Our gathering at Fern on September 20th was hosted by Carol Kenway, ably assisted by puppet Souris, her white mouse, who sat safely on her shoulder through a number of stories about cats !
Pat C. led off with a story of most successful pleas in grandchildrens' handwritten letters to the Sun God begging for sunshine on a forthcoming family wedding day, followed by Lee Porteous' story of a waif cat, Miko, who made her home with a couple whose livelihood was raising silkworms and how Miko eventually saved those silkworms from destruction by rats by learning to STARE !
Diane G. treated us to the Tlingit legend "Raven and Fog Woman" that she had told at the SC/CC Conference in St.John's this summer when Fog Stories were a requested part of the gathering in that often foggy city.
Shoshana - whose mission as a storyteller often portrays peacemaking - told us of a homeless dog, "Keisha - meaning "bright, shining light" - becoming part of their home and the pleasure of one day coming home to find their formerly feisty-with-dogs cat, and Keisha, comfortably sharing space together.
Gerald Harris brought us the long poem: "Chante (with an accent over the e) and the Forest", the story of a little girl who sang the displaced forest on the outskirts of their city back into the city itself and the wondrous changes the forest brought to the lives of those city dwellers.
Al rounded out the evening with yet another cat story that took place at the Northern end of our Island. Soon after his family's arrival there he innocently enquired of a neighbour - on what proved to be a party line - where one might find a cat in need of a home. Within minutes a small boy stood knocking at the door offering two kittens. Such is the power of the party line Al discovered, and went on to regale us with those cats' many adventures !
submitted by Janna
