The following is an excerpt from my new book, Memoirs of a Renaissance Man (available of Amazon)
Arch Nemesis, Shorty Carter
In the evening, Adi and I left for a quick errand; it was already dark outside, and the night was coming to an end. As we got in the car, I mentioned to Adi that the eclipse seemed to pass without anything unwelcoming coming into our life (eclipses are known to bring seismic changes, some undesirable).
As we drove down the driveway toward the main road, Cannon Drive (named after Adi’s grandmother’s family), we saw two eyes glowing back at us as we traversed the long path. We pulled onto the main road, and as we did we saw that it was Shorty who had raced across the street. Now Shorty is a feral cat so naturally I assumed that he probably leaves our land on occasion to go explore; Adi is way too tender-hearted and she instantly decided we needed to go and save Shorty.
“That’s Shorty! I can’t just leave him out here, he may never find his way back,” she said while springing to action.
We pulled into Willie Brown Elementary School, which is directly across the street from the family compound; Adi stopped the car, got out and went over to Shorty. I could see her petting him and after awhile I decided to get into the driver’s seat of the car and pull around to pick them up to take Shorty back to the land.
Right as I was pulling close to them, I saw Brennon approaching with something in his hand (it turned out it was a towel to wrap Shorty in—and a bowl of food to entice him into the towel). Right as Brennon got close to Shorty the cat got spooked and darted away from Adi. The search was on to find Shorty and with it our evening plans.
I watched as Adi and Brennon walked away on the hunt to find this stray cat (technically, we have no responsibility for this “outside” cat that has apparently become ours via proxy). After 15 minutes, Adi and Brennon returned to the car to inform me that Shorty ran away never to be found. Adi was crying at this turn of events. My earlier proclamation that we alluded any tragedy during this eclipse came back to bite me in the ass less than 30 minutes after I uttered the words. That’s what I call words manifesting quickly!
“It’s eclipse season. Endings!” she said. “Shorty is gone and never coming back.”
I didn’t share Adi’s morbid line of reasoning, but I knew not to say anything.
“Just let her process this,” I thought silently to myself.
I knew this had far more to do with her grandfather’s state of health than the stray cat. Shorty, being named after her grandfather, represented what was to come with him. I understood Adi was grieving and I did what I never would have done in my youth—I didn’t try to fix the situation or offer any words of comfort. I knew that she just needed to cry.
It was about 8 pm at this point and I thought it might be best to just call it a night. It had been a long day (we got up very early this morning), and I was looking to read Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations before getting a good night’s rest. Adi showered before bed, and I could hear her crying and processing the last few days.
As I closed out the night, I considered this eclipse we are going through this evening. Eclipses are usually associated with beginnings and endings – internal as well as external. An eclipse or Grahan always indicates a remarkable change or a meaningful event. And, the event or change may be for the better, and might well lead to positive results. However, from ancient times several people feared eclipses and considered it a bad omen that could lead to war, famine, or another natural disaster. Today, astrologers view eclipses as an opportunity for development and growth. Astrologically, an eclipse is regarded as a very important phenomenon, especially if it occurs in significant places in the horoscope of a person, or a country.
What would this eclipse bring? Would it be an omen or is new growth upon us? Isn’t this all how we look at anything? What one person may view as an omen another may see as an incredible opportunity. It’s all in the lens through which we view it.
As I drifted off to sleep, I felt Shorty would be okay; her grandfather, on the other hand, may be close to transitioning. Only time will tell.
Editors note: To read more Shorty Carter adventures and more check out David’s new book, Memoirs of Renaissance Man.
