The week started hot. The tomatoes are finally slowing down, as are the zucchini and patty pans. The cucumbers have bitten the dust. Eggplants are still overproducing and the peppers are still going wild. The repairman finally fixed the air conditioning in my office and the livingroom just in time for the weather to cool down. Heat and humidity slowed my production, but I finished reading all the manuscripts for my October workshop and wrote three poems this week. The poems were all written after it cooled down and the humidity dropped. Tuesday, I went onto the website of the Northeast Animal Shelter in Salem after learning from Joan Norris there would be only a male or two in the orphan kittens she was feeding. I was just curious. The NE Animal Shelter is the largest no-kill shelter in New England and indeed they are numerous kittens. I was very taken by an orange male. I downloaded their application form and persuaded Woody to try them tomorrow. We rose at 5:30 a.m and left by 7:15. We had only a couple of patches of bad traffic for a change The traffic has been visibly less this week, which makes life a bit easier for us. I was able to drive myself to my appointment with Dr. Libby, the wonderful osteopath at Outer Cape Health Services Tuesday. Anyhow, we arrived at the shelter by 10:15. The orange kitten was still there but we would have had to wait around to 4 pm and meet their vet, as there was some ongoing medical issue. We liked a couple of kittens but zoomed in on an all black fuzzy little critter. His littermates who were not black had already been adopted. Black cats are often the last to be adopted. He was not a beauty at this stage but his temperament was exactly what we were looking for: affectionate, playful and bold. We took him. He turned out to be a favorite of the staff, who said he was the most affectionate of the kittens and the sweetest. They have a very efficient and thorough adoption procedure. We took Schwartzie, whom Woody named on the way home – Schwarz, which I turned into Schwartzie. He was given a shot just before we left. He and I got into the back seat. I let him out of his carrier and he fell asleep in my arms. He slept almost all the way back. I began to worry he was too docile. Hardly a problem. As soon as the shot wore off, he began exploring. We kept him in Woody’s room for the rest of the day and night. The next morning, Mingus, who had been excited when he saw him being carried in, kept scratching at the door. We let him in, tentatively. He spent the day with Schwartzie. He was gentle with him but by evening, Mingus was worn to a frazzle and lay down and slept all evening and all night. Om the second morning here, when Woody got up half asleep to go downstairs and feed the cats and make coffee [his morning chores], Schwartzie followed him down and ate with the other cats. Xena stared at him but didn’t touch him. Willow ran away and only returned to eat after he had finished. For part of the day, we let him stay out with the other cats. Willow stared but wouldn’t come near him. Xena touched noses with him and gave a small hiss, to put him in his place. She watches him constantly. She had not been aggressive with him, has not touched him, but hisses if he gets too familiar. it’s what mother cats do to say ‘NO.’ He had trouble climbing and descending the stairs at first but by day’s end was bounding up and down them. He is somewhere between 8 and 9 weeks old. The only time we’ve dealt together with such a tiny kitten, it was Oboe who was born in my bed and had his mother Dinah to take care of him. Schwartzie is fearless. He goes up to huge Xena, like meeting T-Rex. He only startles at loud noises. He uses his box and now has started using the big cat’s boxes. He eats well, plays with anything he can, is fascinated by my computer and TV, especially football. So much action! His nickname is Dustmop because he gets under everything and his fur is all fuzzy like a small bird. He loves to climb into our laps and nap. All the cats are adjusting to him. Willow slept in my bed last night as she usually does but had not the first night Schwartzie arrived. He sleeps with Woody in a room with a closed door. We’re going out tonight after supper for poker, so we’ll shut him in his room with food and water and his litter box till we get back. I don’t want to chance leaving him alone with the big cats without us here. We’re hoping that we get rain instead of heavy winds from Hermine – on the way but how close nobody seems to know.