Honoring Veterans

A little early since we have yet to celebrate Halloween but here’s the PDF version of an op-ed I wrote for Veterans Day that was published in the Santa Fe New Mexican.

My View: To honor veterans, listen to their stories

Holes in Our Hearts – Santa Fe Reading

Tella, Paul, Joyce. Manhattan, Kansas. May 1956.

Not the best photo but, I think, the perfect picture to go with the story I wrote about my dad’s service in the Army. On the day pictured above Dad received his commission in the morning and a few hours later graduated from Kansas State University.

My story is included in a military anthology called Holes in Our Hearts. The book is filled with the poems, short stories, and memoirs of 55 New Mexicans. The writers include service members, veterans, family members, caregivers.

Telling our stories is important but can be difficult and I am impressed when I think about the time and effort and care that went into each one of these pieces.

On Saturday ten of the writers will be in Santa Fe for a reading. The works by this group of writers range from a poem about the Holes in Our Hearts sculpture featured on the cover of the book to a child’s memory of an experience at a roadside Buddhist shrine in South Korea to a firsthand account of a deadly rocket attack in Vietnam.

If you happen to be in the Santa Fe area on Saturday, please join us.

Details:
Santa Fe Main Library
145 Washington Avenue
Santa Fe, NM
505-955-6781
August 12th, 2023
2:00 pm – 3:30 pm

Holes in Our Hearts – A Military Anthology

In a departure from my usual stories/essays about wolves, bears, and feral cats I recently wrote a short family history piece about my dad’s time in the U.S. Army. It is included in the anthology of stories, poems, and memoirs in the above-pictured book.

It is an honor to be included with these 54 writers, all New Mexicans and all with a connection to the military. Many are veterans and others are family members or caregivers of veterans.

The book will soon be in all New Mexico libraries. Santa Fe Public Library has two copies available for check out now. It can also be purchased in some local New Mexico bookstores or online at Amazon.com.

On Saturday August 12th the Santa Fe Public Library will host a reading of ten of the writers. Details provided above. Six veterans and four family members will read from their work.

The Cats and Birds of Waikoloa (Part 3) In the News Mid-June 2023

Waikoloa Cats 2022 – Photo by Paula Nixon

Front page news on Wednesday:

Charges Dismissed in Waikoloa Cat-Feeding Case by John Burnett – West Hawaii Today (June 14, 2023)

Great news for Nancy Charles-Parker and Ferol Kolons, cited for giving water and food to cats at Queens’ Marketplace on April 18th after a feeding ban had been put in place to protect endangered nēnē that had discovered the cats’ feeding stations.

Charles-Parker and Kolons were represented pro bono by their attorney, Susan Regeimbal, who agreed with Deputy Prosecutor Matthew Woodward when he moved to dismiss the case. He was quoted as saying “. . . the vast majority of cats have been relocated.”

Funds had been raised for both women’s legal defense by Kohala Animal Relocation and Education Services (KARES) and the founder of the organization, Debbie Cravatta, quoted in the article, stated “that money will go to animal rescue, pet food for shelters, spay neuter, veterinary services for stray animals, etc.”

That is good news for cats, but it doesn’t solve the problem of the Queens’ Marketplace cats. Although a West Hawaii Today article last week said that 64 cats had been adopted, the two rescue groups—AAO and HAKA—doing lots of hard work to capture, spay/neuter, vaccinate, and rehome the felines estimated there were still about 100 remaining. One hundred cats that aren’t getting food or water.

The rescue groups have said they will begin trapping again once they have more adopters lined up.

Thanks to West Hawaii Today for continuing to report on this story as it develops.


Local television station KITV 4 Island News broadcast the story linked below back in May. It takes a look at a group of volunteers caring for a colony of cats in Hilo, on the other side of the Big Island.

Advocates call for solution to big island feral cat feeding ban by Jeremy Lee – KITV 4 Island News (May 7, 2023)

The Cats and Birds of Waikoloa (Part 2) In the News Early June 2023

Good news and bad news in West Hawaii Today this week. This article was on the front page a couple of days ago.

