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Boy cat demands.

"I’ve been hunting
on our land."

Behind his kill
he proudly stands.

Must not tell him:
rubber band.

Two out of the five of us.

(Not shown: Millie at my feet, Sweetie behind me, and me.)

What makes this funnier is that these two are actually frenemies.

On the left is Angel, my Mom's cat who joined us in November-- and has been a total devil to the other kitties and Mdog since she arrived. Hoping this is the sign of a truce.

Shows how badly Kiko misses Daisy. (Yes, she's still on the loose, hanging out with what we now call her Other Family. Sigh.)

Arranged schedule accordingly. Arrived at beach with hubby and puppy at 1:30pm. Set up on the Salisbury side of the Merrimack River, where it lets out into the ocean. Hubby points out that there's now a sandbar stretching from Plum Island point towards the jetty on the Salisbury beach. If we had not gone to Salisbury, we would have been on that beach.

We chose the Salisbury side because it's closer. And best swimming for puppy-girl (who turns nine this month, but we're not telling her). In and out of the water we went. She loved it. We loved it. Resting on our towels, puppy head on my arm. Hubby reading new book. Me napping. Warm breeze keeping it super comfortable.

And then we hear the kids playing on the other side of the river, on the sandbar.

We hear them yelling.

No, not playing.

"Help me. HELP ME!!!!"

The sandbar is rapidly disappearing, and so are the kids. Some guys run out from the beach to try to pull them in. A couple of boats start circling. With great difficulty, we see the two men on the little white boat pulling someone up and over the side, to safety. It looks like the other boats are just circling. "Why aren't they helping?!" I cry.

More yelling. A girl's voice. (Was it hers?) I can't make out the words, but the terror is loud and clear.

A couple of boats go flying past, oblivious. It looks like the little white boat is doing everything. Later reports say others helped. I am relieved.

Seven kids in their 20's are pulled to safety. Seven out of eight.
The girl is missing. The current took her.

Fifteen to twenty minutes later, the U.S. Coast Guard arrives. Slowly. They must already be looking for her. (The news claims they were there in 10 - 15 min., but someone is being kind.)

Police appear on our side of the river. Everyone is hoping to find her and revive her. We hear that the missing girl is 11. Or 21.

We cannot leave. We search the waters with our binoculars. I pray. For the girl, for her friends, for her loved ones. For the heroic men who saved the other seven.

Now the USCG planes are flying overhead. An hour later, we see divers enter the water. It is a cruel thing that the words Rescue and Recovery both begin with "r". Six letter word = Hope. Eight letter word = Grief. 

Today, my heart still hurts. I cannot stop thinking about the timeline.

At 5:30 p.m. while I was napping, those kids were having a blast. They had brought food to cook on the grill on the beach that night. They were there to make a day of it.

At 5:50:  I was bitching at my husband about some small thing he did that annoyed me. The kids were playing on the sandbar. Tossing a football, they say.

At 6:00: We heard the screams.

By 6:15:  It was too late for one of them.

It can change that fast.

Starting this weekend, there will be a lot of beach days for many of us. And a lot of other great summer outings. And some of them, like this one, will end up on the news.

When you have to chose between the thing that looks fun and the thing that looks fun but a little risky, remember Marinna Khon. She was just 22. She had just graduated from college. She was a light to her family and friends, who now miss her dearly. 

And every beautiful day that you enjoy this summer, every time a loved one comes home as expected, know that it is a gift. Cherish life. Let Marinna teach us that, at least.

_______

UPDATE: Marinna's body was finally found over a week later by two local fisherman, not far from the sandbar where she last played. Our hearts go out to her loved ones.

Note: Some of the information has been updated thanks to Marinna's childhood friend Lisa. We urge you to read her comments below.

Please share your thoughts here.

Took our little team of pro's just 4 minutes to decimate the new $25 battery operated cat toy. Now what?

[For the same money, I could have had a pedicure that lasted at least 45 minutes.]

Probation

She  wore us down. What can I say? 7 days of not sleeping will do that to you.

 

I bought a "calming collar" with pheromones and slipped it on her Sunday morning.  After an hour of yelling later (her, not me), I gave her a talk about the Rules and let her out. She got us back by staying out all night. Came home for supper tonight. Ate & went to bed. Works for me.

 

Surrender   (sort of)

 

And I whipped up this flyer to distribute around the neighboring streets.

 

House Arrest

Daisy is home after being MIA for two weeks. Turns out she's been leading a double life with another family -- as a steak-loving boy cat named Felix.

Our vet has advised us to keep her in for two weeks to help her "get centered." We will see who cracks first.

Daisy voices her opinion. Incessantly. For the last 48 hours. A small sample:

We had barely been dating 3 months. He flew in from San Diego to spend the holidays.
We drove my mom to Vermont, and were supposed to go out for a romantic dinner on his birthday.

But I got a stomach bug late that afternoon. So my mom raced out to buy a chicken and a store cake.
We sang Happy Birthday at her kitchen table. He was as delighted as if we'd thrown a huge
party full of family and friends. That's how he celebrated the big 4-0.My first clue that this one was worth hanging on to.

Happy Birthday, Honey.