Here is the Calico that has been lurking by the creek. I finally was able to grab her up and get her out of the freezing cold. Turns out she has been chipped! Ironically, the chip comes back to me. I had her as a kitten and adopted her out to an elderly woman. The woman did not follow up with getting information transferred back to her so there is no way to contact her. It has been quite awhile, but I think I remember where she lives. I am going out this morning to see if my memory serves me correctly.

She is scared and a bit skittish with me, so hopefully, her owner is still available to take her back. If I am correct, her home is 6 miles away from here. Did she come back on her own? I don’t know, but stranger things have happened. I am just glad she is inside and warm and safe. Currently, we are sitting at 21 degrees F. We are also now sitting at 12 rescues here. One more stray Slip is still lurking in the shadows, however, this morning when I went to feed, he had straw all over his backside. This tells me he has integrated into the group and sleeping in a straw bed- instead of in the woods behind our property.

***Update:  I just got back from Priscilla’s house. There was no one home when I knocked. A neighbor came out and told me that Priscilla had passed away two weeks ago. She said when the ambulance came out, the cat ran off and she’s been looking for Bella ever since. I looked over on her front porch and saw a cat bed, and several bowls of food. I introduced myself..I told her that Bella had shown up on my property recently and that I had finally gotten a hold of her. She seemed really excited and relieved and asked if she could adopt Bella! She said that all of Priscilla’s family was gone, so if the cat did come back, they would likely take her to the pound.

So I ran home and got Smuckers/Bella and turned her over to her new home. Here’s the strange part, (not like the other part wasn’t strange) but when I got home, it was still really cold. It was 22° as I walked through the back gate into my backyard, out of the sky came all of these minuscule bubbles? I’ve never seen anything like it. I would’ve not even noticed them because they were so small, except I walked right through them. The way the sun was reflecting at the moment between the trees, I could see these clearer tiny circles coming down out of the sky. At first I thought maybe they were insect eggs or bugs? But closer examination of them, they were crystal clear and they looked like soap bubbles, only they were tiny? They didn’t last very long, just a few moments. But as I just stood there, with my hand out and watched these bubbles fall all around me, I have to say it was pretty magical. Perhaps some sort of crystallization in the clouds above, transforming into a bubble dance of some sort? Or maybe, Priscilla was sending me a message and thanking me for still caring about Smuckers? Don’t call the loony bin on me. I’m really not crazy. But it was truly a moment. I won’t soon forget.