VOLEVO CHE VOI SAPPIATE CHE SONO OKAY! - I WANTED YOU TO KNOW THAT I AM OKAY!

EARTHQUAKE! TERREMOTO!

Ciao RaGatti! I wanted to write and post this as soon as possible to let you all know that I and my humans are okay. If you have been following the news at all in the last couple of days you will know that there have been a number of earthquakes in central Italy where we live. There were two large shocks a couple of days ago. The second was stronger... I hear that there was a lot of damage in towns further away from us though luckily no damage here... 

But today... This morning at 7:41 we awoke to the house―to the entire town where we live―rocking. It felt a lot like the entire house we live in was going for a ride on one of those rattly blue Cotral buses my humans take me on when we go to the train station to head to Orvieto... but it was strangely less noisy.

My humans jumped out of bed and walked nervously around the house. We have a visitor from Canada named Fern visiting us. My humans and I went up to her room to see how she was. I walked over to the window and looked outside. It was a beautiful sunny morning outside. 

Nothing looked any different than before. After a few moments, my humans and Fern went downstairs for their coffee and to fill my food bowls. It seemed like everything was okay. That our day would continue like all those others... Breakfast, a brushing, a walk outside on Via Latini and a nap on the chesterfield while my humans watched Italian TV. But this was not to be. 

This morning's earthquake was a lot stronger than the others I have felt since moving here from Vancouver... a lot stronger... And it wasn't long before there was knock on the door and my humans were packing me in my carry case and we were all heading out the door and down the stairs to to the piazzale just outside Casperia's main gates.

Cicciopalla follows Fern down to the piazzale

As we came out of the Porta Romana I noticed my friend Cicciopalla―Casperia's parking lot cat―walking among the crowd. His tail was down... not a good sign. I tried to get his attention but I don't think he saw me.

We continued down to the olive tree near the Conad Supermarket entrance. I recognized my friends Maria and AnneMarie right away. They greeted me with a cheery smile but I could tell they were worried.

Soon more friends arrived. Helen and Ritchie with Dennis in his carrying case.

Everyone gathered around the benches near the olive tree. It was warm and sunny outside and my carrying case was set on a stone wall in the sunshine... 

...where I would be far enough away from the many dogs which accompanied their humans down to the square. 

Truth to tell, many of the dogs I saw looked just as nervous and preoccupied as their humans.

It seemed like my humans had expected that our time down in the piazzale would be shorter than it was turning out to be. The hours dragged on. 

More friends arrived. I hadn't seen Stefano and his son Federico for quite a while. It was nice to get a pat and a scratch from Stefano.

At one point there everyone gathered close to listen to a tall dark haired man talk to the crowd. It was the mayor I think. After that some people went off in different directions... to eat I think. My humans and I waited for some more. 

After a few hours in my carrying case I was ready for something to drink and eat. How I wished I could stretch my legs and tail?

"You okay in there Smokey?" one of my humans asked. I looked up at him with my best game face but I could see he was worried. "Let's go Smokes," he said, and lifted my gabbia up over a fence. The zipper to my carrying case purred open and I was invited out onto the bright concrete patio where a bowl of food and a glass of water was waiting for me.

"Ciao, Smokey!" It was Stefano's son, Federico smiling down on me. "Miao, Fede!" The water was nice and cool on my tongue after all the time in the gabbia.

I decided to take a stroll around the patio. The concrete, despite being in the sun, was cool. 

I could see in the distance the same mountain I can see from the windows of our house―Soratte. My humans are always talking about that mountain and the view. The view of the valley was indeed beautiful, but I was more interested in what I could see of Casperia. I lay down on my back and rolled around on the concrete, observing the town where we live from different angles. 

It felt great to roll around on the concrete―to be out in the sun. I got up and walked around exploring this new environment. One of my humans always shadowing me.

It was obvious that my humans were concerned that I might stray outside this safe zone so to put their minds at ease I went and lay down for a nap beside the wall. I actually fell asleep.

