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We just got back from taking Emma to the beach for her 6th birthday. (She'll have a party next week, when everyone can make it). Tuxedo clamored to use the backyard and as it was still light, I let him out. We knew that at some point this weekend they were going to spray us with malathion in response to the death of several elderly people from encephalitis carried by mosquitos. We had been given conflicting reports, the final one of which said Monday night was spray night. It was Sunday. We listened to the night bugs begin their song, wondering if this was the last we would hear of them. We talked about the birds, and about the Mama cat and her kittens we just found after weeks of searching, and wondering if we could trap them Monday before the spray. I snuggled Emma down with some books around 8 p.m. As we were reading, I heard the ominous sound of a chopper overhead. I went to the window. The spraying had begun! Frantically, I ran outside and called Tuxedo. He was playing his hiding game (not NOW, Mom, I'm hunting bugs!) He wouldn't come in. The chopper kept making pass after pass overhead, raining us with insecticide from the sky. We ran around shutting all the windows, then sat crying, worried about Tuxedo and the strays. I called the Mayor's Action Hotline and gave them an earful. Then Bob called them. Then Emma called them. Then Bob called them again. Then we gave the number to all our neighbors and friends to call in. They gave us misinformation about the timing of this fiasco. It was a horror. I felt like refugees in a war zone, listening to the chopper passing again and again, helpless to stop it.
My friend who lived in LA for 10 years was supposed to come down from upstate for a few days, but when she called we told her to stay with friends in Jersey for the night. She said they had done that to her in LA, spraying for fruit flies. There were no adverse affects to her, her husband or her cat. This calmed us down a bit. At 1:30 a.m. I opened the back door and Tuxedo came out of hiding - from under the van in the driveway! I washed him all over with a wash cloth, then gave him fresh food and water. I'll watch him closely. We had forced our outdoor cat inside, and the others all stay indoors, so they're fine. But what a scare. And the mayor claims he is going to do this every week (!) until the frost. I won't be able to handle this. It is total overkill. Plus he never got clearance from the EPA, can you believe it?! He just makes decisions like some kind of dictator. New York City is really beginning to bite. Between the overcrowding, the pollution, and a fascist mayor, it's a wonder we're all surviving as well as we do. I attribute it to the calming effect cats have on us - how else can we explain the millions of happy cat owners in NYC who haven't gone off the deep end yet? <grin>
Editor's note:
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