Send a postcard from Sequim.

Three years ago, our two black cats disappeared. It was their custom to head out through the doggie door early in the morning to patrol the property and rid the place of mice, leaving their prizes for us to find as we awakened. They would then sit down and wash, and await their breakfast, often catching a quick nap. As it turned out, the hunters became the hunted. First little Sammers didn't return- her mouse-offering was discovered by the garage door later in the morning. Then a month later, Moochie disappeared. We think perhaps a coyote or an owl hunted them. About three weeks after these events took place, our large black and white cat was buzzed by a young hawk. Clearly this rural commmunity is hazardous to outdoor cats.

It is also not a good place to be an unwanted feline. Genuine barn cats know they have a job and place. But the stray, or the cat made homeless by the death of his person, is at a disadvantage. There is no humane society or animal shelter here in Sequim, so a few kind-hearted people created Peninsula Friends of Animals in an attempt to curb this abandonment. They help people get in touch with each other to place the pets needing homes.
As a disclaimer - I have become affiliated with the group; I created their website, which is yet another avenue for helping these homeless animals find new homes.

Ki'ki and Bitsy joined our family through Friends of Animals two years ago this week. They are now permanently settled here and the feline pecking-order has been established, in spite of our efforts to change that. They have grown up - no longer a kitten, 'Bitsy has settled down., but she is still a purely-feline huntress. Perhaps we need to find her a home as a barn-cat. She hides whenever the doorbell rings, as she has become stranger-shy.

Ki'Ki has come out from under the bed and is much more self-assured - attempting to become the alpha cat... her goal is to become an only cat- impossible in this household. She will have to sort out and accept this situation. Maybe next year she'll have learned that? Naw...

Just north of Carrie Blake park is the Sequim Water Reclamation Study Showplace. In a city whose motto is "where water is wealth", every drop of water is precious. This years' drought has emphasized that. Reclaimed wastewater is further filtered here and used as irrigation water for the fields, lawns, golf courses, and cultivation crops.

The little visitor center has displays about the process of water reclamation and how such water can be used again. Posters and photographs line the walls. The reclaimed water has been routed over a waterfall, through some ponds, and makes its way to the ocean via streams. Cautionary signs dot the area- "do not drink this water" "No swimming". This little area is very relaxing on a hot summers' day.

And in Carrie Blake Park there's a very attractive Friendship Garden, a joint effort by the citizenry of Sequim and her Sister City of Yamasaki, Japan. A pond with an island in the middle has a stone lantern; exquisite plantings are enhanced by wooden bridges, water from Bell Creek flows through the area - all these contribute to the serenity of this site.

Just beast of the friendship garden is a large open shelter, with picnic tables, near playgrounds for the children. It is a great place for those birthday parties!

© Helen Hille and deebrrs, 2003
Last updated June 28, 2003