Tuesday Ramblings

I turn on the news, which I so seldom watch, and I hear reports of swine flu. I hadn't heard that one mentioned in a long time! I remember the swine flu from back in the 70's and they were giving vaccinations for it. I hope this new wave of it doesn't spread any farther than it already has.

Two weeks ago Sir Scarlet, one of my cats, was missing. He had been here the night before and then the next morning no Scarlet. Okay, no need for alarm. He's probably off hunting. As the day went on and no Scarlet I walked along the cliff and called for him with no results. Three days and no sign of him. My neighbor says he's probably off "tom catting," since he's not been neutered yet. I said, "Maybe, but he still seems young and innocent to me!"

That night I woke up around 3 a.m. for a bathroom call. As usual, I looked outside and wondered about Sir Scarlet and where he could be. I went outside and walked to the end of the porch and called for him again and did my "kitty kitty kitty" routine calling. At that time of the night it's quiet with no traffic noise, no noise from the lake, and the concrete plant is quiet. During the day you can hear traffic noise, at times, from 3 different roads. The bypass is about a mile from here and so is Hwy. 27. These both are heavily traveled areas. There is a concrete plant just behind the houses across the road, and believe me, it can be noisy, sometimes even late at night! You can't see it from here but we do get some dust at times and noise at times. Then on the other side is the lake which has the noise during the day of boats, talking, laughing, etc.

Anyway......as I stood there calling in the quiet of the night in my nightgown, I thought I heard a meow....so I called again louder. I listened and I could definitely hear a cat meowing and it sounded like it was coming from behind my neighbor's house over the hill, and it sounded pretty frantic. I came back in and put my pants, sweater, and shoes on. To make this story shorter (you're welcome!) Sir Scarlet was locked in the neighbor's garage. The next morning I went over and they let him out. He was one hungry cat! He had been in there 4 nights and 3 days! They had been gone and her Mom had been coming over in the evenings to feed their inside cats. She had opened the garage door briefly for something (it's a detached garage), and Sir Scarlet has went in and got himself locked in. I was very happy that we had this nice ending to the story...and so is Sir Scarlet!! They asked me the next day about Scarlet and how he was. I told them he was great and asked about how things were in their garage. They said, "Mouseless!!!"

Now, I have a question for all you folks, who surely know the answer! I saw an advertising sign on the back of a vehicle recently and it said they did "permanent makeup" and "ear stapling." Okay. I know what permanent makeup is, but what is ear stapling??? The only thing I can think of is if you think your ears are too big and need to be stapled back to the side of your head? Why would anyone need their ears stapled? Piercing I understand. Stapling I do not.