CAT - (ching) UP!!

Hello Peoples!

This year goes by VERY fast.

I'm a bad kitty. You can probably guess why. It's because I do not post since January!

I try to remember all the places I go. It is very confusing. I am truly a Cat on The Road.

I start with where I leave off, or maybe just before. Try to stay awake as I recap the year, Peoples!

JANUARY
The Beach is nice in early January. No snow. But I can't go outside of this little shiny box. People #1 & #2 call it "Airstream". What a stupid name! Rupert is a good name for a cat.

Then we go home to The Woods for a little while. It snows there. But at least I can go outside.

Then I am put in the car AGAIN and we drive to Hollywood. I do NOT become famous. I am devastatingly disappointed. How's that for a dramatic Hollywood phrase? See, I am very talented. Oh well, it's THEIR loss!

We stay in a huge corporate apartment. (I must admit I do like carpet!) I get a little more exercise waddling from room to room. I hide under the covers of the gigantic bed, as you see in the video from previous post.

I'll let you in on a little secret. I hide under the covers of these corporate apartments mostly because I do not like the strange noises coming out of the ceiling and the walls. I cannot identify them, so they scare me.

When I am not scared I am bored.

FEBRUARY
We go back to The Woods. More snow. I like being outdoors even when it's cold. Much better than being warm and a Kitty-Potato indoors!






But sometimes it is nice to be warm indoors. (Yes, I can change my mind!) It is warmer this winter inside Airstream. The winter before it is cold in the Music Room, attached to the barn.

People #1 hides under blankets sort of like I do. But it's pretty warm on top of the stove too.



In this picture we still have that darn dog. But he is gone now. I must tell you about that later.


MARCH
Still in The Woods, hooray. The white stuff goes away and the grass comes. I LOVE EATING GRASS.



Just when I start to think that we stop traveling, we leave again!

I hide under the bed but People #1 drags me out. Then he takes me out of Airstream. I know what's coming next!



Yes folks, you guessed it! They put me in the truck. OH NO! I know what this means. Long days of movement, roaring whooshing noise from the truck and sitting in People #2's lap. No food, water or litter box when I want it. Just a lot of bouncing around and harsh sunlight.

Sometimes we stop, and People #2 carries me into Airstream. (What a stupid name!) and I fill up or get rid of. Or both. 'Nuff said 'bout that!

Oh did I mention that Rupert is a good name for a cat?

We drive and drive and drive and drive!

Two days after we leave The Woods (I think it's March 29th), we are somewhere in the middle of Nebraska. People #1 & #2 decide to stop at a McDonald's for lunch.

Yum, I like meat! But they're mean and don't give me any. In fact, they don't even let me go inside Airstream. They make me stay in the truck. SO WHAT if I just ate a few hours earlier? I might want a nibble!

We pull into the McDonald's parking lot. People #1 has to go inside Airstream. Then People #2 takes videos of People #1 coming out of Airstream. He says it's "artful". I don't THINK so!

Here are a series of still shots from the video. It's like a little story:

People #1 is locking Airstream's door. I SEE HIM!

He's coming!

I watch intently as he comes closer...

Why is he sticking his finger in my face? I'll go ahead and sniff it, very nonchalantly of course.

Okay, I admit that I'm a sucker for a kiss!

Where are you GOING? Don't walk away!

They leave me for a few minutes. They come back with a white bag which smells like chicken. They are rude and don't share. Okay, I'll go back to sleep!

A few hours later we stop overnight. Still in Nebraska I think. It is an endless piece of real estate.

The next afternoon we are finally in Missouri, only a couple hours from our destination which is called "Kansas City". Sometimes I like to ride on the dashboard to get a better view.



I always try to look handsome in my pictures but you can sort of tell that I'm OVER this whole thing.

This is enough cat-(ch) up for now.

I promise not to wait ten months to post again. I have more interesting travel pictures to share!

Traveling Cat

MEOWS to all my feline friends, and many thanks for your good wishes after my surgery last month!

I am now fully recovered and wait for my fur to grow back. People #1 says that the "asymmetrical look" is back in fashion but I am not so sure. I think I look a little strange.

It's one of those things where you have to see me "in cat" in order to appreciate. This picture doesn't do it justice, but People #2 insists on documenting it here.



Since last month I am one busy cat. I sure travel a lot! I go from the beach to the valley and then back home to the mountains. I stay in the trailer all that time and it is home.

People #2 puts my food bowl on a ledge in the trailer shower so the dog doesn't help himself to my precious snacks.



But now I am in a corporate apartment in LA-LA land.

I am confused.

I do not like corporate apartments. They are big, unfamiliar spaces. They smell funny. There are strange noises in the walls and the ceilings.