Relocation of cats ‘going well so far’: Animal rescue effort finds homes for Waikoloa felines by Kelsey Walling – West Hawaii Today (June 6, 2023)

According to this story 64 cats have been captured at Queens’ Marketplace. They were spayed/neutered and vaccinated before going to adopters who will kennel the cats for a period of time until the felines become used to their new surroundings. Two rescue groups worked together on this first phase, Aloha Animal Oasis (AAO) and Hawaii Animal Kuleana Alliance (HAKA), and will resume trapping as they find homes for the cats. These groups need volunteers, donations, and of course, adopters!

This letter to the editor published yesterday June 7, 2023. Mr. Chraminski volunteers with AdvoCATS so he has firsthand experience with feeding and caring for a colony of cats.


Cat issue’ spreads

The feral cat issue has reached Keauhou Shopping Center area.

The AdvoCATS group has been leading cat feeders as part of their catch/neuter/ release program, and in the six years I have been a feeder, the population has declined — except not as fast as it should due to irresponsible cat owners dumping cats there.

Now Kamehameha Schools, the property owner, and mall management are making it a trespassing crime to continue feeding the cats.

Their solution is that now the 30 or so cats will wander the whole mall, starving, looking for handouts, and management will then scrape up the carcasses, I guess.

Where is all the animal-control money just allocated going, and why are they not leading to solutions including for cats, mongooses, pigs and goats that run feral all over town now?

Even trapping and euthanizing is more humane than starvation.

Stanley Chraminski Kailua-Kona


I’ll leave it at that for now.

The Cats and Birds of Waikoloa (Part 1) – In the News April/May 2023

WBR Cat
Photo by Paula Nixon

Below is an unpublished letter to the editor that I submitted to West Hawaii Today on May 15th. Note: I don’t know why my letter wasn’t published but I have noticed that the paper doesn’t print many letters from readers. I could have posted the text of my letter it in the comment section of one of the stories listed below but I preferred to publish it here along with links to all of the recent stories.


My first visit to Waikoloa Beach Resort (WBR) was in the early 2000s. Queens’ Marketplace was still on the drawing board and the lone nēnē I saw lived behind glass at the Hilton. Snorkelers, golfers, and stargazers all found something to love. And where we go, the cats follow.

Charmed by the loveliness of the Kohala Coast my husband and I became frequent visitors. I’m a landlubber at heart so I spent my time not on the beach but behind it visiting a colony of cats, talking to volunteers who took care of them. I also looked, in vain, for Hawaiian stilts, coots, and ducks, the native water birds that had once lived in and around the nearby fish and anchialine ponds. None of those endangered birds were found at WBR when the 1985 environmental impact study was drafted. The study mentioned the observation of one feral cat.

On my visits over the last couple of years I began to notice a few nēnē. It was a surprise since Hawai’i’s state bird had not been mentioned in the environmental impact study, but it was good to see that they were recovering, attracted not to the natural habitat but to grassy lawns and other landscaping at hotels and golf courses.

After my early April visit, the nēnē discovery of cat food in the Queen’s Marketplace parking lot made the news. The conflict that ensued resulted in a feeding ban. Volunteers are now working to capture and rehome cats.

I am concerned about the wellbeing and safety of the nēnē but I am haunted by the thought of starving cats that are also being denied water. Isn’t there a better way for us to resolve a situation that was created when we humans began to work and play here?

Paula Nixon
Santa Fe, NM


Here are links to the four articles published by West Hawaii Today between April 25th and May 24th. The first three are what prompted my letter. The stories are behind a paywall but by signing up for a free digital subscription I think you can read up to seven articles a month.

