow from a woman living alone, traumatized by her upbringing, afraid of what she is, into an increasingly confident woman with a career and friends; a woman rebuilding her faith and her relationship with her family on her own terms. I also appreciate the fact that it is set in the Southern US. As a native Southerner, I always love a story in a familiar setting. Though, it isn’t just the setting that draws me in; the dialects and turns of phrase speak to me as well. Having someone referred to as “looking a mite peaked” brought a smile to my face; I haven’t heard that phrase in a while. (If you aren’t familiar with the meaning, it can be translated as “You’re looking a little rough… bless your heart.”) More importantly, I guess one of the biggest draws for me is that I see a lot of myself in Nell. Even though the Soulwood books are a spinoff, you do NOT need to read the Jane Yellowrock series first; the author does a wonderful job of providing the salient information without it being an information overload.

If you decide to read the Soulwood books, please stop by and let me know what you think. If you have already read the Jane Yellowrock series, the Soulwood books, or both, let me know what you think of Rick LeFleur – maybe a different perspective can change my mind about him. Maybe.

Until next installment, happy reading!