On January 22, 1997 our farm house built in 1901 caught fire and burnt to the ground. We relocated to a home about 14 miles away as we waited for spring and the chance to rebuild. After working at the elementary school I would drive to the farm and do the pruning of all of the apple trees. On most days Marily's cat would follow me out into the orchard. As I pruned she would hunt mice and depending on the weather, lay in the sun. As she was a barn cat I didn't really have to worry about her.
One day as I arrived at the farm the snow was blowing and the wind made it almost impossible to see. Pulling into the drive way I didn't see the cat and thought she was waiting for me in the barn, where I kept my coveralls and tools. She wasn't in the barn either so I just went to work in the orchard. i could only work a couple of hours because of the wind and snow. I cut the pruning time short and decided to head for home. Pulling out of the drive way I saw Marily's cat lying dead in the ditch on the opposite side of the road. With the snow blowing I decided that i would take care of the cat the next day. With the four or five cars that traveled the road I wondered how she got hit.
The next day I headed to the farm with the plan of taking care of the cat. As I approached the farm I began looking for the cat. I pulled my truck over near the drive and intended to get out and find the cat. As I was ready to get out a full grown male Bald Eagle came up out of the ditch with the cat in it's claws. The Eagle, with Marily's cat held fast, landed in the field about a hundred yards away. Waiting for the Eagle was his life partner. The circle of life moved on.
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