The Garden in the Sky, an Angel’s Game, a Week of Grief, and an Energy Healing for Uma

To say that it has been a rough couple of weeks is an understatement. We came home from a “dream trip” to Alaska to the news that my Emerson was gone. It was something I could not even fathom.

The mind warp that came with the knowledge that my former best friend, whom I had entrusted my precious babies to, had thrown a party in our home, had not made sure that Emerson was in, that he was killed by a bobcat, that Uma had a severe shoulder injury, and that Rebecca would lie about the whole thing was just more than my little brain could bear.

To deal with it, I have been building a new “Garden in the Sky” on the balcony off of my yoga room. It’s a large balcony that I had always intended for this purpose. But, because of a design flaw, the kitties had taken to using the fireplace, which they could get out onto, as a super-highway into the backyard for years.

So, after blocking the fireplace off (temporarily) with umbrellas and a plastic drop cloth and screening material, I ended up hiring a specialist for cat containment and critter deterrant.

But he had to order the materials and it took a couple of weeks to get it all together. In the meantime, I ordered a huge umbrella, bought two carloads of plants and pots and a big rug and lots of cat beds, a fountain, a new scratching post, a kitty tent, and lots of coir mats for them to scratch on.

They have been timid to come out here. They are still very traumatized about their brother’s death. I’m pretty sure that they saw it all happen through the window. And I think that Uma’s shoulder injury (and bloody claws) were the result of her fighting through the screen door to try to save her brother.

But I have, slowly, been luring them out here. I’m currently perched on the floor with my laptop at this moment, watching Bisou. He loves the pots of catnip.

Midweek, we went to an Angels/Dodgers game with some good friends. The Angels were rather abysmal. But, I go to these things more for the conversation than anything else anyways.

Then, it was back to the “Garden in the Sky. You can see the potting and planting in process here. And the umbrella showed up.

Freyja has been the bravest. I am trying to create different “zones” up here so that they have places to hide.

Until the big umbrella showed up, it was getting pretty hot up here midday and I don’t think that they felt very protected. Uma took one look at it and said, “No way, Mom!”

And Bisou would peek out and then turn tail and head back in, watching from the safety of inside.

We’ve been hanging out out here each evening with a little wine and a portable Sonos speaker.

I have a friend, Paula Cook, who does energy healing. She’s pretty incredible. She did a session with Uma the other night and it really seems to have helped calm her down. Uma’s shoulder is doing a lot better. She did one on me last night and I swear I could feel her working on me, even though it was a remote session.

Emerson has come to me in a couple of dreams lately. They felt so real that I swear I could feel his weight in my arms, the fuzzy fluff of his little pantaloons, and the satiny fur on his forehead where I kissed him.

He always used to sleep in his little cup beside my desk in the afternoon, while I was writing or editing photos and I really, really miss seeing him there.

The cat containment system (a spring-loaded mesh that curves out over the deck) was installed on the railings yesterday and it seems to be totally effective, both at keeping kitties in and at keeping critters out.

I was also worried about hawks — not so much for Uma (who is our “curvy” girl) or Bisou (who is just a big cat), but for little Freyja. She clocks in at just under nine pounds. But the netting extends out far enough to almost touch the umbrella, so I think she’s now safe.

And they also seem to sense that they are now safe.

Last night and this morning, Uma got pretty brave and joined me out here for quite a while. Is that fluffy white tummy just the cutest thing?

I really want to say thank you to all of my friends, here on medium and in the yoga community, for the kind messages and the outpouring of love. I just can’t even tell you how much it has meant to us.

We are feeling like we need to start picking up the pieces a bit more and get back to some normalcy. The devastation still comes in waves. But we are taking great joy in watching the babies beginning to enjoy their new space. And I am feeling the urge to get back to writing. After all, I have a whole Alaska adventure to share with you. And it was a good one.

Erika Burkhalter is a yogi, neurophilosopher, cat-mom, photographer, and lover of travel and nature, spreading her love and amazement for Mother Earth’s glories, one photo, poem or story at a time. (MS Neuropsychology, MA Yoga Studies).

You might also enjoy:

As always, I thank you Dennett for creating this “week in photos” challenge.

It’s so fun to share about the week and to read about so many other photographers’ weeks around the world.

You might want to check out a few of the others who participate:

Dennett /Anne Bonfert /Eileen Vorbach /Lisa Bolin /Tracy Aston /David Wade Chambers/Kim Zuch /Barbara Radisavljevic /LensAfield /Barbara Dalton /Sasha Meyer /Susan Alison /Diana Lotti /Barbara Dalton /K. Barrett /June Nguyen /Juan O. Aguilera /Ellie Jacobson /Shruthi Sundaram/ Pene Hodge /Tracy Aston/ Sandra Barrett/Jillian Amatt — Artistic Voyages (if I’ve missed any of the “week in photos” tribe, please let me know!)

If you enjoyed this piece, you might consider subscribing to my stories. You’ll get an alert whenever a story gets published. While I do normally post my stories with free “friends” links on social media, if you enjoy reading on medium, you can help the many talented writers here by joining. It helps to support the arts and to keep us writing!

And, because I’ve had a few people asking lately, if you’re ever interested in purchasing a photo, just leave me a note.

Photos and story ©Erika Burkhalter. All rights reserved.