THE PATIENT PROGRESSION OF A YELLOW HARD HAT

THE PATIENT PROGRESSION OF A YELLOW HARD HAT 

THE PEACE PARK CATS part 7

For weeks the old professor cooked lots of food for the Peace Park Cats and Mr. and Mrs. Butcher were busy every day chopping up beef cubes at 11 a.m.  The old professor was going away for one whole month and she worried a lot about the Peace Park Cats (and kittens) hoping they would survive well without her.

The old professor packed her Yellow Hard Hat, her field equipment for measuring, her field clothes and a dress as she was going to Scotland to measure some old houses for A Project.

Early in the morning she dressed and put on her boots and took two bags to the airport at Trieste and caught a plane, first to London and then to Glasgow where she had a very interesting weekend with the Given Family.  They went to the forest Park through tree tunnels and the old professor went to church on Sunday where the music was most beautiful, and to a special Tea House for lunch and it was all very relaxing.

Then she caught a train to Fort William and a bus to Strontian which had to go on a ferry (the old professor had not been in a bus on a ferry before so it was an exciting experience), then the bus drove off the ferry and around the long loch to a very beautiful village called Strontian where the old professor was going to stay some days in the Hotel.  While she waited for the Hotel to open the old professor went to the Post Office to ask if there was someone in the village who knew about History. Immediately the Postmistress wrote down Mr. George Fox’s telephone number and gave it to the old professor who was so happy she purchased several post cards and stamps.

At four o’clock the Hotel opened and the old professor asked James, the proprietor, about phoning Mr. Fox. James laughed and said Mr. Fox came to the Hotel every evening and she could meet him then.

So the old professor moved into her room that had a nice view of the oak wood at the back, she had a shower and something to eat and went to wait for Mr. Fox.  They had a very long conversation and Mr. Fox said he would call his friend Mr. Kirby and let James know the result. “Goodness” thought the old professor, “how helpful and kind everyone is”.

At breakfast time James told the old professor that Mr. Jim Kirby would come at 10 a.m. this morning. And he did.  The old professor showed him photos of the saltings and he showed her his book of names and some archaeological reports.  They talked nearly all morning but it was most interesting.

The old professor went to the Tourist Office and bought two new maps and then started to walk to Ariundle Oakwood National Nature Reserve where there were old croft houses.  And she walked and walked, and cross a small river that had a sign about fish – brown trout, sea trout and salmon were in the stream which flowed into Loch Sunart which is a sea loch.  On and on walked the old professor and she eventually found a lot of stone cairns with bracken growing on top. Nearby there was a burn and across the flat land she could clearly see long rigs where crops had been grown in the past.

By now her field bag felt very heavy so she left it by the track and walked further only taking her camera.  High on a small hill she found what looked very like several old cottages, but it was late in the day, no one knew where she was and the ground was very rough.  Sadly the old professor walked back and picked up her bag.  When the path divided she took the left hand track called “Fairy Road” thinking she might see something else useful to measure, but Fairy Road went uphill and down hill, across wee burns and the old professor thought the fairies were putting rocks in her field bag.

At the top of one hill she decided to stop for a short rest and it was beginning to rain. There on the path by a stone were two small field mice trying to find shelter.  The old professor could see they were very young and she should not touch them or frighten them.  Carefully she looked around and found a broken branch from a birch tree. She broke it into two short pieces and carefully covered the infant mice so they were protected from the rain and predators, and she was hopeful that their parents might find them very soon.

The old professor was very tired indeed when she reached the Hotel. “I do hope tomorrow is more successful” she thought.

In the morning the old professor went to the Library to photocopy all the papers Mr. Kirby had lent her.  Then she set off for Ranachan Stor (which was the hilly bit).  On the way she stopped at the homestead to introduce herself and was told which gate to go through.  The hill wasn’t very high and the old professor could see the croft clearly (sometimes) but the bracken was taller than she was. Anyone passing in a car would only see a yellow hard hat bobbing slowing up the hill in a sea of bracken.  But eventually the old professor arrived and the view was very good indeed. Then she measured the inside wall, and how thick the walls were, and wrote down all the different plants growing inside the old house and found some violets by the doorway which made her a little sad for the lady who once lived high up on the hill with the little burn nearby and the beautiful view of the loch.  Then back to the Hotel she went for a shower and dinner.

