Pete the Vet & Emma the Cat

Here's a video of my cat Emma who is almost totally recovered from a freak accident at home. I wouldn't let her out at night for safety's sake, so instead she knocked a glass bowl off the counter in the kitchen (which she knows she shouldn't be on) and fell on top of it somehow and cut her leg! I came downstairs the next morning and found a bloodbath and Emma looking sad and unable to walk. Big panic. Off to the vet. Six weeks locked indoors, four of that in a cage, two of that in a room. We nearly went mad, the two of us. (Finn is away at college in Galway, lucky thing). Emma's out and about again, thanks to the god of small animals and her vet, Jill. Here's my cat princess on Pete's Facebook website. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Pete-the-Vet/135169381539. Scroll down and look for his videos on your left. There's a dotey one of a poor little puppy who had to have something removed from his stomach that he shouldn't have eaten. (They are worse than kids that way.)

No Time!

No time to blog these days, sorry. Working on two books at the same time, plus a teleplay! And Christmas is sneaking up on me with its own demands. Hope to have more to say soon. Meanwhile, as soon as I gather all the pics, I'll be posting about the amazing arts event at the Multyfarnham Franciscan Friary over on my Book Blog.

Anthony de Mello, S.J.

We are heading into the short dark days of winter (though, in fact, it has been nice and sunny this past while). Time to go deeper into contemplation and self-reflection. And who better a guide than Anthony de Mello, Indian Jesuit, philosopher, psychotherapist, poet and writer? I'm reading two of his books right now The Song of the Bird and Sadhana, A Way to God. The first is a collection of what you might call parables or teaching stories from various sacred traditions - Islam, Christianity, Hinduism and Buddhism. Some of them I get and some I don't, but I can feel them all working away in miraculous ways on my psyche, like spiritual medicine taken in glasses of sunlight. The second book is a 'how to' of exercises on how to pray. Just about every chapter has made me cry in a happy healing sort of way. It's really beautiful stuff. Of course the Vatican banned de Mello at some point. All the top dogs of organised religions hate when people approach God without their authority and permission. Of course those same top dogs are nowhere near God because secular power exercised through spiritual authority is really their chief interest. I suspect many of them are atheists (but not the humanist kind). Still, they don't like the idea that they may have missed the boat and that others could be out on the Great Ocean basking in a warmer Sun. Ah well. It takes all kinds. I don't want power (though I wouldn't mind a bit more money). I'd really like more of what de Mello talks about all the time: awareness. But most of all, I'd like to get closer to God. As the Muslims say about life, "Unto God is the journeying." [NB my de Mello books were printed in India by Gujarat Sahitya Prakash.]

Still Recovering from Swine Flu

Jaze, I tell ya, this is one doozer of a dose. Never mind all those conspiracy people telling you it's all fear-mongering. Those of us who have been hit know the story. Yes, it's a normal flu when you first get it - sore throat, fever, deep coughing, muscle aches, chills, loss of appetite, exhaustion - but it's the aftermath that really bowls you over. It goes on for weeks and weeks! I've past my third week now and just starting to feel human, but I'm still coughing from time to time and when I do, I think I'm going to die. My poor lungs feel damaged and my ribs bruised and my chest muscles twisted. Doc says my lungs are clear, so no infection, but tell that to the pain centres in my brain! And after one or two tasks a day, I'm wiped out. This must be what people with ME feel like. They have my utter sympathy. Apologies for moaning. And of course I'm getting very little work done. Put aside adult novel (one last draft to finish, yahoo!) and am revising first book of new young adult series (still can't announce as contracts still going through, sorry) plus working on television script of same. A lot of the time I'm working in bed! Rest is important for convalescing and working in bed keeps me from being utterly bored.

Celtic New Year

I'm still recovering from swine flu (oink!): no worse than any other kind of flu except that it takes ages for you to return to normal. A week over it, I am still debilitated and my ribs are sore from coughing. Alas this meant I could not do a Sweat Lodge on the weekend as my body couldn't take it. However, I did manage to have popcorn and copper money ready for the kids who came to my door and here is my porch decorated with one of Finn's amazing puppets (on the window sill) and a stuffed witch whose mask was made by her also and whose body was made by me. (Her chest is a teddy bear!) Now I usually point out that Hallowe'en or Oíche Shamhna (in Irish) is the beginning of the Celtic New Year and the time when the veils between the worlds are thin and the dead and the Faerie Folk walk the earth. But I have been told by those in the know that according to the lunar calendar - by which the Celtic year is marked - that that day will not be here until November 15. Still, it was a powerful night what with a full moon as well and I made my wishes for the new year.

Dettol Kills Cats!

Honestly. I was recently informed of this by my vet. She says no veterinary clinic has Dettol on the premises. One of its ingredients - a big long name I can't remember - causes almost instant respiratory failure and death. Is there a warning on the package? "Not recommended for use around cats." Well that's an understatement. And here's me with a bottle of it using it to clean and disinfect things around my poor Emma! Binned now. But here are two things I'm wondering. 1) If the makers of Dettol know how dangerous their product is to cats, why don't they remove the offending ingredient which is obviously not used in similar products like Savlon? 2) If it's that dangerous to cats, how safe can it be around babies?! And while I'm warning all you cat lovers to pass this on, please note that Easter lily plants - the ones with the orange powdery stamens - can also cause death to cats! The leaves are toxic to them but also if the orange stuff gets on their paws and they lick it off, they are in serious danger. If not treated within 18 hours, they will die of kidney failure. Florists have resisted putting any kinds of warnings on these plants, so again, the information must be passed by word of mouth. And if you don't believe me, google it!

Top Executives of American Tobacco Companies

I just watched "The Insider" on television. Fantastic film about corporate evil and the tremendous courage of one man who stood up for the truth. Then look what I found on youtube. You really have to wonder how these people sleep at night. But the the truth is there are so many of them: all those top executives making a fortune out of polluting air, water, human lungs, manufacturing and selling arms that they know are fuelling wars and killing women and children, defrauding pensioners and ruining lives with their scams (Enron, bankers etc), destroying small farms for agribusiness, abusing animals in giant factory farms, and don't forget all those corrupt politicians and lawmakers protecting same ... it goes on and on. Pure evil. Those who stand against them are called "leftists" or "anarchists" or "bleeding heart liberals." It's such a strange world we live in. Sometimes I honestly believe this is some level of hell and the demons rule!


toxic wastes.