Nan's Notes: Living Large ~ 2007

My Life as a Little Cat ~ Chapter Seven

Happy Birthday to me ... I'm 19! Hard to believe everything I've seen and done and I'm still going strong.

This was our spot on the sofa and it always made me feel safe and warm to nap with my buddy Elvis.

And also without him ...

Every day that I was in Galveston I drank from this fountain ... napping ... eating ... drinking from the fountain.

LOTS of napping.

These would be my last months to sleep in the TV cabinet because we replaced it with another piece of furniture. That was OK, because I had lots of other places to sleep.

Sometimes I would get cold at the beach so I started taking some of my naps in the hall closet. The space was just right and it was warm and quiet.

Keeping an eye out for birds on the balcony.

Catching some ZZZs on the Wally Bed by the front window in Houston.

Elvis was always a "head bump" kind of friend and this is a big deal in the wild world of cats. Bumping heads is a sign of respect, particularly if the "bumper" points his head lower than the "bumpee". As the arthritis spread in my hips and paws and my gait was sometimes slow and unsteady, my friend Elvis would race to my side for support. Of course, he would almost knock me over from time to time, but I didn't mind ... his intentions were good!

My friend Denny, the jungle cat!

From the beginning, I loved the garage. It was a place to poke around and maybe see a bug or two. When the Maine Coon boys were just kittens, they weren't allowed into the garage because of all the dangerous stuff out there. For about a year, I would ask to go into the garage and they would poke their little paws under the swinging door, curious about what I was doing and jealous that the garage was "adults only". Here I am waiting for the doorman.

They say "it's the little things in life" and that was never more true than with the tree frogs in Galveston. In early June, this small tree frog appeared in my fountain. Suddenly, Denny was as interested in the fountain as I was. Not that he wanted a drink, but he HAD TO to watch as Nan plugged it in each trip because the sound of the pump and the moving water would cause the frog(s) to pop their heads out for a look 'round.

I really just liked to drink the water, but it felt good that our balcony had become a small eco-system. The tree frogs would climb the neighbor's palm tree and hop out onto the long palm fronds that brushed against our house. Then they would make their way over to the fountain for cool drinks. Sometimes they would sleep inside the fountain if they needed a little protection from the weather. Sometimes they were captured by Denny, carried inside and used as "hopping toys" until Nan took them away, wiped them off and released them back onto the balcony. I was proud that we never lost a frog ... and that's saying something with those two hunters!

Wow, is that a frog in my fountain?

In our normal balcony positions.

Elvis making everyone nervous, rolling around on the edge of the balcony.

Cool water on a hot day!

"Rackin' it" under the loveseat.

A beautiful sunset ...

I don't have pictures, but must mention a very exciting and dangerous thing that happened in August. One night, just as we had gone to bed, Jerry was asleep and the boys were paws up in their beds. Suddenly Elvis sat up and pointed his large ears toward the bedroom door. In a flash he was gone and minutes later a large bat flew in from the hall with Elvis in hot pursuit.

It would have made great video! Nan started yelling and Jerry jumped up and the next thing we knew El was flying through the air - about 6 feet high - and he took a swipe at the bat and knocked it to the ground with one strike. After capturing Elvis and securing all three of us in the extra bedroom, the search for the bat began.

With brooms and umbrellas they entered the bedroom and searched and searched. Jerry quickly tired of the situation and went back to bed. Nan left the lights blazing all night long and none of us could sleep. The next morning we found the bat in the boy's toy basket ... shaking and scared. We set the basket on the balcony and let the bat go free. That was before we knew much about bats.

Order was restored and we didn't have any more visitors that year.

With the demise of my TV cabinet bed, I found a new spot on the floor of the office ... it was quiet and out of the way and the afternoon sunshine would blaze through the window and keep me toasty warm.