The next day the old professor went to Ranachan Mor with Mr. Kirby’s map and she found a lot of creel platforms that he had talked of but nothing to measure.  The Mor was also very marshy and the old professor encountered Midges for the first time.  They seemed to enjoy munching her arms and neck, face, ears and eyes very much.

All day the old professor walked Ranachan Mor without finding a croft to record. She was very disappointed on the walk back.

The next morning while in the Library she talked to Helen who suggested Aoineadh Mor in the forest.  It was sign posted for tourists and the old professor thought that might make it unsuitable but she would think about it.

During the day she moved from the Hotel to the Ben View, and wrote a lot of notes and thought a lot about what to do next.

Early the next morning she set out for Ranachan one last time.  She found the cottage hidden by trees but not how to get there. Down the long straight section of road she walked until there was a hole in the fence where a gate had been lost.  Gradually she found that through the marsh and the bracken there ran a fox path and she followed it carefully until she fell into a dry burn full of dead brambles. “Ouch!” said the old professor but she was nearly at the cottage so she went on.  What a Midge, tick ridden place it was but she needed to record it carefully so for an hour she measured and photographed and wrote notes. Then, how to get back?  The old professor could see a telegraph pole by the road side but between her and the telegraph pole there were many brambles and tall bracken.  Using her field bag as a weight she pushed the brambles down and slowly, very slowly indeed reached the telegraph pole and the road. What a mess the old professor looked, scratched and bug bitten but happier than for a little while.

After lunch Helen drove her to Loch Arienas where there was a car park and from there she walked “Mary’s Path” to site of Aoineadh Mor.  It was perfect for recording, so she began busily.  Helen said she would pick her up in the car park at 6.30.

All afternoon the old professor measured the houses, took photographs and wrote notes.  At last she had discovered exactly the right place for her research.  At 5.50 she packed up her field bag and walked slowly down Mary’s Path to the car park and had a little rest while she waited for Helen.

That night she had a long, long soak in a hot bath but in the morning she didn’t feel very well so she had another before breakfast. And Goodness, she found she had very many ticks on her body.  In her sponge bag she had packed some disinfectant and she splashed it over the places where the ticks were (and she made a mess in the bathroom which took a while to clean up).  After breakfast she was able to dig most of the ticks out but she still didn’t feel very well. So that day she had a rest day and tried to find a taxi to take her to Aoineadh Mor tomorrow.

In the evening a kind man phoned to say he could take her at 9 o’clock the next day. And that is what happened.  The yellow hard hat went down Mary’s Path again and all the houses with two adjacent walls and a doorway were recorded.  The old professor was very happy indeed because the next day she would leave the friendly village of Strontian.

One Monday not long after a familiar basket came back to the Peace Park.  Buttercup noticed first, then Shadow and a very thin Tansy.  The old professor put two bowls of food under the May bushes.

The next day all the cats came, even Misty and the old professor was very glad indeed that the Peace Park summer had been kind to her feline friends.  In her heart the old professor was very happy to be back home.

ALL ABOUT CROW AND CROWETTE AND SQUAWK

ALL ABOUT CROW AND CROWETTE AND SQUAWK

THE PEACE PARK CATS part 5

Crow and Crowette (who use to be just “and Crow” until renamed by Andrew) are European Hooded crows.  They have a nest in the topmost branches of a very tall cedar tree in the lower car park below the Peace Park.

Crow is larger than Crowette, his feathers are shining and he is very shrewd in judging which cat might leave pieces just right for Crow to eat.  Crowette is more cautious and smaller than Crow and likes to fly into the lower branch of the Robinia tree some minutes after Crow always sitting a little lower on the branch.

Both watch carefully what the Peace Park Cats have for lunch.  In the beginning the old professor didn’t like Crow and Crowette because she thought they were cruel birds stealing eggs and chicks from other bird’s nests.  But the old professor learnt that Crow and Crowette were also very useful in helping clean the Peace Park.  Because the Peace Park becomes very messy every month the old professor would put on her field gloves and have an “emu parade” which means picking up the rubbish and putting it into the bin.

Crow and Crowette by Andrew

So slowly Crow, Crowette and the old professor came to respect each other.  The old professor helped by putting small, left over meat pieces on the Scala wall and Crow was mostly patient while the Peace Park Cats ate their lunch.  This also helped the new kittens to be less afraid of coming for lunch. So everything seemed to work out well.

Crow and Crowette built a big, untidy looking nest of sticks from the Elm tree, Robina tree and left over bones high in the Cedar tree.  It was very messy on the outside but warm and cosy on the inside because Crowette used her feathers to line the nest.

