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About The Columbia press. (Astoria, Or.) 1949-current | View Entire Issue (June 11, 2021)
The Columbia Press June 11, 2021 Senior Moments with Emma Edwards My purrfect companion isn’t quite perfect So many people have asked about my kitten Holly, who moved in with me at Christ- mas. My physical therapist thinks my agility has improved be- cause of Holly. Truth be told, I have laughed more at her antics in the past six months than I have laughed in the past several years. She enjoys playing games and we are learning to toss and fetch. But she lets me do the fetching far too often. She is “nice” most of the time, but hasn’t yet graduated from the kitten stage. It has been quite the project and we still have a long way to go. I would not trade her for anything, no matter the of- fer. Well, maybe I consider it when she decides to prune my once-beautiful violets or to break some of my pretty dishes. Problem solved, however. I decided to donate the rest of those dishes to the Spay and Neuter Thrift Store in Sea- side. Still, the problem of using the counters and kitchen table as a catwalk is her very favor- ite pastime. And she loves my computer keyboard! Groan, groan. She has a bright red cat stroller and takes me for walks when it isn’t raining. Holly jumps into it and meows when she thinks it’s walk time. And I obey her, of course! She has become somewhat social now that guests fi- nally are able to come over; she lets them put out their hand and she sniffs it and then decides whether to let Emma and Holly them pet her. I’ve gained some new habits. Holly still is a bit phobic about jumping into the refrigerator while I try to remember what I wanted to take out. Oh, yes, she has taught me to always, always make sure she isn’t in the refrigerator when I close the door. I was given a little book, “101 Reasons Why a Cat is Better Than a Man” by Allia Zobel. She doesn’t advocate giving up men altogether, but says “women need to be more se- lective by looking for someone who’s warm, playful, loving, affectionate, trustworthy and patient.” That’s my Holly! Another well-known fact for seniors is that dogs and cats lower your blood pressure. And I never feel alone with her snuggling in my bed (kind of like an old-fashioned hot water bottle at my feet). She has learned a lot of words, such as “no,” “down,” “eat,” “drink,” “hot,” “fetch” and “treat.” I think my cognitive abilities have improved, too. In all fairness to dog lovers, I am compelled to remem- ber the 10 years when we had “George,” our black cocker spaniel. I will share his story one of these days. And yes, I think a dog is more work. For this stage of my life, with my little Holly, I can honestly say I think cats are the purrrr- fect companions. 11 Radio station adopts and cleans local highway stretches A small but enthusiastic crew has decided to put their love for KMUN and passion for a healthy en- vironment to work. Hard work. KMUN listener Levi Lippold, station Develop- ment Director Susan Pe- terson, and board mem- ber Todd Lippold have been out picking up trash along highways 26 and 101. Wearing yellow safe- ty vests and clutching large trash bags, they’ve cleaned the first two miles of Highway 26 and along a two-mile stretch of High- way 101 north of the Del Ray Beach turnoff. “It’s fun, good exercise Courtesy KMUN and exciting to take a lit- KMUN Development Director tle ownership of a couple Susan Peterson at the Adopt-A- stretches of highways that Highway sign along with the truck we can put the station’s full of trash the group collected on name on and maintain for Highway 101. our community,” Lippold said. “Maybe, when people clean and beautiful.” see the signs or us out there Of course, the group rec- cleaning, it will make a pos- ommends drivers tune into itive impression about keep- KMUN 91.9-FM as they ing our environment natural, cruise past.
