I call my back porch "The Feline Underground Railroad".
The first "Fugitive" or cat to show up was Riley. He appeared in September of 2007, four months after we moved into our newly built house. He was a buff-colored, teddy bear-like sweetheart. He lived with us until he passed away in May of 2010.
Shadow arrived a month after Riley. Shadow is a big, black, tomcat. He was very skittish at first. Now he loves to be petted and when you talk to him, he chatters back. He comes and goes at will, as tomcats are wont to do (we would like to have him neutered one day, but are afraid if we put him in a carrier and take him to the vet, it will traumatize him and we may never see him again. Why can't the vet be like James Herriot and make a house call?).
The railroad had a little dry spell until Sweetpea, a gray tabby, showed up in January of 2008. She appeared to be "heavy with kitten" so we took her to a feline, no-kill shelter so that she could be cared for and adopted. I was not ready nor willing to take on a mama cat and her kittens.
Then Grady showed up in March. He was a little shy at first. We were finally able to get him into a cat carrier in June and take him to the vet. Sadly he tested positive for Feline FIV, a fatal disease and highly communicable, and had to be put down.
In April, a dog showed up on The Feline Underground Railroad. She was a Miniature Pinscher. She had a wounded foot and was wearing a collar so we called the number, only to find it was disconnected. The little mite showed up on a weekend (of course) and we had to take her to an emergency vet. We left her there at the vet's, they would see that she was placed with a new family.
Another little dry spell for the railroad until January 2009 when Charlotte showed up. She is a sweet and gentle cat. She is a light gray tabby and her beautiful green eyes look like they have eye liner around them.
Now, two and a half years later another cat shows up.
Yam has named her Luna, after one of the characters in Harry Potter.
We believe Luna is one of the cats who belonged to our elderly neighbor. She had four cats and a dog at one time. We would see the cats sitting in her windows. Our neighbor was removed from her home very recently as she was unable to live by herself and was suffering from dementia.
We are not sure how Luna found herself outside. Did she escape when the old lady had a door open or was she thrown out to fend for herself. We had seen one of the other cats around the neighbor's house too. Shortly before the old lady was removed from her house, Animal Control visited her house. We believe that her dog and other cats were taken at that time.
The Colonel spotted Luna on one of his nightly bike rides. She was near the very busy road that is at the end of our boulevard. He called to her and she came to him straight away. He then called Yam and I to bring some food for her. She was starving. We coaxed her back to our house and into the garage and fed her more. Shadow and Charlotte sniffed and checked her out. No major hissing or fighting.
At first Luna is an unusual looking cat. She is definitely part Siamese. She has the blue eyes, an angular face, large ears and long legs. She is also a Manx, meaning she has no tail, only the stub of one. She is also a calico. She has three colors, white, beige and light brown. Yam and I thought Luna's body looked goat-like. Her fur is very soft, almost rabbit-like.
The more we saw of her and got to know her personality, the more we liked her. She loves to be around people. Loves to be held and petted and she "talks" up a storm (that is the Siamese in her). Luna is very curious and likes to know what's going on around her. She is a bit nosey.
Yam and I took Luna to the vet yesterday. We did not know how she would react to the pet carrier. The Colonel put her in the carrier for us. No problem. Luna laid down as soon as she was put in. On the way to the vet she never meowed, she just laid in the carrier.
When we were in the exam room, Luna was very curious but relaxed. There was no hissing or growling as she was poked with needles and thermometers. She was easy going when the vet shaved her belly looking for a spay scar (none there) and when he was performing an ultrasound to look for any possible kittens (none there, thank you Jesus).
The vet said he thought Luna was about 3 years old and probably once had kittens at one time. Her blood tests were negative for FIV and she was generally in very good health.
Luna was left over night at the vet's for a spaying. I do not wish to have any kittens around the place (remember, Shadow is a tomcat with all of his parts intact). All of the vet techs fell in love with Luna. They couldn't get over how relaxed she was and how pretty she was.
The vet's office called this morning to say Luna went through her surgeries with flying colors.
SURGERIES!?!?
As Luna was sedated for the spaying, the vet felt something in her right back leg. It was hard and round. What he removed was a BB. Apparently Luna had be shot during her time outside. Poor baby. She really needed The Feline Underground Railroad's help.
Yam and I picked Luna up from the vet this afternoon. As expected she was a little loopy and her pupils were dilated. Per the doctor's orders we have to keep her indoors and quiet for 10 days. We have her in the cottage. The Colonel, Yam and I are taking shifts to look after her. We are to give her pain meds every 12 hours for three days.
Luna is not being completely quiet. She is poking around and jumping up on things. Thank God for her pain meds, they can make her a bit sleepy.
The jury is still out on whether we will keep Luna (If no home can be found for her then we will. We have left a picture of her at the vet's and it says she is free to a good home). I am sure that The Feline Underground Railway will see more cats (and possibly a dog or two) in the future and as much as we would like to keep each and every cat, we can't. The most we can do is feed and shelter the "Fugitives" for a while until they find a new home.