Then, in the Spring Crowette lay four beautiful blue eggs with brown speckles on them.  The eggs took a lot of looking after as they needed to be kept warm and dry for more than three weeks.  Crowette sat on the eggs very carefully while Crow hunted for food to bring back to her.

The weather that summer was very stormy and the nest high in the cedar tree was blown about badly, so much that one day an egg broke.  Then another was cracked on a sharp stone, and Oh dear, another was stepped on.  But one blue egg with speckles survived safely.

Finally, the egg opened and  Squawk hatched.  He had a very big beak, two very big eyes, two very big feet and a middle bit between that looked like an old paper bag which was very, very hungry. What a lot of noise he made!  Crow and Crowette took turn to find food for him flying up to the Peace Park and over the school yard. How busy they became always searching for food and winging it to their nest.  All sorts of food they found was taken to Squawk and the nest became full of fish bones from Shadow’s sardines, bones from Buttercup’s chicken wings, little bits of grizzle from Suni’s beef cubes and an odd snail shell and lizard foot. Poor Crow and Crowette were so very tired.

When Squawk was two weeks old he started to grow small feathers but his beak was still very big and his mouth almost always wide open for food.

After Crow’s cleverness in dropping sticks to frighten the Peace Park Cats from their lunch bowls the old professor started to put extra food on the Scala wall so lunch time was not quite so noisy.

Eventually Squawk began to grow real feathers and was learning to fly. Crow would fly first from the tall Cedar tree to the Robina branch which was an easy glide.  Then Squawk would follow flapping a little bit as he balanced on the branch.  Crow watched the old professor put extra food on the Scala wall and when she returned to her bench under the Plum tree Crow would swoop down and peck the food, jumping up and down a little but encouraging Squawk to come as well.  And then Squawk came looking very untidy as his feathers were a mix of down and pin feathers but he happily gobbled up food until Crow selected three pieces of meat and flew back to the nest where Crowette was waiting.  Squawk made a very grumbling noise and followed Crow using the steep Scala steps to gain flight and then flapped through the Cedar tree branches.

All through the summer Squawk grew larger until the old professor couldn’t tell the difference between Crowette and Squawk.  Then one day in the autumn Squawk flew away to make a territory of his own and only Crow and Crowette remained in the Peace Park.

CICADAS AND SECRETS IN THE PEACE PARK

CICADAS AND SECRETS IN THE PEACE PARK

THE PEACE PARK CATS part 6

For a very long time the weather was stormy, there were of course hot, blue sky days but not nearly as often as other summers in Gorizia.  The old professor still sat on the bench under the Plum tree. Sunni often slept on a branch in the Plum tree and would drop down onto the grass unexpectedly when the basket arrived.  All through the lunch times in the Peace Park the cicadas sang very loudly and the old professor couldn’t remember this from the past summers.  “Must be getting old”, she thought sadly.

Shadow looked thin and scruffy and was always very hungry and the old professor hoped she had her kittens safely hidden somewhere dry.  Buttercup looked thin but sleek as always and the old professor had been told that she had three kittens hidden in the old, broken car in the car park.  So far the old professor had not seen them and she didn’t want to frighten either Buttercup or the kittens by looking for them.

One day that was damp after a night storm Crow and Crow brought Squawk to the Peace Park.  Squawk was still learning to fly so he came from tree to tree and made such hungry noises.  His feathers were still growing as well so the old professor put Misty’s left over chicken pieces on the wall for them.  She was not sure if there was only one Squawk or several Squawks that looked alike, she was rather hoping there was only one.

The black and white cat decided to take his bad manners away, and Misty let the old professor stroke her after she had eaten which made the old professor very happy.  And then one Monday at lunch time the old professor noticed a new ginger kitten looking at her through the red may bushes, and goodness! There was another kitten grey like Shadow but with a little more ginger.  “So these are Shadow’s kittens”, thought the old professor.  “Now what shall we call you both?”  The kittens were very shy and at any movement ran for shelter under the old box in the car park.  But carefully the old professor put down a dish of chicken and beef beside the red may bushes so they would have food as well.

Late that night while the old professor was lying in bed thinking about entropy and other silly thoughts she remembered Shadow’s kittens and smiled.  “I think the new ginger should be called Honey and the grey, hum this is difficult, Leafy, Lethe no I think Dapple goes better with Shadow”, and she fell asleep happily.

