Editor Notes

As I write, it is the week following the presidential inauguration and I am unable to shake the images of that day -- the crowds, the smiles, the tears, and the beautiful First Family. Despite the indelible images of that day, ironically for me, it’s the words of that day that I recall most vividly.

Images are central to my world. During college I was diagnosed with dyslexia, long after I had learned to deal with my reading problems of early school years. I had instinctively learned to cope and I had developed strong visual recall -- as long as what I had to remember were not just lots of words on plain white paper. I still like books with pictures in them. (It wasn’t until the later 1960s that there grew a general awareness about learning disabilities.)

Animals have provided me many life lasting images. On an early morning dog walk, I happened upon more than 22 egrets (I stopped counting) standing along the edge of a small pond, evenly spaced out like a white plumed picket fence. It was surreal. Even the dogs sat down and quietly looked at them. I still "see" those egrets each time I pass that pond.

Although the images from inauguration day will be as long remembered as those picket egrets, it will also be the words I remember. They were not the anticipated soaring rhetoric. Rather, they were grounded in the solemnity of this time and in the profound needs of the many.

I visited www.USAService.org – as directed by our new President – in search of someway to do my own service. As I walked a dog yesterday, I noticed a number of large woven baskets tucked around the yard of a house. Pieces of a blue blanket spilled from within. Above the rim of a couple, I saw cats peering out at me. I was amused by the spectacle, and slowly realized that these were probably stray cats, ones someone had taken the responsibility for to provide some comfort.

It dawned on me that "doing service" takes many forms. Until yesterday, I had no idea what story would fill the center pages of this issue of Pet Tails. Thousands of years ago, humans took on the responsibility of domesticating wild cats. Today, a countless number of feral cat colonies exist in this country, due in large part to irresponsibility. By providing information regarding feral cat colonies -- here in Pet Tails -- I hope to raise awareness. Please read about stray and feral cats; perhaps you can help.

Cindy