May 08, 2009

12:07 p.m.

AWOL Orange Cat

One of Rose's cats has gone missing. He scooted out the door last night as a guest was leaving and they haven't seen him since. They don't normally let the cats out at night. Once in a while one won't come in at dark; scaredy cat Arthur has slept in the barn a time or two and come in nice and hungry in the morning. But Linus never came back last night, and he didn't show up today. Rose texted me and asked if I could pop by and see if I could find him, so I went over this morning and spent over an hour in the woods calling and looking for him. It was really strange that he didn't turn up, and though I hate to say it, ominous. He doesn't usually go very far, but there are possums and so forth in the woods. Nasty predatory night creatures. I did find a lair with two largish holes where such a creature might live. There was no sign of a tussle around it, and I called Linus's name into the holes but there was no response. I called for him all over the forest. I went where birds were making rackets. I looked under bushes and in the barn and where undergrowth was thick. I didn't see or hear any sign of him.

I invoked my mother's help and did Reiki to feel where he was. Nothin'.

All I found were a couple of ticks, later, under my shirt. Gahh.

I'm grieving his missingness and wondering what happened.

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I remembered that last night as I sat here late on the computer, I heard a sort of hissy growl down in the driveway, followed by an angry cat yowl.

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I spoke with Wes on the phone last night. He's been away so much, and home for just overnights the last few weeks, that I haven't seen him at all. It was great to catch up, though. Amazingly, the house they'd bid on a few weeks ago fell through. This is at least the third one. Their bid had been accepted. There was another buyer who had bid the same price, but the sellers chose Wes and his lady friend because they were planning to live there full time and the other folks weren't. Then they spent $1,100 on various inspections and the house failed by tens of thousands of dollars. So much needs to be done on it right away, which the sellers didn't mention. The sellers wouldn't budge on the price, and they offered it to the other bidders "as is" and they took it.

That has led to more conversation between Wes & girlfriend about where they should live and if they're even compatible. Now she wants to rent a house closer to her daughter and try living together for a year before they buy something. The rents are enormous down there and Wes feels that all his hard-won house savings will be frittered away in that year just paying for the rent. It seems like an unsolvable conundrum. Maybe he'll end up renting a room from me in my House after all.

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Well, I have to go pick up some meds from my doc a few towns away. I really need to wash my hair but I don't feel like it. This is where the PieRat cap might come in handy. Maybe if I wrap it in foil, it'll act as a sort of cat radar.