It was nearly two week later before the old professor saw Dapple and Honey again but nearly every day Shadow would eat a little from her dish and when the other cats had gone away for a wash and nap she would take a slice of meat in her mouth and carry it away to her hiding place.  Dapple was the first seen again hiding under the red may bushes and the old professor put out a new dish nearby.  But then Persistence came and frightened Dapple, so the old professor shooed Persistence away and waited to see what would happen next.  Buttercup came to eat and she took a piece of fresh beef away across the car park, under the villa portico, across the gravel and into the high grass near the old broken car.

And then what a commotion!  A new house cat decided to fight Persistence and then Tansy.  Shadow dodged between bushes to take Dapple and Honey to safety and there was a lot of growling.  Slowly every thing became quiet under the hot summer sun.  The old professor placed all the dishes under the May bushes in the shade of the sycamore tree and went home.  There she cooked more food for everyone and put it in her fridge thinking she would go back to the Peace Park again in the cool of the evening. 

THE PROFESSOR COMES BACK

THE PROFESSOR COMES BACK

THE PEACE PARK CATS part 2

It was early in the winter; leaves had fallen from the trees in the Peace Park and blown into drifts under the park benches.  Shadow sat at one end of the park bench near the shrubs and Tansy sat in the leaves underneath.  On another bench under the Plum tree Buttercup and Pickwick sat where a basket should be and opposite Sunni sat at one end of the bench and Gillard the other end.  They were all very hungry but not as hungry as Pickwick because he was old and didn’t know how to hunt. Every day for two weeks they had waited for the basket and the old professor to come and they watched, and watch the tall gate to the Peace Park. I think there was a great reduction in the Rattus minnimus population at that time when the hungry Peace Park cats went hunting in the evening.

Bump, scratch, bump came something up the stone path just after 11o’clock, it was human-like but with extra legs and carried a big green bag.  Bump, scratch it came closer, the Peace Park cats sat very still until it called “Pickwick” and immediately Pickwick jumped from the bench but Buttercup was quicker.  “Buttercup, Shadow, Sunni, Gillard, I am back” and all the Peace Park cats came running, even Misty from under a bush and Midnight from the car park.

Slowly, slowly the extra noisy legs were put on the bench under the Plum tree and the old professor started to unpack the big green bag.  The plastic boxes with the yellow lids came out first and were put in a row, then the dishes came out and little by little they were filled up.  Of course Pickwick received his dish first, then Buttercup, Tansy and Sunni and Shadow, and some was left for Misty, Gillard and Midnight.  How happy the Peace Park cats were.  Then the old professor ate her lunch.   Sunni didn’t like the metal sticks and decided to fight them, she reared up on her back legs like a little ginger kangaroo and beat the sticks and one fell off the bench with a clatter which frightened her but also made her cross.  There were lots of little bits left for Crow and Crow who had probably been a little bit hungry as well.

Now everything was nearly back to normal.  The big green bag had food in it just like the basket but took longer to take out, and the old professor was much slower doing things with four legs than with two.  But the old professor was very pleased to be back and only a little bit worried that Pickwick was much thinner and dirty, he still had a very good appetite.  She wondered what the Peace Park cats might like for Christmas.

SPRING IN THE PEACE PARK

SPRING IN THE PEACE PARK

THE PEACE PARK CATS part 4

The old professor sat quietly on the bench eating her olive bread roll.  Shadow was eating from her bowl on the right and Buttercup from her bowl on the left.  Gillard was trying to kill a cube of gravy beef.  Suddenly there was a tickle on the old professor's nose.  Gently she took off her glasses and put them with her olive bread into her basket.  Touching her nose very gently in case a small caterpillar had fallen from the tree she tried to find the source of the tickle. Gently she looked at her finger, and then she put on her glasses and looked at her finger again.  There was a tiny pink petal.  The old professor looked up at the Plum tree. “Goodness!” She said.  “It's spring time”.

The old professor went to look at the daffodils outside Mr. Rattus rattus residence.  There were two small daffodil flowers and three small holes where daffodil bulbs had been planted.  “Interesting”, thought the old professor.  There were five daffodils behind her bench but two had been jumped on. “Never mind”, thought the old professor, “they will come again next year”.  Then she looked at where the tulips had been planted and some were already breaking the soil.  Some seeds from the Larkspur had germinated and altogether the old professor was pleased.

