What were we thinking? A flight at 6 a.m. is no bargain at any price. Now begins the scramble to get ourselves, our luggage and our house ready for us to depart. Wish us safe and speedy travel, wish us a good checklist, wish that we remember to bring our toothbrushes and camera.
Whenever I begin to question whether or not we should be birthing babies, something comes right at me and smacks me in the face, reminding me that my gut feeling on this is correct. Please note that in sharing this with you, I am by no means comparing pets to kids, but in our case, it's a good indicator.
Last night Cynical cautioned me to close the garage door. I am notorious for forgetting, but he warned that when he'd shut it earlier that two stray cats had run from the garage and we might want to keep it shut.
So, like a good little Ragged, I shut the door, finished my chores and went to bed. This morning I reopened the door to hear a cat crying and was immediately worried that I had locked one of the strays in the garage or worse, my car.
I called for the crying cat to no avail, only drawing a little orange stray near to watch all of the commotion. I popped the hood. No cat. I opened the car. No cat. I could still hear crying. I checked under the car. No cat. Still with the crying.
Then I spied underneath a shelving unit a little bit of white. I walked near, but couldn't discern which stray it might be. I approached from the other side and said to myself, "He has a little white face." Then it hit me.
"Ikie?" I said. And out came my white cat, Ike. Glad to see me, tired of crying and very, very cold. He'd been in the garage for nearly 12 hours, on the coldest night of the year, clawless and defenseless.
I felt awful as I scooped him up into my arms and rushed him inside. How did I miss him? Did I not know he was out all night? How did he get out? I hadn't even noticed him slipping by me as I went out the car last night? He'd run out before in his quest to explore the wild yonder that is our backyard, but I'd always seen and caught him, bringing him back to captivity.
He was anxious to get inside and I was anxious to check him out, so we pushed our way into the house, where he didn't get the welcome from his co-cats that he had hoped.
A stop at the food bowl. A stop at the litter box. And he was glad to be home, inside, where it is warm, and safe, even if one of his cohabitants continued to sniff and smack at him.
I checked him out and other than some cobwebs in his whiskers and dirt on his paws, he seems fine. His owner, or mother, on the other hand, is still in a frenzy of guilt.
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Leafing soon & another reason we have no business having children
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6 comments:
OH Honey!! You are a good mommy to you kiddens. (Get it Kittens and Kids) anywho...
I once locked Braden in the car on the coldest day of the year!!! It was horrible! I had to wait from the police to drive from the next the county to get him out. Ugh...
And they still let me have more kids!! Have a safe trip!
Oh! I also "forgot" that we had Yin and went to the neighbors leaving her home alone for about ten mintues, upon which she unrolled about four rolls of TP and had a party with all the girl products in the bathroom...
And yet I was appoved ???
Ah, don't beat yourself up. Things happen. Remember that while he was probably chilly (and may have thought his life was over!!), he was wearing a fur coat.
I can top your story and brando's, too. 31 years ago, when we were moving from NM to MO, I left one of the kids at a gas station in some little nowhereville town in KS!! Granted, she was 14. Granted I realized it and went back. I should have knows we were meant to leave NM!! Give Ikie a hug from me, too, and tell him that stuff happens, even to the 2-legger-kids. We adult 2-leggers don't discriminate in that way!
Our cat Brady always tries to go outside and there have been a few times when he has managed to get out without us knowing. One time we came home after being gone all evening (it was January and very cold) and I saw a cat and I said, "hey that cat looks just like Brady" As we got closer I heard his little bell on his collar. I picked up him and apologized. He was so cold, but seemed so happy that someone finally came home to let him in. I thought maybe this would show him he really doesnt want to go outside. Nope. The next day he was begging to go out again. Have a good trip. Where are you guys going?
Skinny Freddy would have helped Ike out if he needed it.
Remember that one post on Cate's blog and she said that her handwriting looked exactly like Phin's and I commented something about how weird it would be if my handwriting was exactly the same as yours?
Well. Just this past Monday afternoon, my completely indoor kitty escaped out the front door unknowingly and it was all my fault. I got home and the house had a bit of an odor (fish from the night before) so I opened the sliding glass door, screen in place. Opened the front door and did not check the screen, assumed it was in place. I went into the home office for about 1/2 an hour then walked into the living room to see the front door wide open, no screen. No cat. A cat who does not know the difference between pavement and street. A very very busy street one door down. Happy ending though, she found her way into the backyard and when I was screaming her name, she came running to the sliding glass door screen. I felt so guilty. Good for her, it was only 1/2 an hour and she went to the backyard instead of the street. But a couple of years ago, we came home from the cabin and she wasn't waiting anxiously at the door. Guess who locked her in the closet for 2 days?? Yes, her bad, bad mommy. 2 days, alone, in the closet, no food, no water, no bathroom...well, no litterbox - she could only hold it so long. Ey yi yi. No wonder we don't have kids, either!
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