After some difficult years, Minnie the barn cat is coming into her own, she has found her place on the farm and in the sun, it is on Maria’s fiber chair, now sitting in the middle of the yard and Minnie’s new favorite spot on the earth. She sits there all day, sun or clouds, I took Fate out at 3 a.m. last night, and Minnie was still sitting in her new throne. Suddenly, she is even more regal than Flo, Minnie is the Queen Mother of Bedlam Farm.

She sits in her chair and talks to everyone who passes by, saying hello, complaining and commenting on life on the farm. Three years ago, Minnie’s leg was severely damaged by some animal attack, we think a ferret. Her leg was amputated and as you know, I have always been uneasy about our decision to amputate, it’s cost and the toll it took on Minnie. I don’t think people have the right to inflict great suffering on animals without their being able to consent.

But I am feeling good about it, seeing Minnie in the fiber palace her beloved Maria has built, string by string, day by day, for more than a year. Love is much more powerful than hate.