Atlantis' 4-person crew will be on a 12-day mission. They are heading to the International Space Station and hauling a module packed with nearly 10,000 pounds of supplies and equipment. One-third of that is food. These supplies will last the International Space Station through next year.
I had no traffic to fight and I think I got some pretty decent photos of the launch considering I snapped them from the television screen. Sitting at home, I was able to get close up shots of Atlantis.
The launch.
This is a shot of the shuttle separating from the main booster.
As soon as we saw Atlantis leave the launchpad, Yam and I ran outside to see if we could see the shuttle in the sky from our backyard. We have seen launches in the past but not today, it was too cloudy.
The Freedom Swim takes place here every Fourth of July. This year was the 20th annual swim. In 2008, MSNBC.com named the Freedom Swim in its Top 10 Quirky Fourth of July Activities list.
Once we were all in our kayaks, we paddled our way south to the starting point of the Freedom Swim, at the base of the bridge. Once there, we saw hundreds of people in the water. There were 300 swimmers (by newspaper accounts), several kayakers, a few paddle boarders, one paddle boat and many regular boaters. We were all waiting for the swim to begin.
At 9:00 AM the starting horn sounded and all at once the swimmers began to splash their watery way across the river.
Those of us not swimming had to be very mindful of the swimmers (it is the Freedom Swim after all). There were shouts of, "swimmer behind you" or "swimmer to left or right of you". I had one swimmer call to me and ask a favor of me.
"Hey, could you tell my friend way over there, in the black swimming suit, that she needs to veer to the left? The tide is taking her away from where she needs to be heading."
I saw all kinds of swimming methods deployed by the swimmers: Butterfly, Breaststroke, Sidestroke and Backstroke.
I saw young swimmers and old swimmers. One young girl about 16, asked me if she could hold onto my kayak for just a couple of minutes. I said of course. She needed to fix her goggles before she and her friend could continue swimming.
The newspaper said that a 65-year old man from Michigan, who had had a heart attack just three months prior, participated in the swim. He told the reporter that he had someone in a kayak following him and she had his Nitro-Glycerine tablets with her in case he would need them. I think I passed that man in my kayak. I remember seeing an elderly swimmer and thinking, "I sure hope he can make it, he looks tired, and he has a ways to go." He was being closely followed by a female kayaker who looked as concerned as I felt.
Halfway across the river I passed these people. What a way to travel, being pulled behind a paddle boat, lounging on an inner tube, listening to music and drinking a beer.
The current was a little stronger mid-river. It pushed The Colonel, Yam, G-Pa and I a little beyond where we wanted to land. So we had to paddle just a little harder for a bit. The swimmers were all heading towards the wharf of Fisherman's Village. That was the finish line of the swimmers (a 16 year-old boy came in first with a time of about 30 minutes and was followed a couple of minutes later by his 15 year-old sister) and my little kayak group headed just east of the finish line. Other kayakers had the same idea in mind.
G-Ma and Darling-Sister-In-Law were waiting for us as we paddled our kayaks to the little boat ramp. Darling-Sister-In-Law took a few pictures of us as we paddled in.
Our Freedom Swim kayak trip took us about an hour and a half to complete. We all agreed that kayaking across the river was a great experience and lots of fun.
I cut it up and we all tried some. The melon is supposed to have a pineapple flavor to it, this one didn't. It tasted more like a honeydew melon and it had an onion-like aftertaste to it. We think it was not quite ready to be harvested but with the shriveled vine we couldn't let it sit there and rot. There are a couple more in the garden we hope will mature properly so that we can taste what Thomas Jefferson tasted.
I am also looking forward to the sweet potatoes. I like them, The Colonel doesn't but he let me plant some in his garden anyway, what a sweet guy.
Spud's room was on the fifth floor, the uppermost floor. He had to check-in up there first and get his room key. All elevators were busy, so we climbed the five flights of stairs and Spud checked in.
With key in hand, we went to Spud's room. He has his own private bedroom, but he and his three roommates share two bathrooms and a kitchen area. His bedroom is a nice size with a bed, desk and chair, and a chest of drawers with a wire shelf and hanging unit above (not shown in the picture, but is just around the corner from the door).
After checking out the new digs, it was time to start bringing Spud's things in from the vehicle. There still were no cardboard box-dollies available and the line to the elevators was still very long so we would have to carry things up the five flights of stairs by hand.
We didn't help Spud set up his room. I think that is part of the fun of the whole experience...setting up your room the way you see fit...plus it gave him something to do once we left him.
We said our goodbyes with kisses and hugs and then began the long drive back home. During the drive I would look at the clock on the dashboard to see what time it was and I would wonder what Spud was doing just then. A few times I got a little twinge of sadness, knowing that my baby was being left behind with many miles between us.