I am bored with the sound of the idiot box. We don't have one at home.

But my People have it on almost all the time, so I think that they are bored, too.

My favorite thing to do in corporate apartments is hide under the bedcovers. People #2 is amazed that I can breathe under there. No problem, dude. I can stay there for hours on end.

Sometimes I come out and lounge on the smaller sofa in the livingroom while my People sit on the larger one. We all watch the idiot box and marvel at all the commercials about fitness, training machines, weight loss programs and even reduction surgery that are so popular here in Southern California. It is a very strange place.

The dog is here too. We have minimal contact. I pretty much ignore him, except when he gets too close to my face. Then I either I reach out with my claws or we touch noses. I like being unpredictable!




I hear my People talking about going home on Monday. I look forward to being able to go outside. It has been a long winter indoors!

Waiting for Christmas Dinner!

I get back from the V-E-T several ounces thinner from all the fur that THEY shave off me, and I thank the Cat Goddess that THEY finally take that darn tube out of my neck.

Merry Christmas! The only present I get this year is something THEY take away. Whatever -- it's a blessing in any case. I'm feeling so much better now!

Twice a day, People #1 keeps sticking another tube into the corner of my mouth. At least it doesn't stay there long. It spits out this nasty tasting stuff, but I take it like the mancat that I am.

Except the few times that I manage to spit it out. Ha ha ha!

I'm training my People to give me treats as soon as that tube is out of my mouth.

Now I'm sitting here waiting for my special Christmas dinner. A word starting with an "h" might freeze over first.



People #2 picks me up and puts me on another part of the couch while HE eats off that plate. Oh well.

I'm a little bit annoyed but at least he pets me all the time while he's eating, and I purr in contentment, despite my best efforts to remain aloof.

Happy-happy, All!

A Challenging Week

My People are working my nerves big-time this week.

First they bring out these noisy sticks which they blow on one end and make ugly sounds together. (They call this "recorder music".) Whatever. It's disturbing my naps in any case.

I get out my iPod and listen to Enya's version of the song "How Much is that Kitty in the Window?" with the repeat on until they stop.



These sticks sound like birds trapped in a cage. This gets me all excited. My People don't know if my meowing is because of wanting to eat birds (always!) or whether it's because I want them to stop playing.

Let them figure it out!

The second thing is that they take me to the dreaded V-E-T to fix this little problem with an abscess I have for a while now.

As you cats can imagine, I do not like the V-E-T. Who does?

My People take me out of my comfortable, tastefully-decorated Airstream space, out to the cold car, then down the noisy highway to the animal hospital. I do not like strange places. They look and smell funny and I don't like the garish institutional lighting.

The worst part is when my People leave me with this strange person in a white coat with funny thingie hanging down her neck (which I am NOT in the mood to play with!) and then she pokes and prods me. She does pet me to try to calm me down but I am a monster.

I rule!

The next thing I know I am in a cage, in a little room with a lot of cages with cats and dogs in them, and I've got this tube sticking out of me where the abcess is.

Talk about unsightly. And definitely undignified.

My People finally come to pick me up and I am feeling spacey from the sedative. I do not even meow to greet them. Plus, I am mad.

People #1 sits behind that round thing in the car, twisting and turning it around, while I sit in People #2's lap on the other seat.

I am so glad to be back in my familiar space. Now if I can only get this tube out of my neck...

Here's a couple pics from happier times the day before:

"So, ya wanna take my picture -- AGAIN?"



"Okay, you can post these pictures because they're BEFORE I go to the V-E-T!!"

Bird Hunger

I see birds right outside my window and they look so DELICIOUS!

Plump. Yet sleek. Tasty. Delectable.

YUM!

Is this FUN?

People #1 likes to play with me by tickling my belly sometimes.

Because he is Alpha Guy, I allow this. But I don't always like it. Yes I do. No I don't.

It's tough to decide.

On one hand the belly rubbing feels good but then I get too excited and start kicking. People #2 calls it my "bunny kicks".

That term really helps. (Not.)

So there's People #1 playing with me while People #2 points that metal box at me. How much can a cat take?

It's hard to be dignified during such moments. Above all, we cats must maintain our dignity. We do NOT like being made fools of.

But yet...I like to play and the rubbing does feel good. No it doesn't. Yes it does.

Please visit my brand-new kitty friends!

Kat Mortensen, one of my favorite poets and bloggers, has a wonderful brand-new kitty blog to showcase her feline family.

Please check it out! Have the honor of posting comments on the blog on their very first day!

4 Cats Ruffin' It!

If you're so inclined, check out Kat's other blogs on her profile page. She is delightful reading.

Thanks.

Paws 'n Claws,
Rupert