Farm Fresh Blog

Yesterday Liz (Vic Aust.) asked about the cat on the barrel.  Because I'd been knee deep in making that photobook and had also included a picture of Faith the Fuzzy,

 I thought Faith was the cat she was asking about.

Imagine my surprise when I realized she was asking about KARMA!

 Karma was my Rat Warrior.  My old barn cat, Chelsea had just disappeared and we were in the middle of a rat infestation. When I say 'infestation' I'm not kidding. If you can catch sight of a rat during the daylight hours, you've got a crapload of rats.  I simply refused to put out rat poison and we were catching rats daily in traps.

Then one day I saw a car speeding away from my mailbox shortly before a heavy rain. I didn't think much of it until I later heard a kitten crying. I followed the cries and suddenly a half-drowned creature dropped out of a bush and wobbled toward me. It was honestly the ugliest cat I'd ever seen, but in that moment, I knew three things:

A) Chelsea, my old barn cat, was dead.

B) That car speeding away had dumped a kitten

C) God had just sent me the perfect Rat Warrior

I named the scraggly thing Karma, because I assured her there was a special place in Hell for people who dump kittens and Karma would repay the bastard. Then I brought her inside. I had faith that she would be my Rat Warrior. After all, God had sent this little beast. No matter that she was tinier than the rats, I knew that she was destined for greatness.

And she was.  She became the best rat killer we ever had.  Karma was proof that God will provide if you just have faith. I knew without a doubt that despite her size, she was the answer to our rat problem. After all, God had sent me a warrior. She lived up to her name. She was a rodent killing machine.

Karma preferred to live outside and did so for most of her years. One cold night she came to the window to announce that she wanted inside. I obliged and let her spend the night in the spare bedroom. I awoke the next morning to find her dead on the floor.

Karma was buried beside an apple tree.

She will always remain a part of that farm.

In hindsight, no, she wasn't buried under the apple tree. She was buried under the Pecan tree.

Read: Vaya Con Dios