A Blog Post

I pondered whether to write a funny or emotional post today. I'm still not sure which I'm writing yet.
But I will tell you that when I got up this morning, I saw the cat on my laptop.
"Get down!" I chided him.
When I sat down at the keyboard later, I realized he had turned off my wifi connection and turned on airplane mode.
I tried to move my mouse and realized he had also turned off my keypad.
As I began grading papers, I saw that he had taken my one-page grading rubric and turned it into a 791-page document.
He's more prolific at writing than I am!
For some reason, I thought I needed to delete those 790 pages and get back to my first page. After several minutes of highlighting the pages from the end, I realized that I could just spike that document and start a new one. I'm not letting a cat outsmart me!

That was such an easy dilemma, compared to what we went through on Monday.

Tucker and two friends had driven to New York City to visit his former roommate then the four of them went camping in the Catskills. On Sunday, they drove back into the city, planning to drive home Monday.

At 7:10 a.m., I received a text -- "On our way." It's about an 8-hour drive, so he should have been home by 3 p.m. An hour later, he called. He was at an auto shop because his battery light had come on. The mechanic said he needed a new alternator.

"Get out of the city!" my husband urged. 

Meanwhile, I called the mechanic who had changed Tucker's oil and put new brakes on just the week before. He called back and said that the battery was new, but he hadn't changed the alternator on the 2002 Subaru. So it could need a new alternator. 

But he hypothesized that if Tucker drove home without lights or windshield wipers, the battery might just last. 

Tuck and his friends searched for a Firestone as they drove down the New Jersey turnpike and found out the price was higher than it had been in the city.  They stopped at an Autozone and bought a new alternator, with Tucker's friend installing it, before hitting the road again. Then they called from the Pennsylvania turnpike. They had broken down when it started to rain, and they turned the windshield wipers on. After 30 minutes on hold with AAA, a turnpike worker came along and ordered them a tow truck. 

Of course, the entire ordeal was dotted with phone calls and texts and dying cell phones -- along with attempts to check out the eclipse. 

The tow truck driver told them that Autozone had a history of selling faulty alternators, so, for $68, he towed them to Autozone, where they found out they had the wrong alternator for their car. So an even exchange, a new alternator and they headed toward home again. 

They had had to pay $22 when they were towed off the turnpike halfway. 

After they drove the remainder of the turnpike, they couldn't find the card they received from the toll booth attendant, so they had to pay the entire amount, $44. 

What an expensive lesson.

The entire day, I just thought how much easier it must have been to parent before cell phones. Then I might, or might not have gotten a phone call to say that he had broken down, but he would have had to handle it. 

I love when a series of misadventures turns out okay, and you know that it will be a story he'll tell someday about the fun time they had camping in the Catskills.  

Dreaming of France -- Cats in France

Thank you for joining this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

We are big cat lovers at our house, so even when we are traveling, we are on the lookout for cute cats. There was no shortage of them in France.
This stocky gray fellow on the wall was in Mireval, not too far from Montpelier, where we stayed as we explored part of Languedoc-Roussillon.

One day I explored in Mireval and found another bakery. I also found this black and white cat near the church.

This guy was giving himself a bath with a nice view of red roof tiles.

And this chunky cat safely peered out over the world from the safety of his balcony. 

Here's a cafe cat from Quillan, which is where we stayed the second half of our trip. 

This cat was laying in a courtyard in Caunes-Minervois, a place where I now know that I should have eaten at the hotel. 

And here's another cat in Caunes-Minervois, pretending he's in the jungle and that we can't see him. 

I'm sure I have more France cat pictures, but I'll save them for another day now that I'm home with  my own cats. 

Thanks so much for playing along with Dreaming of France. Please leave your link below and visit each other's blogs to share your love for France.

Saturday Snapshot -- Life

Oftentimes when I'm avoiding my blog, it's because I don't want to deal with my emotions. I'm  not pouring them out to readers because I don't actually want to face them.
Instead, I try to find joy where I can.
So I'll join West Metro Mommy for this weekly meme of photos people have taken and share on their blogs.

I took an afternoon to read a book on my front porch during a sunny day this week. And the cats decided to join me.

I love that Tybs was peeking around the flower. Life can seem idyllic, if you're a cat.

