Soociopaths,

My landlords (girlfriend's aunt and uncle) tried to kill my kitten today. Literally kill. I came home from work to head rustling and muted howling coming from behind the garage. I went back there to find my kitten, Willow, stuck in a supposedly humane and lethal body trap. She's howling in agony and fear and I'm struggling to get her out. Those traps are meant to be stepped on to release the spring, but I would have certainly killed the poor cat had I done that, since half the trap was around her neck and the other half was around her ribcage; there was blood coming out of her mouth. I thought she was a goner. So I'm screaming my bloody head off for my girlfriend to come and help me, and she comes running out to wiggle the kitten out of the barely open trap. I'm crying in pain, fear and frustration all the while the landlords are down at the back part of the property looking up at us. They called to see what the commotion was all about and Mary told them that "one of the cats got stuck in their fucking trap".

We took the kitten to the emergency vet to get her checked out. She showed every sign of being ok, just shaken up. The blood was from her biting her tongue. 

I tore the rest of the traps the landlord had set to catch the groundhog living under the garage. Four traps at the entrance of separate burrows. 

She (landlord, ironically named "Kitty") called later to ask how the cat was and I unloaded on her. I didn't yell, I didn't swear. I just informed her of her extremely irresponsible and borderline sociopathic behavior. What if her grandchildren had been playing around the traps? What if her son's dog had sniffed one of the borrows? She knows we care for the cats (she asked us to get barn cats to keep the mice in check, we tried to make them house pets, she told us no) and yet still chose to put LETHAL spring traps around their hunting grounds. She said "Don't call me sociopathic. We'll talk about this tomorrow" I don't like waiting; I like to get things over and done with immediately. I'll probably have to find another place to live pretty soon.

Am I wrong here? What can I do? 

4th of July, revisited

Yesterday was quite a day, both in the sense of exciting and lengthy. Many boyfriend duties to perform; visiting the girlfriend's family for a 4th of July/birthday celebration, etc. I got to see some of my friends, but since my main objective isn't seeing how much I can drink, I generally only stay for a bit and watch the jackassery. For instance, last night--and I really should have had a photo of this--when the early twenties kids had roman candle wars. This of course, is in direct conflict with the lesson from last year when someone got a localized 3rd degree burn on their chest from an expertly-aimed firework. Alas, these people also vote. 

But I am most excited about the other 4th of July tradition: pulling up th

e garlic that you've planted 9 months earlier. It's like waiting for a baby that you have to dry in the garage for two weeks then braid. 

There are two varieties in that patch, a hardneck and a softneck. I don't remember which varieties of either. 

Here is the whole harvest, drying on a screen next to the tiller. I use a lot of garlic, and should have grown more. Lots more. I am eastern European in ancestry, and there's a built in goodness meter for most meals. They (including breakfast) should include garlic, onions, cabbage and sour cream. Since I don't eat a lot of dairy anymore, I need to double up on the other ingredients. Garlic is magical for your soul, your vascular system and your overall sense of well-being. A couple weeks of drying, then hopefully a passable braid or two.