When I woke up there was one of my humans looking down at me. "Time to go, Smokey," he said. Time to go? Were we going home?

Apparently not. I was bundled back into my carrying case and taken to a waiting car. We were all being taken for a ride to a house in the country... for a lunch at Giles and Fiona's house. Giles and Fiona are friends from England. They live part time in a beautiful house in the country outside Casperia. When the zipper of my gabbia purred open this time I found myself in a beautiful green world. I was surrounded by trees and grass. I haven't seen this much green since I moved to Italy from Vancouver. It was wonderful.

  

While my humans and their friends enjoyed a fine pasta lunch I explored the beautiful green of the grounds around Giles and Fiona's house. I was in heaven. I haven't eaten that much grass since I don't know when. My bowl and a new glass of water was laid out for me in the shade. After feeding for a bit I settled down in a warm leather jacket that one of my humans laid on the edge of Fiona and Giles' terrazza for me. 

I was in heaven.

I know that this was a hard day for my humans, but thanks to the kindness of Fiona and Giles, not only were my humans comforted and fed, I had one of the best days of my life here in Italy.

There is a wonderful soft green world outside Casperia's grey stone walls... And I have a feeling that, even if there are no more tremors strong enough to require us leaving the town again, I will have many more chances to enjoy Casperia's green countryside again.

In the meantime Ragatti, stay safe. Be well... statemi bene! And thank you Giles and Fiona from the bottom of my heart. I will never forget your kindness and hospitality. Grazie infinite. The blessings of this grateful cat are being showered upon you.

   

ONE PAW WASHES THE OTHER... AND TOGETHER THEY WASH THE FACE - An Interview with Maria Piazza

Giorgio washing his face...

Miao Maria. Thank you for allowing me to interview you today.

Smokey: You have six cats, or should I say six cats have you. What are their names and how did your feline family happen?

Maria Piazza: Giorgio is my eldest boy at almost 14.  Paolo found him next to a dustbin in Rome thinking he was a dead rat, but when he went to pick him up he saw this tiny paw open up, stretching out his little  fingers.  He was furless, with no ears and scrunched up eyes, still showing signs of his cord.  The vet said it would be very difficult for him to survive but he did "alla grande" and he is now here in all his adorableness to tell the tale!!

Giorgio in the arms of Richard, one of my humans... What patience. I jump after a few seconds. 

Lupa, 10 years old, decided she was going home with Stefano and the more he took her out of the car as he was chatting to his friends one evening in Rome, the more she would jump back in. It was obvious she was looking for a family so he took her home. She is named Lupa because of her three colours, black, white and orange - the colours of Paolo's contrada called Lupa in Siena …. unfortunately we found out yesterday that she is probably going blind as she has detached retinas …

Marzia just turned up one day in March a couple of years ago, full of facial nasties but absolutely lovable. We have no idea how old she is. She has had a couple of operations for benign tumours, but they keep growing back so we are going to leave her alone now and let her live her life in peace. 

Marzia

Sleepy, a kitten, too just turned up one Saturday morning in 2009 when I still used to come for my weekends to Casperia. I was told that she had been seen in the big car park down below, a couple of days before, so she had obviously been abandoned and followed someone up into the town. I was sitting on my bench doing my knitting in the sun and she jumped on my knee and fell asleep. And slept and slept the whole two days. I even made a kind of pouch for her to sleep in by rolling and pinning up my t-shirt so that I could walk about and do my chores… hence the name Sleepy! She must have been so relieved that she'd finally found a home that I simply didn't have the heart to leave her behind so I took her back to Rome that Sunday evening.

Sleepy keeping watch over Casperia's ramparts... That must be a lovely perch to get some sun in... 

Chicco, whose real name is Romeo is probably around eight years old and used to belong to a dear neighbour called Ottavia. Before she died a couple of years ago she made sure I would look after him and take him into my home. He is a sweetie and I still feel Ottavia's presence when I stroke him and brush his long sleeky ginger fur.