I'll be reviewing the book that swept me away for Dreaming of France on Monday, so I hope you'll check back then.

And here's a photo of my son on his way to a job interview, looking handsome in his new suit.

It's raining here today, so it looks like an inside day for me. I've already run five miles in the rain. I plan to make a pineapple upside down cake, take a warm shower and finish grading for the end of the semester. Maybe I'll even do some writing. Have a good weekend.

Saturday Snapshot -- Cats and Runs and Chocolate

Join West Metro Mommy for this weekly meme of photos people have taken and share on their blogs.
Today I started off my day with a 10-mile run through my small city and on into the next suburb. For some reasons, there's a cornfield in the middle of the city, and a paved path going through it.

So I took the opportunity to run along the path and found a small brook. Probably, the brook isn't there except in the spring time as the snow melts -- a vernal pool.

I texted my husband around mile 7 and asked if he wanted to meet me at the coffee shop where I would end my run. So we met and bought hot drinks. As we walked home, me sweaty and worn out, we stopped at the salon, and they had time to give him a haircut, so I walked home alone.
When he arrived home later, he deposited a boy of chocolates on the table. "It's your birthday week," he reminded me.

Hope it's going to be a good one.

I made the bed the other morning, and the cat, who isn't allowed to sleep with us at night anymore because he disturbs me, had curled up on the pillows. He refused to move and was still there at noon.

So, my running is going well, my writing is going well, and my family is loving and supportive. Those are the things I'll hold onto as I enter my birthday week.

Long Winter Warnings?

We've enjoyed a brief autumn-like spell here. Since I love the fall I'm thrilled.
The other morning, I let the cats outside, and I noticed the older one, the hunter, was lying on the grass with his paws beneath him. I thought he might have captured something, a bunny, a squirrel, a bird, so I walked out to see if I could save a creature from him. He didn't have an animal, but was just cold.
As I stood there in the grass beside him, I heard a honking noise. The younger cat and I both looked up at the sky. The younger cat definitely feared whatever made that noise. But after a few more sounds, I saw seven geese flying in formation and heading south.

Since it is still August, that made me worry a bit. It definitely gave me flashbacks to The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder:

"Not a goose nor a duck on the lake. None in the slough. Not one in sight. They are flying high above the clouds, flying fast,” Pa tells the family after coming back from what should have been a productive hunting trip in the fall. “Every kind of bird is going south as fast and as high as it can fly…And no other kind of game is out. Every living thing that runs or swims is hidden away somewhere. I never saw country so empty and still.”

But that chilly morning, the temperature was 55 degrees, gave me the opportunity to put on a new sweater that I'd ordered sometime since the spring. I had to walk to the post office to mail some books, so I put the loose knit sweater over a camisole, and enjoyed the warmth, until I got home and was too warm.

Then I put it away until autumn really and truly comes.

Window Cat

On my run this morning, through the dark, wet streets of my small town, a shop window caught my eye.
The shop is a florist that is also filled with furniture and other household items for sale.
It wasn't simply the white wicker furniture with the red and black flannel cushions, or the white bureau that held folded blankets, making the window look so inviting.
It was the peaceful black cat, curled into the cushion, as if he'd been chosen to match the soft flannel.

The cat regarded me without alarm or interest, but he didn't tilt his head toward the light so I could get a better shot of him.
I love the idea of pets in local shops. But I hope he wasn't lonely over night. I know that my cats like to cuddle up in the fold of my knees at night, stealing my warmth and adding to it too.

Saturday Snapshot -- Tuxes

It's a gorgeous day here in Ohio, so I plan to go in search of spring flower photos.
It's prom day here, but the high school kids won't get dressed up until this evening. If I had a daughter going to prom, she might be going for a manicure or getting an updo on her hair.
Instead, my son is in the basement playing video games. His prom prep will probably consist of a second shower this evening before he throws on his tux and goes to pick up his date.
Hopefully, I'll have pictures to share next week.
Here's Tucker last year, posing with our cat Tybalt, who always has his tux on .

Tonight, Tucker will be wearing a black and white tuxedo too. 

Hope you are having a terrific weekend. 

Dreaming of France -- Cats and Postcards

Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.