After some days the old professor noticed something else.  Only Crow sat on a branch in the tree but he watched the Peace Park cats very carefully.  Then one day he flew close to the outside cat bowl and dropped a stick which frightened Sunni.  Quickly Crow took a piece of beef from Sunni's bowl and flew off down the steep stairs.  “Oh!”  said the old professor, “Crow has a family too”.  So every day she made a little extra beef and sometimes put the scraps on the wall for Crow.  One day Crow took a very large piece of beef from Sunni's plate and it was so heavy he flew directly home.  Now the old professor knew his nest was at the top of the old cedar in the corner of the lower car park.  “Clever Crow”, thought the old professor.

There were also two families of Shrike in the Peace Park (at lest the old professor thought they might be Shrike but she wasn't quite sure), they were black and white and a little bit noisy, and there were a pair of very small birds that the old professor thought might be finches but wasn't sure because they were very small and fast and her eyes were rather tired during term time.

So the Plum tree blossomed and grew leaves, the big Elm tree had flowers and then grew leaves, the old professor kept coming every day and Buttercup, Sunni and Shadow ran to meet the basket.  Mrs. Butcher gave the old professor some extra pieces of chicken free but also gave her a lecture in Italian which fortunately the old professor didn't understand and Peppe always made sure she bought the cheapest cuts of meat.  And Spring Time unfolded.  At last the Tulips flowered and more people stopped to say “Bo journo” to the old professor.  Some people with their dogs took special care not to disturb the Peace Park cats at lunch time and every month the old gentleman with the camera took another photo.

Sunni decided to be a Tree Cat and hid in the leaves of the Plum Tree.  She would suddenly drop from the branches when the lunch basket arrived.  Midnight didn't come to the Peace Park anymore, but that was usual, he only came in the winter when hunting was difficult and the old professor thought he would return in the autumn.  Misty still waited until last to eat and sometimes the old professor would buy her a special small tin of cat food from the little supermarket.  Buttercup and Shadow looked as if they might have kittens soon which worried the old professor a lot because the People would try to take the kittens away.

And then in the middle of spring the Gorizia City Council decided to dig up the narrow street beside the Peace Park and replace the gas mains.  Every day there were workmen and machines making noises but eventually the Peace Park cats became accustomed to the activity, it stayed outside the Peace Park, and the old professor learnt how to walk around the barriers and visit Mr. And Mrs. Butcher and Peppe and arrive at the Peace Park almost on time.

But because of the road block the garbage couldn't be collected and the grass couldn't be cut so for some weeks the Peace Park was not a very nice place at all and not many people used it as a way to cross that part of the city.  The old professor was very glad when the little municipal truck finally came and took away all the very smelly garbage, and cut the grass.  Most of the spring flowers unfortunately were also cut but the old professor knew that the daffodils and tulips would come again next spring. But than another nice thing happen.  One still, sunny day the old professor noticed that the very small birds she thought might be finches were teaching a lot of little birds how to fly from one branch to another in the big Elm tree.  The old professor was delighted because the Shrikes and Crow and Rattus rattus could have raided the nest of this small family and her heart was glad that the Peace Park lived up to its name.

A LITTLE WORRY ABOUT PICKWICK

A LITTLE WORRY ABOUT PICKWICK

THE PEACE PARK CATS part 3

Late in the autumn the old professor was way for four whole days! There was a special holiday then a weekend.  All that time cold rain fell in the valley and snow on the Alps nearby.  The old professor was a little worried especially about Pickwick and Misty who use to live inside with people.  So the old professor cooked a big dish of chicken wings with jelly.

Pickwick saw the basket coming first, and then Buttercup and Sunni, they ran to meet the old professor.  Carefully she divided the chicken into the four dishes and put Pickwick’s dish down first.  Pickwick sniffed his chicken lunch then just sat looking at his dish while the other cats ate their lunch.  The old professor waited and waited but Pickwick only looked at his dinner and now she was late and must return to work.  Sadly she put Pickwick’s lunch over the high fence into the thick shrubs where the Peace Park cats could go but the dog visitors could not.

