Razzle's vanishing act

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Razzle’s vanishing act


Image by alexanderino
On the 26th of June, I was walking back home, battling strong winds and a threateningly dark sky, when my eye spotted a familiar image on a pole. It was my second photo of Razzle, and underneath was a message: he had vanished four days ago. His family, clearly distraught, appealed to anyone who may have spotted him in the vicinity.

Razzle’s home was only a few steps away. I knocked, but there was no one inside. Grief and alarm struck me hard. The weather had been quite nasty for many days now, and visibility was poor. This didn’t deter many drivers into slowing down, though. Could he have been a victim?

From what I know of injured cats, they’re bound to take shelter close to home, if possible. I set out to scour the area for any trace of him. In an adjacent street is an array of houses sharing a common façade. One had two derelict chairs in the verandah. I had almost walked past it, when a spotted a grey blob nestled in the left chair. I ran over, and lo and behold, it was Razzle! He was conscious and mewed softly, but didn’t seem too keen to move. He was clearly injured, but in a stable condition. Next to him was a bowl of water and a small tin of cat food which appeared untouched.

I ran back to the poster, wrote down the mobile number and called Julie [his mum]. She was ecstatic, but could barely believe that he was found so close to home as they had exhaustively searched the surroundings.

It would be an hour before Julie could get home, so I stayed with Razzle. He didn’t move much, but he tossed and turned, dragging his hind feet around. A car roared past us, and he instinctively cowered. It was most likely a hit-and-run that occurred in the wee hours of the morning, when he would be out on the streets with Gelato and Elliott. Unlike them, Razzle’s road sense is not tack-sharp.

Shortly, an elderly man came up to us. He had seen Razzle in the same spot for a few days and left him the cat food. After I assured him Razzle would be fine, he left us.

It was obvious that Razzle had not eaten a morsel. I had a lamington on me. When Razzle saw it, he began to sniff away desperately. I gave him the yellow centre, in small pieces. He finished it off in record time.

The door opened, and a woman stepped out. She had seen Razzle in the chair for the last two days, but she didn't get a chance to do anything as she had to work from 0600h to 2300h! Razzle had lost his collar a few weeks ago, so there was no ID on him. Nonetheless, she fed him water, since he wouldn't eat anything. She also mentioned that Razzle would move from one chair to another, so it wasn't immediately obvious that he was hurt. Shortly afterwards, she went inside. Did I mention it was freezing cold?

The rain began to pelt down again, and the wind carried it in and drenched Razzle and me. I propped open my crappy umbrella and shielded him from it. He was shivering away, so I took off my jumper and wrapped him up in it. Without warning, he looked up and gazed into my eyes with love and gratitude. It was so pure and unmistakeable, it was impossible to remain unmoved. And so we waited for Julie’s arrival.

Ten minutes later, Julie’s elder daughter and her boyfriend ran towards us. She was utterly relieved and happy, and Razzle recognised her. Gingerly, we moved him into a cardboard box and strode back home, shielding him from the incessant rain with the umbrella.

Once inside, we put Razzle, still in the box, next to the fireplace. Gelato arrived, examined Razzle with his nose, then hissed and walked off. Now that’s a welcome

I was late for a meeting in the city, so I went home to change and grab my camera. On the way back, I dropped in. Julie had arrived home by now, and needless to say, she was quite grateful. After taking a couple of pics of Razzle, I said my goodbyes and left.

The vet found out his hip was broken in three places. We were worried he would require surgery, and not just because it’s prohibitively expensive here. However, the vet also determined his spine was untouched, and that Razzle would need no surgery, but heal on his own in a few weeks.

Those weeks have passed. I regularly dropped in to check on him, and he has mended very well. There was hardly a trace of wobble when I last saw him walk a week ago. Gelato is still a bit leery of him. But Razzle is home, and he is safe.

Treasure Chest


Image by The Bottomless Paddling Pool
I have a treasure chest, and it’s filled to the brim. Check it out…

