The other day I was cleaning out bookcases when I ran across Dr. Pitcairn's "Complete Guide To Natural Health for Dogs and Cats". Those of you who knew Karen, knew how much she loved her cats. What you probably didn't know was that she doctored her pets with natural remedies. Karen was an absolute expert in herbs, and natural remedies for man and beast alike. If something natural would help us, or our pets, she would always try that first. And it usually worked. If the cat needed a vet, Karen would research which vet was the best for the particular ailment and choose the vet accordingly.
Like many of her reference books, this one is tattered, torn, marked up, underlined, highlighted, loaded with scratch paper full of notes showing what was wrong with a particular pet, and what worked and what didn't. And yes, there were "STICKY NOTES" all over the place too! We all know how much she loved to use sticky notes, don't we??
In reading her notes in the book, one thing stood out loud and clear. She kept a daily log on these pieces of paper noting how the cat was progressing during treatment. The "loud and clear" part will come as no surprise to most of you and as I was reading, I could actually hear her sweet voice: Interspersed in all the notes was a written prayer, calling on our Lord for help and guidance as she doctored her pets. There were also time of thanks to God as the cat healed from day to day. Karen lived a life of thankfulness in every situation that she found herself. That was one reason that we all loved and respected her so much.
Another reason we all loved her so much was that big, beautiful smile that she ALWAYS had on her sweet face.
Here she is holding Kunkie. Kunkie was probably her most favourite cat. We had her since we live in California and she made several trips forth and back with us. Kunkie was appropriately named because of her colouring. She looked like a skunk, thus the name..... Kunkie was a total marshmallow. Whether is was because of her nature or the way she was babied by Karen, I don't know. She layed around a lot and never got excited about much. But she was a good cat.
Kunkie lived to be 11 or 12 years old. A good long time for any cat, in my book. A testimony to a life of good care. One day I came home from the mail route and noted a sadness in the air. Kunkie had really been slowing down of late, and that morning she went to sleep and didn't wake up. Knowing how important this was to Karen, I went out to the shop and quickly put together a special coffin for Kunkie. It meant a lot to Karen to put her cat to rest properly.
Rest in peace, Kunkie.
This is Cottonwood lake just three miles north of my house. Most of the time it is like my own private lake as there are very few fishermen using this lake both in the winter and the summer.
I can hardly go fishing in Cottonwood without catching a good sized Northern Pike whether it be summer or winter. Here I am pulling one of the many Northerns through the hole in my fish house. When my kids are here in the summer time we come here in my boat. When I post photos of my grandkids fishing on Cottonwood, you'll see what I mean!
