Saturday, October 20, 2007

Kitty JuJu

I'm really glad this week of over. It's been a difficult one.

It started off routinely enough, then progressively went downhill to a new level of yucky weirdness.

It started on Wednesday. I hit a cat on my way to work. It was one of those dark, dark mornings that suck up light rather than reflect it. I'm going about 55 mph when this BLACK cat runs RIGHT under my wheel. Thunk, bumpy bump. There was absolutely NO WAY to avoid it. I was freaked...I have never hit an animal before. And I like cats, squirrels, fuzzy bunnies....that kind of thing. But I knew there was no way this cat survived. And I have to say I was too much of a coward to go back and move it off the road, I couldn't handle seeing that cat. My cowardice made me feel even worse.

I called Capt'n Balance, he took care of it.

That evening, Capt'n Balance told me he was walking past an empty dumpster behind the shop where he works and heard a frantic meowing. He look in and there was a little white kitten stuck in the dumpster in about 4 inches of dirty, cold water. He got a box and a plank, dropped the box into the dumpster and leaned the plank on it up to the top of the dumpster (the plank was too short on it's own) but the kitten was too little and couldn't get up on the box...so into the dumpster Capt'n Balance goes. The kitten is really scared so he scooped it into the box and climbed out. He set the box on the ground and walked away from it and then the kitten took off to where ever it came from.

So I kill a cat, he saves one.

The week continues on, one of my young clients is killed in a car accident. Uhhh, no...

I end up working a 50 hour week and I'm burned out. The sky is heavy with gray clouds and rain..it looks like I feel. All I want to do is go home, drink a beer or 2 and watch mindless TV and sleep. I did all that but sleep was difficult to come by.

I wake up this morning to about 1 inch of snow. It's white, light and beautiful but melting fast. I start my day, wishing I could sleep longer but it's no use in trying. Bike Boy needs a haircut so I go into my garage to get my truck out....and there....sitting on my truck bed sidewall....is....a.........CAT. A BLACK CAT. Kitten to be more specific.

I got home Friday night after 7 pm and pulled into my garage. The only time my garage door is open is when I pull in or out. No one has been in the garage since I got home from work Friday, the door hasn't been open. So how and when did this kitten get into my garage?? Did it stow away in my truck while I was at work or at the grocery store????

I get the fuzzy kitten...it's shaking and scared. Bike Boy and I are just going "What??? How???". Now what are we going to DO with it??? Bike Boy wants to keep it and takes it into the kitchen to get it food, water, give it a name, make it a bed, give it bath, whatever. We can't keep it. Again, I do like cats and I am a tad tempted....maybe to redeem myself after Wednesday? Maybe this is the dead cat reincarnate?...but I don't believe in that hokey.

I call Capt'n Balance and tell him. He agrees this is getting sort of spooky and asks what I'm going to do with it. I decide we will go around to the neighbors to see if it belongs to any of them or if they want it. No one owns it or wants it. I go to the vet down the road to get the location of the Animal Rescue no-kill shelter. The girls at the vet tell me they just called the shelter and it's full, not accepting any animals. The only alternative is the pound and most likely this little fuzzball will be put down in 48 hrs. Damn. 2 cats gone in less than a week. Bad kitty juju.

One of the girls then says she will take it...YES!!! I'm relieved........the kitty will live. Good kitty juju.

So now I'm home again. The snow has melted and everything is starting to freeze up. I'm tired still. Ready to open a beer and watch mindless TV again. But tonight, I think I will sleep better.

I was taking my road bike to work to ride at lunch but I have been working through lunches. Next week I will take my Kona winter bike with the studded tires and just go for some slow, fresh air rides. I just feel drained.

I have some nice pictures to post but blogger is having some issues and I just keep getting error messages. I will post them later.

7 comments:

The Donut Guy said...

Michelle, I took a cat in right before we got married (24 years ago!) my wife was surprised as I wasn't really a cat person. This poor cat had a good bit of it's fur missing from frostbite and it was totally deaf. It was a fairly old cat as it only lived for about 2 more years but at least the last two years of it's life were comfortable..

On another note-I ran over a groundhog a couple of weeks ago-it sounded like I drove over a bowling ball.

Karen Travels said...

What a rotten week! I hope this one coming up is better for you. I e-mailed you back! Was very excited to hear from you - did a little "I am actually moving to Alaska" dance at my computer.

Dano said...

Seems you need to cut back on the work front.... all work and no play.....

Crappy weeks make the good ones even better

Unknown said...

Having lost a cat recently (hit by a neighbors son's car), I appreciate your dilemma. I do not like to run over even the smallest animal and short of wrecking the car, will try to do so.
It is so tough to hear you talk about snow; please keep it there for as long as possible!
P.S. I bought a bottle of wine this weekend with your blogger "logo" on the label (lady cyclist)! It came highly recommended.

Jett said...

Too much soul-wrenching and head-whacking. At least you've got a really wild story to tell.

I went and gave our neighbor's cats some attention. Hope the Cat Karma flows well. I'm sure getting on the bike will help. It always makes me feel better no matter what.

Michelle said...

No cat issues this week...whew. Good kitty juju going on.

Hey Old Man, I've been drinking that wine for years! MMM yum. I have a half a bottle of the merlot waiting to be finished..maybe tonight :)

Michelle said...
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