When I think of Christmas trees I think of Weaver's Garden Center and I think of the wild (feral) cats that lived there (or perhaps still live there) in the natural environment of the White River.

In 1990 I quit, cold turkey, a burn-out eighty hour a week sales job that required corporate travel within a four state territory. Fifty percent of the time I was gone overnight. I decided to stop and smell the roses, literally. That early spring I found myself becoming an avid gardener shopping multiple times weekly at Weavers on Broad Ripple Avenue. One day, in jest, I told Mary Weaver that I was there so much I should just work there. She looked up and asked me when I could start. I took her up on it and it was an interesting time. That place gets slammed in May. There were days that I called "hamburger in the pocket days". John Weaver (rest his soul) would go to McDonald's and bring back bags of burgers and we would slip them in our aprons and eat on the sly. There was no time to have a lunch break. Gardening was just beginning to be the big trend that it has become. I learned from the customers about the Master Gardener program taught by Dick Crum who is now known as Dr. Dirt. I signed up and became a certified Master Gardener the following summer. Spring slipped into summer spilling into fall which drifted into winter. Each season at Weavers is enchanting, with Easter lilies and pansies, summer annuals, mums and pumpkins, Christmas trees and poinsettias. It was the Christmas trees that drew my husband Dennis into the Weaver family. He was asked if he could help sell trees one winter. It was hard, cold, heavy and often wet work but he really got caught up in the spirit and came back many years. We both loved working with the customers. I guess we were destined to become retailers.

We both remember the cats. At the time I had never heard of "feral" cats but that is what they were. Mary Weaver would feed them daily and came to do so on the days they were closed during the winter season. There was always a cat at the register. That must have been a kitten that was tamed. Most were skittish and were seen from afar. In the summer I would take a watering wand to water the plants and as I would walk around the property I would see the cats. I worried that they were multiplying and taking over the place. At that time the only answer to control feral cats was to catch them and take them to the Humane Society where they would be euthanized. In the 90's IndyFeral was formed by a lady named Lisa Tudor. It has grown to be a big group with a big heart. I have learned that volunteers go out and feed feral colonies around the city. They practice TNR (trap, neuter, return). There are colony captains who assist. The cats are taken to a facility where vets volunteer to do the neutering. An ear gets clipped to show that they are neutered. They are returned to live out their days until the colony dies off from natural causes. When a volunteer sees one who is ill, it is trapped and treated. There will always be feral cats that have adapted and live wild. They do not make good pets. This is a big season for IndyFeral. Annually they publish a calendar featuring beautiful, sweet-faced pictures and touching stories of local feral cats that colony captains have shared. The $20.00 cost is the cost to neuter one cat. Please support them. They work on a shoestring in a building with no air conditioning, but they have rigged up a tent with air conditioning for their recovery room. Pet Supplies Plus is a major sponsor. You can purchase a calendar from them or get one at City Dogs Grocery. Other Pet businesses will have them as well. If you don't see the calendars, ask for them.

To my friends at Weavers and the cats ... . . . Merry Christmas. Pets make you smile!