Life Changing Experience

It's been a long time.

My last blog entry had ended with a sudden pending road trip.

Well, we drove all the way to Southern California.

For the next few days, I would call this place 'home'.

It was hot there.

Really hot.

Also, there were an insane amount of ants.

Other than that, it wasn't bad.

I got to sit outside on the porch from time to time.

There were lots of birds to watch there.

Doves, Jays, Bushtits, Hummingbirds, Blackbirds, Mockingbirds....

so many!

Apparently this was Grandma's house.

That is to say, Mom's mom.

I had met her once before when she came up for a brief visit.

Grandma wasn't the only one who lived here, however.

Meet Duchess.

She was born to a feral litter years ago.

She's very sweet to the humans and spends her

time either in Grandma's room, or outside.

It was very clear that this was her territory.

So, for the most part, I kept to my room.

After all, if you're a cat, Duchess is not to be taken lightly.

There were occasions when Duchess was in her

room that I was permitted to enjoy the rest of the house.

It was a nice house.

Warm and inviting.

It had some very nice windows.

If I lived here permanently, I would spend

a lot of time in the living room window.

But I don't live there.

So, for the most part, I was confined to quarters.

There was a comfy bed that I shared with Mom.

My room also had a nice window.

I quickly adjusted to my new surroundings.

Then, after only 3 days, it was time to go.

We didn't go far.

Just across town.

Which, as it turns out, wasn't very far at all.

Small town, I guess.

My new home was great.

I'd never experienced anything like it.

One great feature was that it had stairs.

Then, the best feature of all:

there was this perfect spot over the stairs.

Not only was it a great place to nap, but it 

also had a window.

This would be my spot.

The window had this awesome view!

I could watch the sunrise every morning.

There were, however, airplanes.

That was a sound I wasn't used to hearing so close.

For the most part it was quiet.

So I didn't mind the airplane noise too much.

It was actually only small aircraft.

Many of them antiques.

The whole atmosphere of the place made me

feel like I had gone back in time.

For you fellow geeks and nerds out there,

it seems this place used to belong to someone named Jeffries.

His artwork was hanging everywhere.

Also, he left some interesting beds for Mom and Daddy to sleep on.

I guess they used to belong to someone named Spock.

The other great feature was that it was only one room.

So Mom, Daddy and I were together as long as they were home.

They would, however, leave home.

Often gone for hours.

I didn't mind so much.

After all, I knew they were with Grandma.

In fact, I knew they were with lots of family.

Everyone was coming from all over to help Grandma.

There was family from Washington, Ohio, Texas, and New Mexico

all coming to support her.

And I thought WE had traveled far!

That's why we moved to the hangar.

More family needed someplace to stay.

You see, even though I'd heard about him, it became very

apparent to me that Grandpa had 'crossed the rainbow bridge'

as we pets say.

So, I knew my duty.

I was patient and loving with my humans.

I waited patiently when they left me alone in that

hangar apartment for hours.

When they returned, I greeting them warmly.

After all, I had this great greeting perch!

As they would come up the stairs,

I would start my meowing.

Then I would try to keep their spirits up by being really cute.

It helped that I really liked that chair.

It also helped that Mom brought Mimzy.

Then the day came when Mom and Daddy got up

early, dressed nicely, and left me for hours.

At one point in the afternoon, they returned with

Grandma and everyone took a short nap before

leaving again.

It wasn't too long after that that Mom brought over

an old school friend of hers to meet me.

At the end of the day, Mom and Daddy came and got me.

We went back to Grandma's house to visit with all sorts

of family members.

I could tell that something major had happened for the

humans that day.

Everyone was somber.

It was a couple days after that when Mom, Daddy, Grandma

and I went on a short trip together.

I rode in the back seat with Grandma.

(I really like her.)

We went to the most wide open outdoor place I had ever seen.

There were so many new smells and sounds that I just didn't

know what to do.

Mom had forgotten my traveling bag that day, so I borrowed Grandma's.

I decided it was best for me to stay in there next to Daddy

while Mom and Grandma went into the water.

After they came out, we went for a short walk.

I got out of the bag for a bit and took some shelter among the rocks.

I don't know exactly what a jetty is, 

but it seemed to be the safest place from which

to observe my strange new surroundings.

There were a lot of birds to watch from there.

They weren't the sort of birds I thought I could get at.

You see, they were either way to big or way

too close to the water for my comfort.

Overall, a very interesting life experience.

After that it was back in the car.

Once again, I enjoyed Grandma's company.

I did my best to be a comfort to her.

We went to the humans' favorite eatery again.

Apparently there's more than one in the world.

When they finished their meal, we all

went to a place called a farmer's market

where we met up with Mom's sister and that 

big coon hound.

I stayed in the bag.

After that day we continued our stay in California.

Most days I stayed 'home' at the hangar 

and waited eagerly for my humans to return.

I would sit on my perch by the window and watch for them.

They were even kind enough to 

tuck the curtain up so I could see better.

The days became long and lazy for me;

enjoying the sunny spot in the window of my air conditioned room.

As road trips goes, this one was shaping up pretty nicely.

At night I would sleep in my bed.

During the day, when I wasn't in my window,

I would sleep in the comfy chair.

I discovered that I could do very cat-like things in this place.

Then, after more than a week of being in California,

we said our goodbyes to Grandma and hit the road.

We were on the road for-e-ver.

Still, we stopped at a familiar rest area.

I took that time to smell where the car had been.

I was happy to be out for awhile.

It felt good to stretch my legs.

Then, after being on the road again for awhile,

the sun rose...

...and I knew we were back in Oregon.

I could smell the crisp pine air.

After being on the road for what seemed like an eternity,

we were home again.

So I did what had to be done.

I put Yoda-mouse in my food bowl.

So now I'm back to my home.

I'm back to hanging out with Felix.

And, of course, I'm back to my very own window.

So now things should be getting back to normal.

The difference is that now I see Grandpa's touch

all over Mom's life.

I never knew him, but she says that he knew all about me.

She says that even my name has his influence.

So I will leave you with this:

In memory of Wendell Dowling

Currently on exhibition at the Museum of Ventura County: Agriculture Museum

>^.^<