What a stray cat taught me about the healing power of the outdoors
/We’re going slightly off the waterfront script for a personal story by our Founder, Jim Ridge:
It all started when a stray cat decided he would adopt us. You don’t choose the cat - the cat chooses you. He showed up in June 2022 and encouraged by the food my wife left out, decided to hang out.
After a week of dating his eyes didn’t seem right - so off to the vet and $400 later the nameless stray became Lil’ Boi (AKA Kevin Love). The vet diagnosed the eye issue was related to his positive feline leukemia test (my wife wondered if that’s why his previous “owners” bounced him) meaning we needed to keep him separate from our two other cats, so Lil’ Boi had a sunny third floor all to himself.
Fast forward to a week ago when Lil’ Bo’s health took a decided turn south. A trip to the vet confirmed our fears his “1 -2 years left” diagnosis from his first vet visit was ending early, and two days later, Lil’ Boi breathed his last breath in my lap at the vet.
Like any pet owner, we shed a few tears at the memories. The planned obsolesence of pets is a terrible thing. Previous periods of grief (the price we pay for love) have taught me to be receptive to signs the universe might be talking to me, through a series of meaningful coincidences and connections. Like a Rick Rubin book, a Taylor Swift song, or even a LinkedIn post.
That fractured mosaic came together in the form of inspiration that’s driving this narrative. I was arriving at insight from my time with Lil’ Boi.
Given Lil’ Boi’s isolation on the third floor, I did my best to make sure he got some outside time each day, Often it would be right around sunset (when it would dawn on me I'd been cranking on the computer for waaaaaaay too long and the day had almost passed).
Since he had cut his teeth as an outside cat, I fitted him with a snappy harness and leash and began training him on the acceptable urban perimeter around our house, yard, alley, and dead-end street in the heart of Ohio City. I let him explore with the leash dragging behind so I could learn what areas interested him.
Lil’ Boi loved:
rolling around on the grass
watching sunlit leaves dance in the breeze
watching bees hover over the clover
rolling around in sandy patches
tapping at pools of water left after a rainstorm
watching people and other animals walk by
hunting through verdant green ground cover.
playing in fallen leaves
“Taken more spiritually, inspiration means to breathe life into. An ancient interpretation defines it as the immediate influence of the divine. For the artist, inspiration is a breath of creative Force drawn in instantly from outside of our small selves. We can’t be sure where the spark of insight originates. It’s helpful to know it’s not us alone.”
And when Lil Boi wandered too far, I’d step on the leash and point him in a more preferable direction. And if he managed to temporarily wander from my sight, it was “end of walk, back upstairs for you”. He was a smart cat and it didn’t take long for him to learn outside time was directly related to him staying inside the “invisible boundary'“. And soon it turned into Lil’ Boi taking ME for walks, usually around sunset, a natural break in my workday. He'd walk around "free" while I enjoyed some downtime outside as I kept an eye on him.
Walking a cat is different than walking a dog as seemingly every few feet there was something interesting to explore. In late spring 2022, there was an evening when Cleveland’s typically bracing spring finally started giving way to warm summer-like breezes and golden sunsets. It was one of these days when Lil’ Boi took me on a walk through the yard. As he walked onto the sunlit grass a breeze wafted through his short fur as his upright raccoon tail bristled. He lifted his head towards the warm sun and I could see him filling his lungs with fresh air. it was the physical manifestation of the word ‘inspiration” (to breathe life into). The sight made me take notice and contemplate how a brief exposure to nature made that cat come alive. The same holds true for us humans.
That spark of insight moves me now as I ponder how those outdoor moments will no longer be shared with Lil’ Boi. But it also makes me more intentional about taking outside breaks as my sunset stroll excuse no longer exists.
Connecting the dots on what the universe is telling me…
As I pondered the teachable moment of Lil’ Boi’s passing, I stumbled upon talented pal Jo Byrne’s/SeeYourWords.com LinkedIn post of her visual notetaking of NPR’s Body Electric episode that was the finale of a 6-part investigation and interactive project with TED Radio Hour host Manoush Zomorodi. Moving more regularly has measurable health benefits for us!
Lil Boi’s last trip to the vet came the morning after a wonderful evening where Share the River was kindly recognized by the Cuyahoga Area of Concern (Cuyahoga AOC) Advisory Committee for their 2023 Champion of the River award. The “award is an encouragement to keep doing great work, rather than a retrospective on past work.” To that end…..
I smiled at the thought of how my walks with Lil’ Boi forced me to unplug and get outside. And I was better off for it. It made me consider what incredible service dogs (and outdoor cats) did for their owners during the pandemic.
My garden epiphany of nature breathing life into Lil’ Boi was a compelling reminder of the Trust for Public Land’s mission of connecting everyone to the outdoors. One hundred million people in America don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk of home.
The things Lil’ Boi loved doing when he was outside were essentially everything a kid loves doing when they spend time outside. Imagine the knock--on benefits if the twenty-eight million children in the U.S. who don’t have a park within a 10-minute walk of home had similar access to inspiring outdoor experiences.
So what to do with the insight Lil’ Boi gave me?
Image by Jo Byrne
I’ve attended countless forums, community engagement and planning meetings ranging from grass-roots community pop-up projects to large-scale transformational projects. I will be especially mindful and listen harder when discussions turn to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility to blue and green spaces. How many of us fall into the trap of doing what we want to do rather than doing what we should be doing?
Speaking of accessibility, it was a fortuitous series of events that led Share the River to add YAKport kayak launches (personal paddle sport launches) to the floating docks at Cleveland Metroparks’ Merwin’s Wharf. Our temporary fix for river access during our 5th Annual Blazing Paddles Paddlefest was such a hit with paddlers that Cleveland Metroparks made them a permanent addition to their floating docks on the river. And just like the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 did, it showed how enhancing access for a specific group of users improved access for ALL OF US.
We can advocate for more thoughtful spaces that allow people access to revitalizing natural resources. If you ask people how to get on the river, educated users will tell you there are only TWO places (Cleveland Metroparks Merwin’s Wharf and Great Lakes Watersports) where the general public can access the Cuyahoga River. We need to do better.
And when people access the river, they must be mindful of sharing the river with commercial maritime operators (#MindTheFreighter). We’ll get better at making our “Know Before You Go on the Cuyahoga River” safety page more visible and widespread.
In terms of thoughtful access, we will be doubling down on our efforts to host historically disadvantaged communities on Cleveland’s bodies of water by meeting those audiences at their level. We will work to help, as Carl Cook, Executive Director of Project Save Cleveland shared in our video conversation “Get people out of the bubble”.
To accomplish the above, Share the River will need plenty of help. When we ask individuals and organizations for your partnership and muscle, we hope to be greeted with “Glad you are here. We share your mindset and have been meaning to do something about that. How can we help make it happen?”