On Tuesday the old professor brought cooked chicken livers and mince to tempt Pickwick.  But where was Pickwick?  He was curled up asleep in a nest of dry, brown leaves from the Sycamore tree.  The old professor called him, but still he slept.  After setting the lunch dishes the old professor patted Pickwick gently and he opened his eyes.  “Lunch time dear Pickwick”, the old professor said, but he only snuggled tighter into the brown leaves.  The old professor chose two big pieces of meat and put them beside Pickwick.  After a long time Pickwick ate a little piece of the meat then came to see what everyone else had for lunch.  It was exactly the same and Pickwick wandered away to drink from a puddle in the car park.  The old professor watched him very carefully and noticed that he picked up each paw slowly as if it hurt.

Wednesday came and the old professor brought cooked chicken breast with some chicken bones that made a lot of jelly.  In the Peace Park Pickwick was in his nest but Buttercup sat next to him keeping him warm and she didn’t come for lunch either.  Now the old professor was very worried indeed.  She went to the Dog Grooming Parlour a little up the cobbled street and hired a carry cage.  Today she had a lift home to the little village with Marilyne, a French colleague who sometimes stayed over when she has long lab nights.  Marilyne is allergic to cats but she is also very kind.

Pickwick did not want to be picked up and put into the carry cage.  He ran and hit under a car.  The old professor called and talked gently but Pickwick would not come out.  Sadly the old professor took the carry cage back to the Dog Grooming Parlour and thanked the lady.

Then it was Thursday, and no Pickwick.  Buttercup seemed cross but all the other Peace Park cats were happy.  On her way back to work the old professor called into her friendly butcher shp.  Mr. Butcher was older than the old professor and his wife, Mrs. Butcher was a little younger, their son is called Peppe.  They are always very polite and kind to the old professor and tell her how to cook the meat she buys in an Italian way for the best flavour.  This Thursday the old professor purchased half a kilo of gravy beef.

Friday, and again no Pickwick but Buttercup was back to normal.  Sometimes when the Gorizia people walk through the Peace Park on Friday the old professor felt a little awkward as most Italian only eat fish on Friday but the Peace Park cats are very fussy about fish – they liked lightly fried fresh sardines best (not sardines in tins that the old professor likes most) and it was a very, very long walk to the fish shop.

Then, during the weekend the boura started.  On Monday the basket contained everything that the Peace Park cats liked most and Misty was first because the other cats are afraid of the fierce wind blowing, but later, slowly they came for lunch.  All except Pickwick .

For a long time the old professor sat quietly on the park bench thinking of Pickwick, how he taught the Peace Park cats to run to meet the basket and eat from a dish, how he swished his tail and sometimes was a little bit greedy.  She knew animals go quietly away by themselves when it is time for them to die and she thought this is what had happened.

That night the old professor had a beautiful dream.  All the Peace Park cats lived in a nice house with her and there was a garden.  All the cats were young and healthy and played games together.  The old professor’s heart was happy.  “I must always remember this beautiful dream” thought the old professor.

And on Friday of the next week guess who was back! Pickwick – thinner and dirty on his white fur parts but as hungry as ever.  A very happy ending to a worry about Pickwick.

FELINES ANONYMOUS

FELINES ANONYMOUS

THE PEACE PARK CATS part 1

It was a very hot summer in Gorizia (a beautiful, small Medieval castle city in north east Italy) and the air conditioning didn’t work in the computer room.  The old professor was very bothered because she was learning map analysis on the computer and often made a mistake.  Then she would go down stairs to Daniela’s room and knock on the door and looking helpless try to explain her new mistake.  Daniela was young and happy and very patient.  She bounced up the stairs and went into the computer room.  “No wonder, it is so hot in here” she exclaimed, “Take a lunch break and then I will show you.  At about two o’clock the sun will be off the windows and it will be more bearable for working.  I will come up then”.  So the old professor took her basket from her room and went to the small delicatessen where Signor Remzo made her a dry Italian sandwich with ‘am inside it because that was the only English word they both knew and she said “Thank you very much Signor Remzo” and he bowed over the counter and smiled. 