Inspired by a couple of blogs that I read today, I'm posting pictures of postcards from France with cats. It's kind of a tradition for us, since about 1998 to send home postcards with pictures of cats that look like our cats.
I was reminded of that tradition today when Corey from Tongue in Cheek first talked about pictures on her refrigerator. Then I visited Virginia at Paris Through My Lens and she had a picture of cat lounging on the walk in front of a building with gorgeous green shutters. At Paris and Beyond, Genie had an fluffy orange cat sauntering along the sidewalk.  And then Anne in Oxfordshire writes frequently about her postcard collection. They all came together and I decided to write about some postcards from France with cats, and those postcards are currently stuck on my refrigerator.

Our last cat, the one we got when Grace was a 1-year-old, was totally black like this cat. When traveling in Paris with my friend Michelle, I sent this postcard home to Earl and the kids. I joked that they had left the door open so Buddy had escaped and traveled to Paris.

The next time Earl and I traveled to France, we went to Provence and sent this postcard home to the kids. Again, a black cat that was anxious to get from Ohio to France. 

We never seem to have any trouble finding postcards of cats in different French locations.

 
When Grace traveled to France, she sent home a postcard with cats too.
Does your family have a France tradition?

Anything Else You'd Like to Know About ...Me?

Another author interview today as I continue my week of online France Book Tours. Today you can see an interview on French Village Diaries. Jacqui asked some fun questions and I got to relate the story of discovering a Turkish toilet near Notre Dame.
I hope you'll stop by and leave a comment.
For those of you who may be getting tired of reading about me or my novel, I'll share some of my glamorous home life.
Last night, I was teaching a class when I received a text from my middle child, 19-year-old Spencer.
"I found dry cat puke. Should I clean it? Please say no."
Well, at least it made me laugh.
Some things never change.

Blue Jay Adventures

Earl and I were sitting on the front porch when we saw a fledgling blue jay flop into the street. The parents screeched down urgently. Some other blue jay relatives flew down also screeching. A cardinal landed nearby and a robin added its trill too. All urging the baby blue jay to fly, to get out of the middle of the street.
As the birds flew back to the tree, the baby blue jay flopped around some more.
Earl pulled on his shoes.
"Don't go down there," I warned. "They'll dive bomb you."Nevertheless, he went down the 24 steps and tried to shoo the bird toward the curb. One of the blue jay parents attacked Earl's head.

This photo is from the FCPS website. 

He picked up a stick and waved it over his head to keep the birds away.
"Come help me," he called.
"No," I refused.
"Come on."
So I reluctantly joined him.
"You want to scoop up the bird or swing the stick?"
"I'm swinging the stick," I decided.
So without further incident, Earl cupped his hands and lifted the fuzzy gray and blue bird into the grass just past the curb.
We retreated to the porch and watched the bird hop around. The parents landed beside it, occasionally flying back up to overhead tree branches.
I examined Earl's head where the blue jay had attacked him. "Looks like he got you with his feet," I said. Two bloody scratches pierced his scalp. I dabbed at them with a cotton ball soaked in alcohol.
I didn't think about the fallen blue jay again until about an hour later after Earl had gone to work. Suddenly, I heard the blue jays screeching and screeching in the backyard. I rushed back there and found our outdoor cat Tupi nudging the fledgling with his nose.
"Tupi!" I yelled, clapping my hands and running into the yard to grab the cat. I deposited him inside the door and called over to the neighbor for advice.

Tupi taking refuge in the house.

Sarah had been gardening all day. She had on a canvas hat and gloves. She didn't hesitate to come to the backyard and scoop the baby bird into a grocery bag then carry him to the neighbor's garden inside a high fence.
The blue jay parents, for some reason, did not notice their baby in the backyard or being transferred to the neighbor's garden.
After we deposited the baby in the garden, I let the cat out the front door, hoping he'd forget about the baby bird. He may have forgotten, but the blue jay parents did not. They were waiting by the front porch and immediately started to scream at the cat. He crouched in the dirt by the porch and they dive bombed him. He slunk around, trying to escape their notice, but within a few minutes he was back at the door wanting inside. His ears were flattened out on either side of his head in fear.
A few minutes later, he wanted out the back door. Again the blue jays found him and tortured him. He settled in the house, standing by the screen door and a blue jay alighted on the porch railing, scolding Tupi.I was starting to feel bad for him.
A few hours later, he was in the backyard and  he came running up to greet me and Grace. The other cat, also black, doesn't usually go out, but I let him loose to see if the blue jays could tell the difference. They couldn't. They flew over the yard, zooming down to intimidate the innocent cat who couldn't figure out why these sky predators were attacking him.
I don't know if the parents ever found the baby blue jay, but I do know that Tupi's summer is now ruined. Every time he goes outside, the birds follow him screeching.
I just hope they don't remember what Earl looks like next time he goes in the backyard.