1. Black film canister with typewritten sticker reading "BROKEN TOOTH"
2. A button in the shape of an apple, red and green
3. Antique wooden bingo piece, No. 82
4. Two small glass lenses from a vintage Super 8 camera
5. The plastic eye of a teddy bear, pink
6. Three clear raw quartz crystals
7. A clear and black gemstone, name unknown
8. An opaque sea blue gemstone, name unknown
9. A raw amethyst crystal
10. The life vest from a 1970's army doll set, fluoro orange, reads "AIR VEST U.S.A.F"
11. A used vintage matchbook for Warings Meat Supplies
12. An empty vintage matchbox with a barrel logo reading "MARTINS"
13. A circa 1975 NZ 2cent stamp of the Tussock Butterfly
14. An event ticket, reads "ADMIT ONE", No. 37763
15. A circa 1975 NZ 4cent stamp of an amethyst crystal
16. A 1969 stamp of an aquatic fossil, unknown country of origin (probably somewhere in east Europe)
17. A plastic white fender guitar pick
18. A plastic red Dunlop guitar pick
19. The broken of teaspoon emblem of West Malling
20. The unused matchbook for El Sombrero, an Mexican chain restaurant
21. Unused vintage matchbook for Totara Park, NZ
22. Antique reference number complaint slip from a WW1-era bandage tin
23. Mostly used vintage matchbook for racing horse Makor, "WINNER OF 9,130"
24. Ziplock bag with a cut up piece of a photo inside (photo shows a razor blade and an anatomy illustration pinned to a wall)
25. Two 1979 stamps of a map of an unknown location, probably somewhere in Europe
26. Vintage bottle label for "Fruit Vino"
27. The end of a colour photo film reel, depicts an overhead view of a valley and lake
28. Printed piece of card for holding a badge, Japanese origin
29. Plastic bread tag, green
30. Used vintage matchbox for Flash Instant Printing, a chain copy shop from Australia
31. A loose colour photo negative, depicts a an empty desert
32. Used vintage matchbox for Geyserland Motel Hotel, Rotorua, NZ
33. Part of a microfiche reel of magazine pages
34. Stamp of a red smiley face on a piece of tissue paper
35. Business card, typewritten onto receipt paper, no longer in use
36. CNC etched label of "K.B.A (INC.), white on black
37. Three vintage tobacco stamps, dated 24.2.1958
38. Toy plastic revolver from a 1970's army doll set, black
39. Microfilm container label from the International Antarctic Analysis Centre, dated February 1960
40. A used vintage matchbook for ShantyTown Nightclub, Civic Theatre, Queen Street, Auckland, NZ
41. Ziplock bag a cut up piece of a photo photo inside (photo shows an illustration of an island, a found passport photo and stencil pattern)
42. A circa 1975 NZ 2cent stamp of the Red Admiral Butterfly
43. Photo from a Super 8 projector manual
44, Vintage 35mm Ilford film reel, unused, 36 exp., ASA 400
45. Two dental x-rays of a Miss P. Wadsworth's metal-filled teeth stored in small envelope from dental surgeon Peter B. Smith, dated 7.3.79, England
46. Antique return train ticket to Kirk Michael and back to Castletown, England
47. Vintage matchbook face for Okato, a cheese company, Taranaki, NZ
48. Vintage Band Aid still in packet
49. Two compasses, one larger and cheaper, one smaller and better quality
50. Aluminium photo slide, photo depicts a snowy ski field
51. A black plastic container to hold parts of a Japanese calligraphy set, holds many small gemstones and shells
52. A loose colour photo negative, depicts a motel bathroom
53. Piece of an old collage, plastic wood grain sheet and stamp
54. Detachable circuit from a dismantled radio walkman to control bass/treble level, blue, white, silver, black
55. Cut out of a bedside clock mechanism from a circa 1960 Readers Digest home handyman style book.
56. Circuit from a dismantled radio walkman to control audio qualities
57. Project Echo logo cut from perspex, black
58. McGyver Mini Book, made of reused paper/card, stored in match box case
59. Nugget of Pyrite
60. Lego minifigure, a pirate body and bandanna with a robot head
61. Vintage Bakelite dollhouse baby
62. Dried seed head of unknown plant
64. Wind-up motor from a toy car, black
65. Two pullback motors from Kinder Surprise toys
66. Ziplock bag containing many small pieces of sand-smoothed beach glass, brown, green and colourless varities
67. Plastic Vietnam-era Air New Zealand tiki souvenir, still in bag with booklet
68. Gold horseshoe themed ring, carat unknown, unknown red gem set in centre
69. Viewfinder lens array from a vintage disposable camera
70. .50 Caliber bullet, unfired, dead
71. Time counter from an old cassette deck, mechanism still works
72. Plastic brush as part of a typewriter cleaning kit, circa 1963 manufacture
73. Pink plastic pig
74. Redish dreadlock, capped on head end
75. LPFM transmitter, in working order
76. Toy plastic Apatosaurus
77. HO scale model train wheels
78. Pill canister holding a tuft of brown hair
79. Ziplock bag holding three cut and polished cubic zirconia crystals
80. Dismantled diaphragm of a vintage piezo electric disk, removed from old telephone
81. Seashell resting on cottonwool stored inside a card box wrapped in plastic, vintage
82. Antique rubber date stamp, rubber missing, made in England by Dormy
83. Three normal looking small rocks with multicoloured metallic growth, name unknown
84. Two vintage Eveready 1.5volt cells, made in NZ
85. Two crystals with attachment for hanging them from a necklace, one amethyst, the other name unknown
86. Silver acorn
87. Viewfinder lens from a Super 8 camera
88, Vintage photosensitive resistor, red and green wires
89. Cog from a Super 8 camera
90. EQ controller from a dismantled radio walkman, green and silver
91. Miniature power pole
92. Rubber stamp piece, reads "Chch", stained blue
93. Dismantled part from a cellphone vibrator motor, very tiny!
94. Vintage dismantled DC motor
95. Four newish dismantled DC motors, one stored inside a sealed plastic tube
96. Shell casing from a .38 bullet, silver
97. Lock of hair in a gum wrapper held closed with a hair tie, golden brown
98. Hollow rock cracked in two, insides are lined with small colourless crystals
99. Row counter for hand knitting, blue and white
100. Black plastic headphones clip
101. Stripe of red embossing tape, reads "AUDIO IN 9V DC IN"
102. Department of Conservation logo for their Conservation Campsites, black on thin white plastic
103. Nugget of Turquoise, small hole through it for beading
104. Glass fuse rated 0.4amps at 240volts, blown
105. Bass boost selector from a dismantled radio walkman, brown, beige and black
106. Flashbulb from a vintage disposable camera
107. Simple circuit connecting two red and green LEDs
108. Small bag, contains small shells identified on slip of paper, from Germany, vintage
109. Binoculars from a 1970's army doll set, black
110. Ammo case from a 1970's army doll set, green

Alberts Lake


Image by Vermin Inc
Need a break from all this home and studio work – I think I will go to the park for a walk.

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Razzle's, vanishing