I was heading off again to meet friends at the People’s Perch in Maine. The People’s Perch is a piece of land with a historical water tower on it. It's a place for people to connect, and community events are often held there. Last year I stayed at The Perch for three weeks. This year I planned to stay for just a week. They were holding their first-ever Perch-Fest and I would be helping set up for the event.
It was an eight-hour drive that I still split into two days because my puppy Sophie needs frequent, long walks. Maggie stayed behind with my parents in New York for a couple weeks. She needed surgery to have bladder stones removed, and the vet said she needed limited activity and should not be around other animals for two weeks after the surgery. With me living in a one-room bus with two other animals, that wouldn’t work out. My parents graciously offered to take care of her.
The first night I made it to Vermont and parked overnight at an abandoned shopping mall. I arrived when it was dark, and it was rather eerie. I was the only one there other than some kids graffiti-ing a wall.
The next morning I walked around the outside of the mall with Sophie, and Thomas followed behind. Other walkers joked that they often saw people walking their dogs, but never anyone walking their cat.
The next day I arrived at The Perch. Everyone was in full prep-mode getting ready for the festival. They let me park my bus in the woods out back, and then I jumped in to help. I helped with painting, setting up tents, picking up trash, and whatever random projects there were to do.
At night we would cook over the campfire next to the outdoor kitchen. One of my favorite things about The Perch, other than the people, is that there's always some sort of music playing. Just about everyone who stays there is musically talented in some way, and random little concerts broke out all the time.
Sophie loved The Perch. She made friends with the other dogs, who liked her sometimes, and other times wanted nothing to do with her puppy energy.
Thomas loved it… until he disappeared. One night after eating pork chops around the fire and carrying a little nibble over to him, I took Sophie and headed for bed. Thomas didn’t come along, but I didn’t think much of it because he often comes in through the cat door during the night whenever he pleases, and beds down next to my pillow. When he hadn’t appeared by morning, I began worrying, and became quite troubled when I called him and he didn’t come. Thomas had never wandered off, and he'd always come instantly whenever I called his name. I searched and searched for that cat for days, up and down the road, in the woods, at nearby businesses, and he was posted to multiple missing cat facebook groups. No luck. I never imagined I could love a cat so much, and I feared the worst.
In between searching for Thomas the Cat, I still had to help prepare for the festival, and finally the day arrived. The first day it poured, the band canceled, and it seemed like it might be a bust. We, however, still held our scheduled activities. One was a juggling workshop led by Ian. We made balls to juggle using tennis balls. We cut holes into them and filled them with pennies to add weight, and then wrapped them in balloons, and Ian started his juggling lessons. I never thought I would learn to juggle because I've tried multiple times before, but this time, with the lessons and special balls, I actually got it! I’m still learning, but with practice, I’ll have it down in no time.
The next day the rain cleared and the sunshine brought the people. There were multiple activities throughout the day. I didn’t participate as much as I would have liked because I spent a lot of time looking for Thomas.
Towards the end of the day, I did get more into the festival spirit once I joined the bike parade. We had three tandem bikes, one with an accordion player on the back, and a super tall bike, which I later enjoyed trying to ride. I wasn’t the best on it, especially since I could barely reach the pedals, but I still had a blast trying to learn. Steering was the hardest for me, and I almost took out a few of the tents.
The evening finished off with making leaf-print t-shirts and enjoying a meal that was prepared over the fire. Then I was off to bed early, excited for the next day, which was full of non-stop workshops.
I started off with one led by Markie. We used plants from the garden, such as goldenrod, to tie-dye clothes. I let mine sit for hours, and was thrilled to see the yellow sunshine like patterns left in the fabric.
Scotty and Seng led an Acro Yoga workshop (a combination of acrobatics and yoga), which I always enjoy. We started out simple, doing partner planks, and then went onto bird pose, which is almost like the game airplane that you play with children. When the flier is lifted off the ground, their hands are let go, and they balance on their hips on the top of their partners feet.
I did a spoon-making workshop led by Dan. We started with blocks of wood and used saws to cut away the larger sections. Then we used whittling tools as he taught us how to shape the spoons. I really loved making my silly looking, lopsided spoon. It was the perfect addition to my kitchen. This activity left me wanting to get my own wood carving kit. I could make all the lopsided kitchen utensils I needed!
That night after dinner, DJ: Risin Son played while we all danced the night away. There was some fire spinning and neon light toys to play with too. As I jumped around on the dance floor with my friends, I couldn’t help but think about how grateful I was to be back with these amazing people for a short bit of time.
The next morning started with tea in the treehouse, which Montana had built. It was a lifelong dream of hers. We did a morning-movement workshop, then everyone was off on their bikes to take farm tours and go for a swim in the river. I stayed behind to search the woods for Thomas some more, still with no luck.
After spending the next day cleaning up from the festival, we were invited to dinner at the house of a friend of The Perch. I tagged along, and we had burgers and ice cream. When we were done eating, we sat outside next to a fire under the stars.
It was almost time for us to leave when Dan, who I had ridden over with, got a call that his dog Steve had wandered off. He was an older dog with bad eyes and this was a normal thing, but we still rushed back to find him. We drove to a gas station near the perch to search for Steve. As Dan shined his light into the woods he said, “I think I just saw a cat.” With little hope since it had been five days, I got out and started calling for Thomas. I shined my light towards the cat and was met by the glow of one eye, and an orange cat slowly staggered out from the bushes. It had to be Thomas! I ran over and grabbed him in disbelief. I got him back to my bus to look him over as quickly as I could, still not fully believing it was him. I kept thinking, “what if this is a different one-eyed orange cat, it is dark after all.” But when I got back to the bus, I saw it was definitely Thomas. I looked him over and found he was injured. Not only did he have small puncture wounds scattered over his body, he also had a very long, wide, and deep gash in his side that stretched to his stomach. It was clearly infected. Who knows what he had been through, and now I understood why he was not able to come back.
I took Thomas to the Portland Emergency Vet where they got him right in. He needed surgery, and they removed the dead and infected skin, stitched him up, placed a drain and he was good to go. I didn’t mind the pricey vet bill, or that I would have to work extra to pay it off. I was just grateful to have my cat back and that he was going to be fine. And, a very compassionate friend helped me with part of the bill.
Thomas healed quickly, and I took him back to the Vet Clinic two more times for scheduled visits, several days after surgery to have the drain removed, and later to take out the stitches. He didn’t understand why he couldn’t go outside while he was recovering, but he also didn’t seem to mind too much. He did mind the cone though, but luckily he was able to have it off when I was in the bus. On the plus side, I got to enjoy the beauty of Portland, where I may not have visited if it hadn’t been for Thomas.
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If you would like to read my blog from the first time I visited the Perch here’s the link:
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