Cat Pee and Open Windows

(Here's another story for Phyllis -- See Sunday's explanation)
Sunday morning, Grace had to be at work at 7, so I planned to meet a friend for a run after I dropped her off.
We headed out a little late at 6:50 a.m. and when I opened the door to our freestanding garage, a black, fuzzy cat went streaking out. He'd been locked in overnight.
The front of our blue car was covered with cat footprints.

This cat is innocent of the crime and
shocked at the actions of a fellow feline.

Then, I saw to my horror, the car windows were down. I never leave the windows down once I pull into the garage, Even as I was walked toward the car, I wracked my brain to think who could have driven the car after me.
Nope, I was the last one to drive it, and as the sun and the warm air had seduced me the day before, I left the windows down when I pulled in, and closed the big garage door.
When Earl had come home from work at midnight, he'd seen the "people" door was open, so he firmly closed it, trapping that furry cat inside.
As I walked toward the car, my hands full of water bottles and library books, I looked in the car to see if the cat had been there. On the passenger seat, I saw several little balls of cat poop. Crap!
I threw my things in the back seat and ran inside for a plastic grocery bag to clean up the poop, and a bottle of Woolite to scrub the upholstery.
Ick! I scooped up each dropping then carried the plastic bag to the outdoor trash can. I sprayed the seat and
rubbed at it with the rag.
"Sit in the backseat," I warned Grace as she approached with her coffee cup in hand.
Then I ran around to the driver seat and looked down before I slid inside. The seat had a tell-tale shadow to it.
Damn. The cat pooped in one seat and peed in the other.
I ran back in the house to get a plastic bag to sit on. Grace was going to be late for work. I stopped just long enough to wake my sleeping husband and accuse him of closing the garage door on a cat.
Then I raced back to the car, Target bag in hand.
I spread it across the seat and sat on top of it, feeling like the wetness was soaking through to my running shorts.
After dropping off Grace, I hurried to the park to meet my friend. I stood up and pulled the plastic bag from the seat. The moisture of the pee had interacted with the red circles on the Target bag, leaving red circles on the car seat.
Just great.
Once I got home, I blotted up what I could of the pee, I soaked the seat with Woolite, and I'm leaving the windows down to try to get rid of the smell of cat pee. Every time I pull into the garage, I make sure both garage doors are closed and that there are no pets lurking to jump in my car and use it as a litter box.

A Good Heart

Sometimes, on mornings when the 16-year-old is particularly surly, I need to remind myself that deep down he's a good boy.

Here's a little reminder, to myself, and other parents who may be gritting their teeth as they live with teenagers. 

Anyone who cuddles and kisses a cat must have a good heart.

Saturday Snapshot -- Cats by the Fire

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.
I'm almost finished grading papers for the semester, so here is a late Saturday Snapshot of my cat posing by the fire. He rolled over on his back to pose, like Burt Reynolds in that long ago nude photo  on a bearskin rug.

I hope everyone has a joyous holiday.

Saturday Snapshot -- Pets

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.
Most weeks, my husband and I are home with our 16-year-old son while the other kids are at college. Sixteen can be a hard age for talking, but the one bridge I've found between adolescent and parent is the cats. Even on his most sullen days, he's willing to admire the cuteness of a cat or laugh at clumsy antics.

Last night, my daughter came into my bedroom to say good night once she came home from her evening activities. She promptly scooped up both cats that lay at the foot of my bed. A few minutes later, my 16-year-old came in to kiss me good night.
"Got any cats?" he asked in the darkness before he left the room.
I told him his sister had snatched the cats before he returned. He can rest assured that next week the cats will be all his again with the other kids back at school. And that left me wondering if the kids come in at night to reassure me they're home or whether they're only in search of their favorite things in the house -- our pets.

