Sebastian and Ginseng - Land At Home
Peter Wolf wasn't 'looking' for any new family members, but Great Kitty Rescue cats are irresistable!
I wasn't in the market for a cat when I adopted Sebastian or, just two months later, Ginseng. With three cats already - one 16-plus, and the most recent only a year old - I had my hands full. Today, though, I can't imagine what it would be like without Sebasttian and Ginseng around.
My connection with the Great Kitty Rescue began when Kate and I spent a few days volunteering in Pahrump. Then, in March, I attended the memorial at Angels Rest, and met several of the heroic people involved with this monumental rescue. I helped the best way I knew how, pitching the story to newspapers, magazines, radio and television shows. And yet, even after I had a piece published in Las Vegas CityLife, I remained - in one sense, anyhow - largely on the sidelines.
That all changed during our next visit to Best Friends, over Memorial Day weekend, when I first worked with Ginseng, one of the many shy and fearful cats being socialized at Rescue Village. I don't know which of us was more nervous, but somehow we managed to get along - and quickly developed a sense of trust.
Sebastian, on the other hand didn't need socializing; he simply needed a home. And maybe a better marketing plan. While his housemates (among them the recently adopted Delilah) were soaking up all the attention, Sebastian would sit quietly on the dirt "porch" of his Rescue Village Yurt. Our bond was immediate and intense.
For me, these two cats demonstrate - each in their own way - wondrous resilience. Sebastian's sweet, charming personality seems to stand in quiet defiance against the horrors to which he was exposed. And Ginseng, though still fearful, is slowly coming around. Over the past 11 months I've witnessed a number of firsts with her - talking, purring, and playing, for example - each of which strikes me as somthing almost miraculous.
Having five cats was never something I aspired to, but my decision to adopt Sebastian and Ginseng is one I'll never regret. Whatever I might provide for them pales in comparison to what they've already brought me.