The old professor was wondering where to eat her sandwich and then she remembered the small Peace Park next to the old Synagogue. This was in the Jewish Quarter of the old city where the streets were narrow and winding and there were many little shops although now many were closed. So she walked down the shady side of a small alley called via Malta around the corner to the right and a little way up the cobble street.  Next was the old Villa Ascoti where the inventor of Linguistics once lived, now there was a small museum but most of the building had been converted to Council flats for elderly or unemployed people.  Next door was the Peace Park which has tall stone gateposts with big iron gates and a plaque in memory of the rabbi whose house was once here next to the Synagogue.  In the Peace Park there is an olive tree for peace and understanding, a path with roses either side and a grass area with a play story of Esther from the Old Testament.  At the end there are three wooden benches, one with shade from a Plum tree so this is where the old professor sat.  The view was beautiful with the church clock tower of St. Antonio which the old professor could actually see the time and across the roof tops to the hills beyond the small city and the sky was deep blue which reminded the old professor of her home country.  As she sat on the bench a big cat with a flea collar rubbed up against her, “Hello pussyfoots” said the old professor.  “Meow”, said pussyfoots and sat in the old professor’s basket.   So the old professor gave pussyfoots some of the ham from her sandwich and she eat it happily and then ran off when a lady came jingling her keys.  The old professor was glad the cat had a home and people to look after her. 

 After a little while relaxing in the Peace Park the old professor went back to work and Daniela explained how the problem happened, which was very simple really, and the old professor wrote everything down carefully so she wouldn’t make that particular mistake again.  But she also asked Daniela what the polite word for “Thank you” was in Italian.  “Grazie mille” said Daniela (who is Portuguese but she was learning Slovene and knew a lot of Italian words as well).  In the afternoon the old professor made a lot of progress and was very happy and as she walked home she thought, “Tomorrow I will have lunch in the Peace Park again”.  And that’s how it all began.

All through that long hot summer Senor Remzo made the old professor an ‘am sandwich and she sat with her basket on the same park bench.  The Policeman walking through the park always said “Buongiorno signora, buon appetito” and pussyfoots was renamed Persistence because she wanted most of the ham from the old professors sandwich, not just a little bit so the old professor bought a packet of cat food every day as well as her sandwich. Persistence ate both.

Then it was autumn and the leaves fell from the Plum tree and the misty, grey, rainy days were very often.  The old professor found a large plastic bag to put on the wooden bench and bought an umbrella to put over her and her basket. Persistence still came and tried to sit in her basket. The old professor met her humans and their old dog.  The Policeman still said “Buongiorno” and other people walking past with their dogs or going shopping also smiled and said “Buongiorno”.

 

Then in the winter Persistence disappeared and the old professor was a little lonely.  As it became colder the old professor bought a Chinese take-away dish for lunch but instead of Persistence there were two little kittens in the Peace Park.  One was a soft ginger colour and the old professor called her Princess Buttercup, the other was a beautiful tawny grey and her name became Shadow.  The old professor knew these were little wild kittens without a home or humans to care for them and they would always need to hunt but she also liked the little wild birds so every day she shared her lunch with Buttercup and Shadow, the old professor ate the Chinese vegetables and gave the meaty bits to the little cats.  And they grew and grew all through the winter but never came close and the old professor didn’t try to touch them.  All through the winter time the old professor wrote a book about the maps and the people who had lived in the map land and Daniela graduated and went to live in Ljubljana.  Sometimes the old professor felt very tired but there were Buttercup and Shadow always in the Peace Park.

SHADOW

In the spring while the Plum tree was dropping blossom on the old professor Persistence came back as if she had never been away.  But it was the Lenten time and the old professor had a cheese sandwich (Signor Remzo said formmagio) that Signor Remzo had made especially for her.  Persistence didn’t like cheese and was a little cross, but in the basket she found a packet of cat food and tried to bite it open.  The old professor was sad because she had bought it for Buttercup and Shadow but she gave it to Persistence.  Shadow ate some of the cheese from her sandwich but that day Buttercup was hungry.  All the long walk home the old professor wondered what to do about three hungry cats and she decided that she would buy some chicken wings and cook them. And that is exactly what she did.  She also bought a lunch box and after she cooked her dinner she cooked six pieces of chicken, two for each hungry cat and put them in the lunch box and found an old plate.  Next morning everything went into her basket.  At lunch time she put the chicken on the plate a little way from the bench underneath the Plum tree, but oh dear, Persistence wanted all the chicken and hit the little cats when they tried to take a piece.  The old professor was very sad; it had seemed like a very good idea.

 The next day the old professor brought the plate and the lunch box and put one piece of chicken on the plate.  Shadow and Buttercup watched her from under a bush.  After Persistence ate all the chicken the old professor put another piece on the plate.  When Persistence finished that piece she was satisfied and went to have a wash.  Then the old professor put the rest of the chicken on the plate and put it near the bush where Buttercup and Shadow were hiding, and everyone had enough.  As spring passed into summer every work day the same thing happened.  When the cats had finished the old professor would pick up the bones and put them in the garbage bin.  As it became hotter and hotter the old professor made a water bowl in the shade for the little brown birds and the Peace Park cats.