Hope you all had a lovely holiday weekend (if you're in the U.S) or a great middle of November if you're in another part of the world.

Cat Freedom

We're trying a little experiment at my house and it seems to be working.
About a week ago, I started letting our older cat outside. He's been an indoor cat since he came home to us about six years ago. Tupi is the elegant tuxedo cat with the giant paws that have extra toes.
He's always been pretty laid back, but in the past year or so, he started peeing outside the litter box. At least that's what we thought when we would find cat pee. And how would we find the cat pee? The younger cat would go to the spot and scrape around it, like he was trying to cover it with cat litter.
We took Tupi to the vet again and again. He gave him shots of antibiotics for a urinary tract infection. We paid $50 per bag for special urinary tract health cat food. All to no avail.
Finally we started to see Tupi pee. He didn't squat down like he would in the litter box, instead, he stood straight up and his tail quivered as he peed.

Perhaps if we hadn't dressed him up as a chicken for Halloween
one year, he wouldn't have misbehaved.

I found an article at Cornell University that described this exact action and called it "spraying." Of course, Tupi has been fixed, but according to Cornell, about 10 percent of male cats that have been fixed can spray. Weren't we lucky to be among the 10 percent. Then I started to correlate the spraying with the times that Tupi did it. Mostly, it was in the morning when the outdoor cats were traipsing over to the neighbor's house for breakfast. She made a habit of feeding all the stray cats.
Some of the outdoor cats didn't seem to bother Tupi. He'd sit on the other side of the screen from a long-haired gray and white cat while they batted at each other. But one particular cat drove him crazy.
This cat was black and white, just like him. Maybe he felt like he was seeing himself enjoy freedom.
So when we had a little spare money, Earl and I went to Petco and bought Tupi and handsome purple collar with little white paw prints. We had a purple heart engraved with our phone number and address. We left the bell on his collar as a warning to any birds he might be chasing. We put the collar around Tupi's neck and we let him outside.
He was hesitant at first, afraid we'd scoop him up and plop him back in the house. After a while, he found a patch of dirt and rolled in it. He crouched on one side of the chain link fence and growled at the dogs next door.
He has seemed to adjust. Most of the time he spends lying in the yard, surveying his kingdom. One day I found him lying on the porch swing with his friend the white and gray cat lying in the chair next to him.
I haven't seen him spray and haven't smelled any evidence of it.
I guess he just wanted to get outside and protect the house from the other cats that prowled around.
Now, I just have to figure out how to explain to the younger cat that he doesn't get to go outside unless he starts acting up. Some parenting lesson, huh?

Cat Injuries

If anyone looked at me closely today (and no one every does) they might have noticed the shadow of a round bruise just above my lip. The small circle might have been mistaken for a smudge of newsprint, or perhaps a small mustache as I age.
But as I stood in front of three classes and in front of both my boys and my husband, no one noted the bruise on my lip or the one slightly higher on my cheek that came from a house cat.
I know, animals can cause injuries. I've had my share of scratches and a few sore shoulders when the dog used to pull on the chain, but the face bruise, well that's a new one.
I walked in the back door after work on Tuesday to an empty house, except for the cats. The cats generally gather near the back door in hopes of getting food or escaping whenever anyone comes in or out.
Tupi, the big, extra-toed cat, was sitting by the back door on top of the oak cabinet that we call a pie safe. It's one of his favorite spots for looking out doors and windows.
I walked in the door and let the screen slam behind me. This last day of January was a balmy 62 and the cats were feeling fiesty, which is perhaps why Tupi decided to jump onto the kitchen counter across from the pie safe.
So as I stepped into the kitchen, he squatted onto his haunches and launched himself into the air to make the forbidden and risky jump across the kitchen floor.
That's when we collided.
I took a cat head to the right side of my face and he dropped to the tile floor, of course, landing on his feet.
I worried about him for a minute as I put my hand to my face. Did that just happen? Could the cat have a concussion? Did he knock out any teeth?
"That really hurt, Tupi," I said as he scampered off.
I felt a bump swell on my lip immediately.
By morning, the swelling was gone and only a dark bruise remained, plus this slightly bizarre story about being head-butted by a cat, that no one will ever hear, because no one notices the shadow of a bruise on my upper lip.

Saturday Snapshot -- Cat Christmas

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

The cats had a satisfying Christmas. Thanks for asking.



