Cool Cool Kitty

Last night, as we were getting ready for bed, I remembered to pour some dry food into the cat dishes, to possibly stave off any 3:30 wake-up shenanigans. As expected, there were thundering pawbeats to the dishes. Unexpectedly, there was only one set of paws. No worries. Sometimes Lucia doesn't respond to the call of the dry food. But we didn't see her in any of her usual haunts. My dresser drawers had been closed all evening, so she wasn't in there. I tried the one irresistible Lucia juggling trick. Lucia can hear me pour the filtered water decanter into the percolator from anywhere in the house and HAS to come scrutinize this operation. I did so. No Lucia. "Call the emergency vet!" I said.

Then I got a brain wave. "You don't suppose..." I opened the refrigerator. There she was, on the top shelf, comfortable as you please. For the past several months. about half the time when I open the refrigerator, she leaps in. Normally, it's cat feeding time when I open it, so I'm very aware of cat positions. But last evening, about two hours earlier, I had reached in for two cans of seltzer for our human feeding time. She slipped in unseen, climbed shelf by shelf to the top (knocking over stuff on the way, of course) and took herself a little nap. She seemed perturbed at being "rescued."

This morning, when I went in for canned food, she watched from a distance. Maybe she learned a lesson.

NAAAAH!

My Newest Little Buddy

Way back in June of 2011, in a posting entitled "In Demand" I mentioned my newest little buddy. Audrey Sippel, daughter of Rachel Meerson, came running up to me one Sunday morning after church. She pulled up her pants leg and showed me the bruise on her shin. Well, it just so happened that a few days before this, I had taken a nasty fall at the Community Theatre. I pulled up my pants leg and showed her an inch diameter scab with redness all around it. I beat! We've been buddies since then.

The four of us went to lunch together after church several months ago. We went to Montana Rib and Chop House, where they have a square of white paper as the tablecloth, a fresh one for each party at each table, along with a cup with crayons in it. Audrey and I drew stuff. I showed her how to make an octagon by drawing a square and lopping off the corners. It was fun.

Today I had the camera with me to take pictures of the choir. I took some of my newest little buddy. I hope my little buddy from the 1970s doesn't get jealous!

Vee - Hicle!

When I was in the process of what I laughingly refer to as "growing up," I never wanted a car. My parents convinced me that learning to drive and getting my license would be a good thing to do regardless. In this particular case, I listened. I took driver ed in high school and got my license at eighteen. My first vehicle was a Suzuki 650 motorcycle purchased at age thirty four. Three years later I bought a Suzuki Intruder 1400 motorcycle, the baddest ass machine ever

In 1994, Carmen was tired of shifting her white standard transmission 1987 Toyota Corolla. She bought a  green Corolla station wagon with automatic transmission. I drove the white Corolla for two years. Suffice it to say I was seduced by four wheels, a roof and air conditioning there in Central Florida. During that time I was on the lookout for a pickup truck, but not just any pickup truck. I wanted it to be reliable as a Toyota, with automatic transmission, and a bed big enough to lay a 4' X 8' sheet flat between the wheel humps. I spotted it from the highway at the Saturn dealership in Kissimmee. It was a '93 Toyota T-100 with a V6 engine. I loved that truck. I drove it hard from the spring of '96 until we moved to Massachusetts in the summer of 2005. Knowing that vehicles are a liability in Boston, we sold it before we left.

For four years in Boston, one year in Albuquerque and nearly two years in Meadville, I walked many miles a day and /or took public transportation wherever I went. This made me happy. I like to walk, and I like public transportation. A year ago, however, I had knee replacement surgery, and since then walking has not been as joyful as it was in the 1970s. The walk home up the hill from downtown Meadville is exhausting. I take the bus to a bus stop two blocks away when I can, but sometimes I just can't.

Today, Carmen took possession of a 2008 Scion Xb. Nautical blue! It's a beautiful car. And once again I get the white Toyota she's been driving since she bought it new in 2000. It's a Rav4 with 85,000 miles. I'm happy to have a car again. That's hard for me to admit even to myself. But I'm expanding my job search parameters now, and hope to be full time somewhere soon.

This is vehicle number five for me. I'm excited.