Because Cats

Toussaint Charbonneau is forced to accept a new resident

Hello, Friends -

The big news at the Hunter-Kim compound here in Bellows Falls is that a new used cat has found a forever home. At our house, cats are named after members of the Lewis & Clark Corps of Discovery (since 2000, we have had Meriwether, Pvt. Silas Goodrich, York, and Charbonneau; dear, departed Studio Cat Corduroy was Betty Soo’s cat in Texas before coming to live at 33 Bridge Street, and thus exempt from renaming).

I went to the local Used Cat Store a few weeks ago, and, thanks to the magic of video calls, Betty Soo and I settled on a very friendly 14-month old orange guy. I filled out the paperwork and brought him home just before Betty Soo came up for a week off before heading out on what is going to be an exhausting summer James McMurtry tour.

Much of our time together was spent vetting names for the new arrival. After close examination of the recorded behavior of multiple Corps of Discovery members, we winnowed the list down to Francois LaBiche (skilled hunter, valued interpreter, excellent boatman), Alexander Willard (from Charlestown, NH - just up the road, court martialed for sleeping while on guard duty) and John Collins.

Pvt. John Collins enjoys a lovely afternoon nap after dispatching a mouse in the kitchen, burying it under Dad’s luggage, and triumphantly urinating over it all. An excellent day all around.

We settled on Private John Collins. How could we resist? A fine name, with a distinguished service record. To boot:

John Collins was born in Maryland. He was recruited at Fort Kaskaskia from the 1st Infantry Regiment. Although he was a good hunter, he was often drunk and disobedient. When he was supposed to be hunting, he sometimes visited a nearby grog shop and returned severely inebriated. When he and another man went grouse hunting on 5 January 1804, they found part of a butchered hog hung in the woods, brought it back to camp, and claimed it was bear meat. He was court-martialed and received 100 lashes for stealing whiskey from the official supply when supposedly guarding it.

Since his arrival, Pvt. Collins has shown himself to be a dedicated hunter, waiting quietly -for hours- behind a bag of kibble before pouncing upon, and dispatching, an unsuspecting mouse (we will skip over his burying the corpse under Dad’s luggage and then peeing on everything) and avid lap-sitter, but negotiations as to territorial rights are still ongoing between him and resident cat Charbonneau.

During the day, Charbonneau -who is an indoor/outdoor cat- comes and goes in a district that encompasses The Office and Otsid, whilst Pvt. Collins has the run of the rest of the house. In evening hours, the door to Otsid is locked, and Charbs and Pvt. Collins coexist within the entirety of the house.

The problem, according to Charbonneau, is that Pvt. Collins does not, as yet, fully understand his place in the great scheme of things. To wit, here is Charbonneau explaining to his young friend that He Is Not Welcome On The Bed:

I think you will agree that, although the language being spoken is Cat, the meaning is unmistakable. Also the extremely flat ears.

The excitement here at the house, coupled with just taking it easy to be with my beloved for a few days, has resulted in a bit less painting taking place than normal. We have a fair bit of painting time scheduled this week, however, along with teaching a workshop at Southern Vermont Arts Center tomorrow, so we hope to have some good stuff under our belts before we take the train out to Utah in a week to participate in the Fryer/Hunter Gathering, the juried colloquium I run with Doug Fryer, with a dozen terrific artists. We will fill you in on that in a few weeks.

Tomorrow, we will offer our paid subscribers our Monthly Absurdly Discounted Painting, one original piece that we make available for $450 (as opposed to the normal gallery price of $1450-$3000), with all proceeds outside postage and a cheeseburger going to charity. Last month, we offered two pieces, and raised $450 for a friend walking the length of the UK to benefit WARCHILD, a nonprofit aiding children victimized by armed conflict; and $450 for EARTHJUSTICE, an organization waging legal battles on behalf of our wild lands against the depredations of the current regime.

I think this coming month we will keep things close to home and raise money for PARKS PLACE, our local social services clearinghouse. If you’re interested in owning a Charlie Hunter for cheap, maybe you’d like to become a paying subscriber (though there are no other benefits to speak of - this newsletter is free, and freely given).

Take good care, and keep creating (stay away from that old AI) -
~ Charlie

PS: I believe only two spaces remain for my final one-day workshop this year, August 30 up at Bryan Memorial Gallery in Jeffersonville, VT. Here’s the link.