Hope everyone has a terrific New Year's celebration.

Early Thanksgiving

It seems like all of my posts have been fairly negative lately, so I thought I should stop and be thankful instead.
So, here, the Wednesday after Canadian Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for: My husband who, although he came home with only one chocolate bar from France two weeks ago, has worked everyday with only one day off. Sleep in today, honey. You deserve it. And take a second day off this week.
My unswollen, though still flaking, face. I'm on the last leg of the steroids the doctor gave me to combat my reaction to the Aveda moisturizer. With steroids, the medicine steps down. So I started taking six pills a day over a week ago, and now I'm down to three. Before you know it, I'll stop feeling all jittery and need more than four hours of sleep each night. I am accomplishing a lot since I don't need sleep. When you get up at 3:30 a.m., you can get an amazing amount done by 6. It's like the day's half over.
A second car. We've been a one car family since Labor Day Weekend when Spencer drove in front of a truck and, basically, had the front end of his Honda Accord taken off. No one was hurt, but for over a month now, we've had one car. That means I've just driven everyone where they need to go rather than Spencer or Earl (or Grace while she was still home) taking a car. Somedays, I never sat down in my house, just walked in the door after work and drove people around all evening. But now we have a second car. That the boys can drive to school or Earl can take to Home Depot. It's an Explorer, but, since two of my children have totaled cars and I have one more learning to drive now, I wanted something big enough to keep him (and the rest of them) safe -- just in case.
I'm also thankful that two of the college classes I'm teaching will end next week and I'll have a mini vacation, teaching only five course through Christmas.
Other things, yes, the weather has been gorgeous. The cats took a nap outside in the hammock with me yesterday. Well, I napped. They kind of clung to the hammock.
And when Tucker was hanging outside with me and the cats, he asked to take a picture of Tupi's fat hanging through the hammock. Not mine.
See, lots of things to be thankful for.
How about you? Are you thankful for something?

Bird Watching

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

On a run this week, I saw a friend out looking for his escaped cat. I told him I would look as I ran. That's when I saw this black cat sitting and staring into a tree. I thought maybe he had the other cat cornered so I turned around to see what he was staring at.
This is what I saw.

Someone had conveniently placed a birdhouse in the crook of a tree and the cat was ready the minute the birds thought about emerging.
I laughed when I realized what the cat was doing. I tried to lure him away.
He gave me a look of disgust.

Then went back to his birdwatching.

Rising Waters

He hadn't been watching all the hoopla on the news, so he was totally unaware of the devastation that was headed his way.
"I was just sitting there in the bathtub when it came toward me -- a wall of water," recalls Tupi the cat.
"Nothing like that has ever happened before. It was a nightmare."
If Tupi had been watching the news, the 24-hour hurricane Irene coverage, he would have been prepared. He would have stocked up on extra food and barricaded himself in with sand bags, ready for that day someone actually turned on the shower when he was in the tub.
Tupi has since found a place to barricade himself and a friend until the "shower" has passed.
I don't mean to make fun of anyone who weathered Hurricane Irene in the past 24 hours. I know that many people have lost power and some people in North Carolina died from falling trees or flash floods.
We laughed this morning at the CNN 24-hour coverage. My feeling is that the news people have watched one too many disaster movie and are always disappointed when it doesn't live up to the catastrophe.
One female reporter was standing on a berm in front of a street and said the water in the street was a foot high and rising. Then she stepped down into it and it actually just came up above her foot. Not "a foot" high, but "her foot" high. Then a car drove past and kind of waited for her to get out of the way so it could get through. Oops. Maybe she was exaggerating just a bit. It was all a little ridiculous.
The camera focused on a downed tree branch and crews working to remove it. What destruction! Then a jogger slowly ran past in the background. Okay, maybe things weren't so bad. The news programs were ridiculous, as if no one in the world had faced such devastation. Truthfully, to the media, if no one in New York has lived through it, then it hasn't ever happened.
I'm breathing a sigh of relief that New York dodged a hurricane bullet, and I'm hoping that the overreaction doesn't make people ignore the warnings next time a storm is on the way.
Mostly, though, I'm hoping Tupi the cat realizes the danger he puts himself in when he hops into that porcelain bathtub. There, the waters can rise at any time.