Date of the promised final post moved to Super Bowl Sunday; Carrizo the cat
Sunday, January 12, 2014 at 6:01PM ;)
First, I must apologize. When, due to endless frustrations with my blog host, Squarespace, I ceased my regular blogging and placed this blog in basic archive status, I did promise a final post during the holiday season. When this did not happen, Wendy asked me about it in a comment. I said I would try to put that post up today.
But, the fact is, I am not ready. It is not that it is all that complicated, but there are certain pieces of information I need before I can put that post up and I have just been scattered about in too many different directions to acquire this information. I am not a well-organized person.
I still want to make the post. It is about dreams and aspirations, those held by others much younger than I, and those held by myself. The post will really have nothing to do with the Super Bowl, but the Super Bowl is where dreams long held and long struggled for come both to glorious fruition and crushing end. So it seems the appropriate day.
Also, maybe the words, "final post," are not the best to use. I do expect it to be the final post using Squarespace as a bloghost, but once I complete some major projects now before me, I intend to explore new venues to post my work online. I could wind up using this same address - if I can find a good way to import the content of this blog into it without making a total mess of it. This likely will not happen for quite some time - probably a year or more.
In the meantime, here is a glimpse of Carrizo. I know that at least a few of my readers followed me to Instagram and so know the story about how Carrizo, who just three weeks ago was living the lifestyle of a feral cat in Arizona, came to live with here with us in Wasilla. It is a story I am making into a book. If I succeed in getting it published, then you can read it in a more refined and filled out form than Instagram.
He is an excellent cat.
Reader Comments (15)
Welcome back, Bill!
I've watched Carrizo's story unfold on your Instagram page. Yes, he seems a most excellent cat!
Here's to his settling into your home with the same ease with which he stole your heart :-)
I'm so glad you are back, if even just for a short time. I miss you and hope that you find a good, new pathway to blogging one day. I hope you had a great several weeks over the holidays. My best to you, Margie, the kids, and the grandkids and all the rest of the folks you've shared with us. Best wishes, too, for good health this year.
I just spent the past hour reading about the magnificent Carrizo on Instagram (I had been going through withdrawal symptoms since I didn't realize you were posting there!). This story is so wonderful and touches my heart. I take care of a wild cat named Marmalade (I thought he was a girl when I named him...but I guess that's a name for a boy or a girl...and he doesn't seem to mind). He looks very much like Carrizo. One day about five years ago Marmalade showed up in my elderly parents' yard..hanging out near the barn on their property. He was so afraid. I would leave some food for him and he wouldn't come out and eat it until my car was out of the driveway. For over a year I would leave his food out for him, but he never showed his face. Slowly....very slowly...he started to trust me. I had never had a cat before....only dogs....and didn't anticipate how powerfully his trust would affect me. I knew it was a big deal for this wild boy who had never been around a person (he was even terrified of my fingers at first since he must have thought they were claws!) to run to me when he saw me and let me sit with him while he ate. He looks at me and slowly blinks his eyes....and I slowly blink my eyes right back. He never meowed because feral cats don't....I guess a means of protection to keep him safe from predators. But I would always meow at him. After a year or so...he tried to meow back at me....a rough sound..almost like he had been practicing to surprise me. I love him.
Now both of my parents have died and my sisters and I have to put the house on the market. In the meantime, I go over every day to take care of Marmalade (who has a pretty nice set up in the barn), but the time is coming when the house will sell, and I will have to figure out how to move him closer to me. I dream of bringing him to my house, but I have been afraid of freaking him out and trying to turn him into a house cat (in a house with a corgi). But heck....if you can bring a wild cat from Arizona to Alaska and make it work...I am starting to think I can bring Marmalade from a barn five miles away to live with me.
You don't have to publish this long comment. I just wanted you to know how much you have inspired me....and how happy I am to have discovered your story online.
My very best to you and your family.
xo Carol
Is there a link to your instagram place? As a person who is owned by a feral cat, I'm interested in reading about Carrizo. My 25 pound boy insists on sleeping on my head every night. It makes for some odd sleep positions for me as he objects to me turning over.
Happy day Bill! I just found your instagram account. Catching up. Thank goodness your photos and presence is not gone!!
My Instagram account:
http://instagram.com/billhess
Lately, it's been more about cats than anything.
Carrizo does "meow." It's a very soft "meow." He likes to engage me in conversation.
I wish he could tell me his history.
As far as blogging platforms, Wordpress has worked really well for me. I've also used Movable Type in the past but didn't like it nearly as much though I haven't used the recent veracsions of it. I have a self-hosted version that I installed myself on in my web space, but they also have a hosting service as well (which I haven't used, so I know nothing about how much it costs or what their service is like).
If at some point you'd like to test whether it's possible to import your current blog into a Wordpress install, I'd be happy to set up a temporary subdomain and install a copy of Wordpress that you could mess around with to see if the import goes smoothly. Feel free to email me if you'd like to give it a try.
Bill --
Nice to see a few words here. Makes me realize how much I miss your updates on LogBookWasilla. I wish there was a way for you to blog again sooner than a year down the road. Have you looked at WordPress? We used it at my library for a long time. It's easy, allows pictures. We used the free version. There may be a paid version with more capability. wordpress.org or wordpress.com (both)
When the time comes that I feel I can take the time, I will take a close look at Wordpress. The thought strikes me that maybe I could hire a tech expert for few hours to help me figure out how to make it do what I want it to do.
Carol,
It isn't really true that feral cats don't meow. I have captured and rescued quite a few. They meow and purr. The one I have now is so loving, and he purrs like a diesel. Although, he wasn't at all friendly in the beginning. He exacted his pound of flesh and quart of blood for awhile. However, now he is my baby, all 25 pounds of him.
Signed up on instagram so I can follow.
Well, it's Super Bowl Sunday. Keep looking for the post. Hope all is well. Doubt I will be checking during the game....from Colorado! :-)
Although I'm following you in intagram, I'm thrilled to see a new blog post. I love the picture of Carrizo and am happy to know he meows.
I love this cat. It's a great pleasure to read about him, Jim,Chicago and all of your human family on Instagram.