Green weighs in on feral cats: Governor sending DLNR chief to the Big Island following protest in Waikoloa by John Burnett – West Hawaii Today (April 25, 2023)

DLNR chair meets with advocates for feral cats – West Hawaii Today (April 26, 2023)

Seeking solutions for feral cats: Abaykitties striving for cat adoptions, cooperation with governor’s office by Kelsey Walling – West Hawaii Today (May 9, 2023)

DLNR IDs women cited for illegally feeding Waikoloa feral cats by John Burnett – West Hawaii Today (May 24, 2023)

Briefly, the issue is that a group of free-roaming cats lives behind Queens’ Marketplace in WBR. ABay Kitties is a nonprofit group that was providing food and water in the parking lot for the felines. Sometime in the last few weeks Hawai’i’s state bird called the nēnē (pronounced nay-nay) discovered the cat food and began to frequent the area putting them at risk of harmful encounters with humans and cats. The nēnē is listed as an endangered species by Hawai’i’s Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) but has been downlisted from endangered to threatened by the US Fish and Wildlife Service.

On the basis of the protected status of the nēnē, the DLNR has outlawed any feeding of the cats behind Queens’ Marketplace. ABay Kitties along with another nonprofit group, Hawaii Aloha Animal Oasis is working to trap and find homes for as many of the cats as possible.

Two women were cited in mid-April for setting out cat food after DLNR ordered the removal of feeding stations in the parking lot at Queen’s Marketplace. Their names were released in the May 24th story above. They are due in court on June 13th.

I’ll post an update when new information becomes available.

My Backyard – Late Spring 2023

Piñon Sprout Photo by Paula Nixon

This tiny piñon tree is about 10 inches tall with new shoots that are 3 inches long! It sits downhill from a couple of mature piñons, one of which was our first Christmas tree after we moved into our house in 2000.

We had a good winter this year with lots of snow in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Most of our piñon and juniper trees look healthy and have new growth. But the outlook is still dire. Drought and rising temperatures are making these trees vulnerable along with another threat that Sara Van Note wrote about in this article Unraveling the Plight of the Pinyon Jay. According to Van Note, “Pinyon jays and piñon pines are wholly interdependent–the piñon nuts provide essential sustenance for the bird, and the jay offers critical seed dispersal for the tree.”

In the 28 years I have lived here I have rarely seen a pinyon jay. Much more common is the squawky Woodhouse’s scrub jay. He loudly announces his arrival at the birdfeeder and takes over the backyard. My guess is that it was one of these jays who cached a piñon nut and forgot to come back for it.

Here’s hoping it will be a good year for piñon nuts and my local scrub-jays. I don’t see as many of them as I used to but maybe a bumper crop of nuts will bring them around.

For now, I’ll be watching this sprout and giving it a little extra water over the summer months.

Kiska and Koluk

It’s been a long time since I posted anything here. Not really sure if I’ll make it a regular thing, but I always meant to share this video that I captured back in January 2019 at the Albuquerque BioPark.

I always stop by to see the polar bears after visiting the Mexican wolf habitat and on most days the bears are lounging on the rocks, not doing much. But on this mild January day they were interacting with each other and their green barrel. The video lasts about a minute and a half. Watch to the end to see some sibling behavior that most of us can probably relate to.

Here’s a link to a little more information about polar bears and these two brothers, Kiska and Koluk.

Shared album – Paula Nixon – Google Photos

The Visitor

Need a break from nonstop politics? Here’s a story I wrote about a snake. It was included in an anthology published by SouthWest Writers, Seeing the World in 20/20. No photo with this post because mine didn’t turn out well and all those pictures of coiled snakes on the internet spook me!

One-Legged Pigeon

It needed no pity,
but just a crumb,
something to hop toward.
Gary Whitehead

Yesterday morning I spotted a rabbit outside my kitchen window. It was dragging its right rear leg, bent at an odd angle–maybe grazed by a car or nipped by a coyote. One more worry.

It reminded me of this poem about a bird missing a leg. Turns out I’m not the only one who frets about a scrub jay with a deformed beak or a mule deer with a big hole in its ear.

I know that rabbit is just fine without my help, but after breakfast I took a wrinkled Newtown pippin from the fridge, left over from last year’s farmers market, and placed it where I had seen the rabbit, in view of my makeshift desk, the kitchen table, and now I’m waiting.