Chicco enjoying the warmth of the sun on Via Rivellini

Then we have a two year old ginger tinker called Romolo. Paolo's brother Francesco found this stray kitten in his garden and gave him to Paolo. He has a mind of his own and WILL NOT be bossed around by anyone. He comes and goes as he pleases and quite vociferously lets people know he's the boss!

Romolo

There have been others at home throughout my 40 years of married life with Paolo in Rome, many of whom are buried in the peaceful grounds of Montefiolo - along with many more who were strays at Paolo's art studio complex and on the streets below our appartamento in Rome…

S: Did you live with cats when you were small? Have you always like cats? 

MP: I have grown up with cats, my mother was another cat lover as is my sister Rita.

S: Casperia is known as a town of cats and cat lovers. Would you say this is a correct assessment?

MP: Casperia may be a town of cats (Catsperia!) but to say it is a town of cat lovers is not strictly true.  Many consider the cats to be a nuisance and in the past it has been known for poisoned polpette to be left around to keep the numbers down….  We instead considered it a better idea to try and and neuter as many as possible.  It seems to be working as there are no way near as many strays as there used to be …. and they seem to be so healthier. 

S: From what my humans tell me though, this reputation means that cats are sometimes abandoned here in the hoped that kind hearted people like you will adopt them? Who are these people and why do you think that they come to abandon their pets?

MP:  As for those inhumane humans who abandon their pets - well words fail me, I get so incensed and upset each time I go out of the door each holiday and find yet another crying creature hungry for a home. Unfortunately a lot of Italians consider cats and dogs to be just soul-less "animals" and jeer at us for keeping our pets in the house and allowing them to sleep on our beds and sit on our chairs..

S: From what I understand from my humans there are a lot of people here in Italy who choose not to spay or neuter their cats. Is this true, and if it is, why do you think this is so?

MP: Many think it is cruel to tamper with nature by spaying and neutering, yet consider it quite normal and common practice to kill newborn kittens and puppies …. it's also a LOT cheaper to keep numbers down their way … Grrrrrrr

S: Grrrrrrr indeed! I know from my humans and from my limited interaction with the cats I meet here in Casperia that there are a number of people who help feed the homeless cats here. It must cost a bit of money to do this… How do these people afford to do it? Is there support from the Comune or other sources?

MP: Thankfully there are quite a few humans who are not like this and are more than willing to feed the homeless cats.   There is NO help from the Comune or elsewhere for that matter. There are some kind veterinarians who charge less to spay or neuter a cat if it's feral. We are happy to feed them but would be even happier if we knew there would be no new arrivals to break our hearts.

S: It is getting cold and wet outside now that it is winter. I remember that there was even some snow last week. Where do the homeless cats go for shelter here in Casperia? Are there places for them to stay dry out of the nasty weather? 

MP: These strays, almost all of whom have names, are fondly cared for and sleep in the numerous cantinas dotted around the town.  Luckily a lot of them have rotten wooden doors with huge holes and they can come in and out and shelter in the dry when it rains.  Some of us have put igloos with comfy cushions for them to sleep on. 

S: With six furry friends in the house I can imagine that bedtime can be challenging… Do all of your cats get to sleep in bed with you? Do they take turns? Or do some of them have their own special places to sleep.

MP: Bedtime is extremely challenging with at least two, usually Sleepy and Giorgio at my feet.  Turning over with a two-ton-ted like Marzia next to my shoulder, who refuses to budge can be frustrating for her and impossible for me.  Chicco and Lupa tend to sleep downstairs on the armchair and divano.  Romolo sleeps anywhere!

S: What would your life be like without your cats?

MP: My life without cats? Mamma mia! No way!!  I simply cannot envisage it. xxxxx

S: Thank you Maria. Grazie di cuore. You are a wonderful human. I am proud to know you, and I am so happy you agreed to be interviewed.

❤︎ ❤︎ ❤︎ 

I leave you, my readers, with this video that sums up my thoughts and emotions after this interview with Maria. Here are two links, one in Italian and one in English, for for heartwarming video: 

Credi nel Bene / Believe in Good 

Enjoy. Miao for now.