Category: Links

A cat named Tom

I wrote an essay on my blog that was supposed to be about a feral cat named Tom, but I think it ended up really being about trauma and healing.

She’s a pet now, I guess; a permanent resident on our property. Outdoor cats are bad for the bird population, but we have modified things a bit to make it safer for the birds, like making sure there is clearance around water sources and that bird feeders are not just baiting them as a hunting hide for cats.

I would never choose an outdoor cat, but it seems like Tom has chosen us.

Bill McKibben: I’m Exhausted

In this unlocked NYT opinion piece, Bill McKibben nails what so many of us are feeling.

We definitely weren’t designed to cope with all this — our bodies, our nervous systems, our brains. Among all the other dangers these developments represent, they’re simply wearing us out. A lot of us would like politicians to offer, alongside their promises of affordability, even a glimpse of serenity.

And

If we elect serious leaders who can take control of Congress and the presidency, they’ll have to work hard — we need all kinds of reforms to prevent a relapse of the sickness to which we’ve fallen prey. None of it will be low stress.

But it would be nice if those leaders could at least have, as one goal, a country and a world where we could occasionally ignore them, where we didn’t have to live under constant tension.

(via Kottke)