 

Then one day Shadow didn’t come for lunch.  The old professor became very worried and a little bit frightened so she hid two pieces of chicken near the water bowl where a clever little cat would find them.  For a long, long time there was then just Persistence and Buttercup and a little pile of bones in a secret place every day.

 As summer faded and the leaves were gently falling down the old professor saw Shadow, she was mewing desperately.  Across the car park she noticed a boy with his family holding a small grey kitten and the old professor guessed Shadow’s secret.  The boy, his mother and dad all got into a big new car and drove away.  “I hope they will be kind to Shadow’s kitten” the old professor thought with all her heart, “I am so sorry dear Shadow” she said kindly.  Sometimes Shadow would come for lunch and sometimes not, the old professor thought she had become very frightened of people.

 And in the next winter the old professor sat on her plastic bag on the park bench with her drippy umbrella trying to keep her basket dry and little bits of her and sometimes Buttercup came but sometimes not.  Then one day Buttercup brought Tansy.  The old professor was so happy, but always Tansy was shy and would wait until her mother had eaten then creep to the dinner plate.  The old professor started to make little extra treats just for Tansy but Buttercup was a little jealous so the old professor stopped.  There must be a way, she thought, that the mother cats teach the little kittens about what is safe and clean.  Always the old professor worried that the Peace Park cats might be hurt or poisoned, but she believed Saint Francis would help take care of all of them.  Sometimes after dark or at weekends the Peace Park had rough visitors who left rubbish and broke things.  But always it seemed that the Shadow, Buttercup and Tansy were safe.

MIDNIGHT and TANSY

It was spring again and there was Sunni, a new kitten of Buttercup’s and so very hungry.  Persistence came back again and chased Sunni and Tansy into trees on the path near the Scala (stairs going down to the car park near the High School). Then Midnight came, a big grown up smokey grey son of Shadow and he chased Persistence away and lay down in the grass. He was the king to look after all the wild Peace Park cats.  There were three gingers, Buttercup, Tansy and Sunni and greys, Shadow and Midnight. One day, just at the end of the school year there was a big lunch time concert at the high school near St. Antonio’s Church.  Midnight and the other cats sat on the steps of the Scala and watched and watched all the lights and loud music. But very soon after, just before the old professor went on holiday to Scotland, Shadow introduced Gillard, another bundle of beautiful ginger fluff.  “Oh dear,” thought the old professor, “I hope there are enough of Mr. Rattus rattus family to feed you all while I am away”.  But in summer time hunting is much easier in the Peace Park because silly people leave a lot of rubbish.

 When the old professor came back it took nearly a week for Buttercup, Shadow, Tansy, Sunni, Midnight and Gillard to remember it was “lunch time”.  But there was an old black and white cat hiding in the bushes and he came to eat lunch.  The old professor saw he had a chest wound but it seemed to be healing.  She called him Mr. Pickwick because he was elderly and black and white and a very, very long time ago when she was a little girl in the mountains of Australia she had a black and white cat called Whiskey.  As the Peace Park cats remembered to come for lunch at 11 o’clock Pickwick taught them something new, to sit on the park benches and wait, then when the basket appeared through the Peace Park gate, run to meet it and try not to make the old professor fall over.

So now there were four lunch boxes for cats and four plates, a bread roll for the old professor and her lunch box of fruit salad which doesn’t interest the Peace Park cats at all.

Just recently, around the edge of the Scala, through the bushes there is another cat, large like Pickwick so it has had a home with humans before, and the old professor watched and watched and thought of Shadow’s first kitten taken away, could this be the same? She thought.

 

Slowly, slowly Misty came for lunch, she is very pretty like Shadow but bigger and her fur is longer and she loves to be patted by friendly people passing through the park and she knows how to eat from a dish. Sunni and Gillard haven’t learnt yet, they take some meat from the plate and hide to eat, but now every day Shadow has a plate on the right side of the old professor’s bench and Midnight eats what she leaves for him,

Buttercup’s plate is on the left side and Tansy eats when she has had enough; Pickwick has his own dish because he is greedy (I am sure he didn’t mean to be)  and Misty eats first sometimes if Gillard and Sunni are not there but last if they are.  There is always enough food for eight cats and they know when the loud bells ring at 12 noon the old professor picks up the bones and pack up the plates and goes away.