I am despairing today because nothing I write or say has any impact on the situation in Gaza. I am despairing because it’s come to the point where long friendships are evaporating. If you cannot see that genocide is happening, if you support grown men and women zip-tying the wrists of children and beating them to try and induce confessions (does a three-year old taken from a playground know what they are confessing to, or have a signature to affix?) or if it’s ok with you that your country (and mine) are sending billions of dollars to support an army that is bombing civilians (who do not have an army and who have not had the power to vote for a government since 2006) then I am sorry but I cannot sit with you at this, or any, table.
But because I imagine you didn’t sign up to my Substack to read me ranting on the subject I shall turn to gentler things. Since I was last in Morocco I feel the situation has improved for the cats and dogs who have to fend for themselves in the streets. There seem to be less that are in great distress (though who knows, perhaps many perished in the earthquake, I don’t know), more that are being regularly fed and evidence that a neutering program is making life easier for the females of both species.
Shopkeepers don’t seem to mind cats showing off how comfortable their wares are. In the mornings I saw people doing the rounds with bags of cat-crunchies, opening tins of sardines for kittens and filling up accessible water stations. More so in Marrakech and Essaouira than in the villages, but still it warmed my heart. So here are just a few of the many pictures I snapped of the adorable furry creatures we encountered on our journey. Some of them are sleeping on very nice things indeed.
See that snipped ear? That indicates the animal has been desexed.
If you purchase a textile in Morocco I think you could confidently assume that a cat will have slept on it at some point.
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Lastly, because I can, and to keep my own spirits up, I made a silly video of myself on the England Coastal Path just south of Sunderland, somewhere between a field of abandoned but beautiful red cabbages, and a swathe of cheery cowslips ; twirling up insects for the swooping swifts and trying desperately to always keep a bit of silly in my pocket, no matter what.
PS the next post will see the restoration of paid content, with a story about a magical garment I found in Essaouira that has an intriguing connection with the American flour mill that invented Betty Crocker.
Here’s a photo to whet your appetite.
I agree with you completely. I am not anti Semitic but Netanyahu is a dictator and Jews should rebel against this genocide.
Interesting cats and how they fit in with the community and are cared for. Thank you for your thoughts and sharing. ❤❤