Acrobat Cat
I came home last night after being out late at Lena's to find Mimmy, the cat that some times sleeps in my guitar case, playing with a cricket in the driveway. This was quite odd, due to the fact that Mimmy is an indoor cat and isn't allowed outside without a harness and a leash and a person keeping watch on her. Stephanie has lost cats in the past to the cruel world and we are taking precautions to make sure that the same fate does not befall the current cat. Which is why I was very confused to see Mimmy outside.
"Hey, Mimmy," I said. "Watcha doin'?"
I unlocked the back door and put my guitar, etc. inside and watched as the cat pounced on the cricket, let it go, pounced on it again, and repeated.
I walked back down the back steps and crouched a few feet away from her. She had "escaped" a few times before and so I know how much she doesn't like to be "caught." You have to be sneaky. I was waiting for the right moment to... er, pounce.
I reached for her, missed, and she bolted under the car.
I talked to her for a minute or two and finished with: "Let's go on inside. What do ya say?"
And to my surprise, the cat walked out from underneath the car and up the back steps. I let her in and thought for a moment, What if this isn't Mimmy? She shouldn't be outside... this could be an impostor cat.... These thoughts went away after Mimmy walked straight to her food dish.
I went up to bed wondering how the cat got out. I figured I wouldn't find out until the next day when I would tell Stephanie about it (she was asleep). But, Stephanie woke up when I was emptying my pockets of keys and change.
"When I came home, Mimmy was playing with a cricket in the driveway." I said.
Stephanie sat upright with a shocked look on her face. She told me that she had brushed the cat just before going to bed and that she didn't open any doors after that so there was really no way she could have gotten out.
We proceeded to walk around the house checking windows for broken screens or no screens. The cellar was fine. The first floor of the house was fine. Finally, I walked into the spare bedroom on the second floor. One of the windows was open about a third of the way. The screen had also been pushed up about a third of the way. And Mimmy was sitting on the radiator in front of the window leaning her head out.
I quickly shooed her out of the way and closed the window.
She must have jumped... or fell. And somehow survived the two story distance.
----
My day previous to the near cat-astrophe (ha!) was a relaxing one. I went to Saratoga and read. That was pretty much it. Then, I went to Lena's where I worked the door, because Stephanie had to work. I played late -- almost last -- and I played Ring of Fire, because Kate Blain introduced me as "the Other Man in Black," and Walking; Standing Still, which is one of my own.
On my way home from Lena's, I noted a car pulling out of nowhere in my rear view mirror. It's headlights were on and it accelerated rather quickly. As it crested a hill behind me, it's red lights started flashing. I pulled over and the police car pulled over behind me. The usual occurred: can I see your license, registration, and insurance; do you know why I pulled you over; etc. "I was speeding," I said as I dug through my glove compartment for my registration -- it wasn't in the plastic pocket with my insurance card like it usually is. The officer said I was going 56 in a 40 zone. Which is slightly higher than I would have estimated. However, he may have got me as I was decelerating from the 60 that I was going in the previous 45 mph zone.
Even so, the police officer was really nice and I followed all of his instructions (except of course for finding the registration, which mysteriously vanished from my glove compartment). Instead of giving me a speeding ticket, he gave me a ticket for "Disobey(ing) a traffic control device." He also said I could plead not guilty and the ticket would be dropped if he didn't show up at court. The way he said it made me think that it was a strong possibility.
I haven't decided what I'm going to plead yet... I feel kind of like a law-breaker now... am I guilty or not guilty? You decide.
"Hey, Mimmy," I said. "Watcha doin'?"
I unlocked the back door and put my guitar, etc. inside and watched as the cat pounced on the cricket, let it go, pounced on it again, and repeated.
I walked back down the back steps and crouched a few feet away from her. She had "escaped" a few times before and so I know how much she doesn't like to be "caught." You have to be sneaky. I was waiting for the right moment to... er, pounce.
I reached for her, missed, and she bolted under the car.
I talked to her for a minute or two and finished with: "Let's go on inside. What do ya say?"
And to my surprise, the cat walked out from underneath the car and up the back steps. I let her in and thought for a moment, What if this isn't Mimmy? She shouldn't be outside... this could be an impostor cat.... These thoughts went away after Mimmy walked straight to her food dish.
I went up to bed wondering how the cat got out. I figured I wouldn't find out until the next day when I would tell Stephanie about it (she was asleep). But, Stephanie woke up when I was emptying my pockets of keys and change.
"When I came home, Mimmy was playing with a cricket in the driveway." I said.
Stephanie sat upright with a shocked look on her face. She told me that she had brushed the cat just before going to bed and that she didn't open any doors after that so there was really no way she could have gotten out.
We proceeded to walk around the house checking windows for broken screens or no screens. The cellar was fine. The first floor of the house was fine. Finally, I walked into the spare bedroom on the second floor. One of the windows was open about a third of the way. The screen had also been pushed up about a third of the way. And Mimmy was sitting on the radiator in front of the window leaning her head out.
I quickly shooed her out of the way and closed the window.
She must have jumped... or fell. And somehow survived the two story distance.
----
My day previous to the near cat-astrophe (ha!) was a relaxing one. I went to Saratoga and read. That was pretty much it. Then, I went to Lena's where I worked the door, because Stephanie had to work. I played late -- almost last -- and I played Ring of Fire, because Kate Blain introduced me as "the Other Man in Black," and Walking; Standing Still, which is one of my own.
On my way home from Lena's, I noted a car pulling out of nowhere in my rear view mirror. It's headlights were on and it accelerated rather quickly. As it crested a hill behind me, it's red lights started flashing. I pulled over and the police car pulled over behind me. The usual occurred: can I see your license, registration, and insurance; do you know why I pulled you over; etc. "I was speeding," I said as I dug through my glove compartment for my registration -- it wasn't in the plastic pocket with my insurance card like it usually is. The officer said I was going 56 in a 40 zone. Which is slightly higher than I would have estimated. However, he may have got me as I was decelerating from the 60 that I was going in the previous 45 mph zone.
Even so, the police officer was really nice and I followed all of his instructions (except of course for finding the registration, which mysteriously vanished from my glove compartment). Instead of giving me a speeding ticket, he gave me a ticket for "Disobey(ing) a traffic control device." He also said I could plead not guilty and the ticket would be dropped if he didn't show up at court. The way he said it made me think that it was a strong possibility.
I haven't decided what I'm going to plead yet... I feel kind of like a law-breaker now... am I guilty or not guilty? You decide.