Beagles and felines and me, oh, my! Beagles and felines and me, oh, my! In March of 2003 I flew to Florida to swim with the dolphins at Discovery Cove. While I was there, three major events occurred: the US declared war on Iraq; Denver had a blizzard that left 30 inches of snow on the ground; and my elderly cat died. When I brought Lady, my beagle, home from the kennel, she searched everywhere for her friend. The two had been buddies; they would curl up together in a chair, both licking whatever bit of fur came under their tongues. Lady was devastated at being alone. I found a kitten at a pet store and brought the little scrap of gray home with me. “Lady, I’ve brought you a new kitty friend!” I exulted, setting the kitten on the floor. “We’ll call him Dolphin, because he’s dolphin-color.” Lady rose to her feet and delicately sniffed an ear tip. The kitten hissed, snarled, and swatted at her. Thus began an armed truce, with the cat totally in charge. Dolphin, my vet told me the next day, was barely five weeks old and sick. It was illegal to sell a kitten that young, and I had every right to return him to the pet store. But, whom would that help? He was so tiny he had to climb, paw over paw like a rock climbing wall, up the side of my bed. Then he would lie on my chest and suck my thumb while he went to sleep. He bonded to me, therefore; everyone else, he disdained. However, when my arthritic hip got so bad that I could hardly walk, I had to re-home Sallie, and Dolphin came into his own. It turned out he’d always wanted to be an only cat! He started purring occasionally. He’d curl up in my lap and nap. He was even willing to take a few steps outside the RV in a campground, wearing harness and leash. At last, he seemed to be saying, my heart’s desire—solitude! I had a hip replacement, and Dolphin continued to revel in being an only child. When he was 14, friends and I visited Craters of the Moon National Monument, in Idaho. What an amazing place! It’s the site of a relatively recent volcanic eruption; “relatively recent” as in, the local natives have oral history of the event. Everything is covered with lava, which absorbs the heat, of course, so it was miserable in August. My friends decided to go hiking; I decided to stay in the parking lot with Dolphin. We put his harness on, and I carried him to the only spot of shade around: a picnic table under a scruffy tree. I sat on the bench, and Dolphin played tiger-in-the-jungle in the sagebrush. Soon a group of 15-passenger vans pulled up and disgorged dozens of college students. They were a summer geology class, getting hands-on experience—wouldn’t that be a wonderful way to learn? Five of them trotted across the parking lot, heading for my tree. As they approached, I called, “Slowly and quietly, guys, please. Don’t scare my cat!” They slowed to a walk and settled at the picnic table with their lunches. An Asian boy said, “Cat? You have cat?” I pointed to Dolphin, crouched near my feet. The boy went on, “I have cat. My cat name Michael. I leave Michael with my mother. I come here to school. Michael get wild in morning. My mother get rid of Michael!” After a pause, he added, “I miss my cat!” Then, “I pat your cat?” I said, “You can try. He’s a bit odd … doesn’t really like people.” The young man crouched down and held out his hand. And Dolphin walked right up to him, accepting pats and ear rubs. I was so proud of him! Less than a week later, Dolphin suddenly stopped eating, stopped jumping up on the sofa, and appeared quite miserable. I took him to the vet, who drew blood. The following evening I got the call: “The blood tests show irreversible kidney failure.” I had Dolphin put to sleep the next morning. He had certainly gone out in a blaze of glory! I gave it a few weeks, then went to the Boulder Humane Society in search of a cat—preferably one who would cuddle with me and enjoy traveling in the RV. What a discouraging morning that was. Setting a cat in my lap, the Humane Society gal would say, “This is our love-bug! He’s such a sweetie!” I’d scratch under his chin and murmur something encouraging—and the cat would hop off my lap, walk to the far corner of the room, and sit with his back to me. For close to two hours I was rejected by cats. Those cats lived in cages in a shelter … and they’d rather stay there than come home with me. Proof, I thought, that I was a terrible person. I went back a week later to try again … and spent another hour being rejected by a series of cats. Walking morosely down the hall, which was lined with cages and rooms, I felt a touch. Two little black paws had reached through the bars of a cage and grabbed my arm. “I think this cat wants me!” I told the attendant joyfully. In the Lord of the Rings books (and movies), Gandalf and his companions come to the gates of Durin, where the elvish word for friend, mellon, is the password to open the door. I named my new kitten, just three months old, Mellon, because she was my new friend.
There’s a website out there—www.adventurecats.org. That’s my girl, a venturesome cat to the max! My new RV is named the Venturesome Cat in her honor. Share This Blog:
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Posts
on a rock, by the lake ...
Beagles and felines and me, oh, my!
RV Saga
Choosing
Look at my map!
“Yo ho ho, the wind blows free” in Mystic, CT
God’s whales
Ed Mathieu, moose whisperer
Trust …
Pooh Sticks in Kansas
Moose plans!
CCWC 2013
The Moose is loose!
“angels unaware”
Sacramento train station … yawn!
Pay attention to my accounts!
one last camping trip!
A Delightful Trip
Going on a bat?
My friend Shannie
morning fun!
Buffalo Wesleyan Church
Cascades National Park, homeward
“wherever I lodge”
the view
Cascades National Park
Guardian beagle?
Lewis and Clark Caverns
Beware!
Let’s get this show on the road!
Happy camper!
Israel Miracles
He is not here!
Camel riding
jet lag
Meditation
Garden of Gethsemane
Where …
The Great I AM
Abraham’s Tent
Wednesday—Jordan River
Caesarea, Zippori, Nazareth, Megiddo …
Israel—1st day
Tomorrow … tomorrow!
Beautiful feet
Wings of the morning
Countdown …
Ah-whoo and sniff!
17 more days!
Pilgrims, Elephants, Buffalo—what is real?
Israel factoids
Traveling old lady
Going to Israel
fall color?
Small world!
Where Can I Go?
Mitchell, SD
Valentine, NE
Precision Repair in Big Timber, MT
Scenic byway
hideously horrible, absolutely wonderful writing conference!
the tire guy
Friends, Truman, and books
Rescuing angels
Brown County leaves!
tune: “Fairest Lord Jesus”
Synesthesia 3
Niagara Cave, Harmony, MN
Synesthesia 2
Synesthesia
I’ll show her!
A New Toy!
Popular doggie!
New friends from Alberta
Nevada morning
Use it and pack it
Going …
Friends along the way
Idle conversations …
I’ll rest content, when my trip is done!
De Smet, SD
Red River Zoo, Fargo, ND—nice!
Whether the weather …
Prairie Dog Central RR in Manitoba
An island, just for me?
Aaron Provincial Park, Ontario
A delightful day
Sing praise!
Unexpected kindness
Emus—ah-wooooof!!!
If I were a moose …
Okopogo
Trip reading
Drive-drive-drive
Our morning elk
CCWC in Estes Park
from the Meandering Moose
May!
Writing Away, Lavinia Spalding
Northwest haven
Office picnic
Memory lane?
Visiting Camp Lake Hubert
Dolphin the Dragon
Plum Creek
Corn Palace
Ready to go!
Oh, fun!
“anti-microbial”
Home {yawn}
KOA authors
Oregon Christian Writers poetry class
What a day!
Decorating tips
Dolphin’s comments
Authors
Music at the Mug!
Go, girl!
“Where Go the Boats?”
Campgrounds and trailer parks
Highway dangers
June!
Blowin’ in the wind
DABS
Bluebonnets
Of blizzards and barking
Home!
What I Did on My Summer Vacation
Group-think
A good conference
OCW: 1st day
OCW
Surprise!
Corps of Discovery
Oregon Coast Aquarium
Sea Lion Caves
American Flyer
a sandwich day …
Cirque de Soleil
My plans
t•i•r•e•d
Headin’ out
I’m off in the morning!
Why we’re glad to be home
Döppelganger?
Little moose feet
In a mirror?
Hero
pant … pant …
Hot and windy
Sun-scorched land
Writing conference
Vacation planning
Planning, planning …
just a little NE jaunt?
Trip plans …
Beginnings
… in a strange land …
Kansas
Ha!
Use it and pack it
Wait, I’m not ready!
Drive-by Church—God’s Plan
Not a Classy Author—But I Sure Do Have Fun!
Trials and Tribulations … Plus Mercy Galore!
Of Badlands and good lands and lands along the way …
of bear teeth and beagle bladders
First forest … first park … praise the Lord!
Ridin’ the trail in the hail
My Wolf Park family
2000+ miles of boring interstate, with bright spots!
Mitchell, Canada, and the failure of Dolphin’s plot
To Mitchell SD, with a supper stop on the way
hail, the mighty hunter!
Hello world!
Trust
Trust …
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