Both sides of the door.

As I just mentioned in my last entry, it is decidedly not fire-weather here.  It's tires splashing in the puddles, glad I got new wiper blades, leaves glistening with bright beautiful autumnal colors, raining for 3 days weather.  It's chilly (50's F degrees most of today), wet wet wet, if it's not raining, it's pouring, if it's not pouring, it's drizzling, if it's taking a few moments to not even drizzle, it's misting and the wind will blow rain down from the trees along with the acorns and that is COLD on my neck, heels no longer high enough to walk through puddles and keep my feet dry, clothes will get soaked if out long enough without a long enough coat on, raining for 3 solid days so that the ground is fully soaked, weather.

I love sleeping all warm and snuggly inside, with the sound of rain outside.  I love walking in the rain hair and face a bit wet, let Daisy get her coat clean (when my clothing closest to me is dry enough and sufficiently warm).  I had been enjoying this.

It's pouring now, and poured most of today other than this morning, and I imagine this is what "dreich" weather is that pharmolo refers to (I can't find dreich in any dictionary I've found). 

A couple days ago, Indie (my cat, Independence) begged to go outside.  I let him briefly.  I sometimes forget that my cats don't mind some rain.  Indie watches through the windows, he smells through the front door.  He cries and cries, and purrs when I come close to the door every morning, leash in hand for Daisy.  Indie' hopeful I'll grab his leash, also.  I usually reserve that for weekends, however.  I usually don't have time to let him meander as much as he'd like.  I try to let him graze (eat grass), or take some grass in for him and the others.  I usually take Indie back in before he's truly ready, and he'll watch out the window again, and stand guard by the door. 

Indie knows when Joshua is outside, "Joshie" as I call him, my neighbor / new coworker's cat.   Indie knows when I've fed Josh.  Josh's human mom doesn't bother looking for him, not really.  If he catches up to them when she walks the dogs, great.  Oh, Josh well groomed and vaccinated; he's a healthy cat.  She's just a dog lover (and had four, sadly, Chase had to be put down with so many ailments in his elder years).  So Josh has found us, walking many a morning with Daisy and I over the past however long.  If he is out for over a day, I'll feed him.  If it's hot out, I'll leave water.  I've had indoor/outdoor cats previously; I prefer letting a cat spend time outside when the neighborhood is more rural.  Josh no longer has a collar, as it kept coming off.  He will go inside in the more extreme weather (or perhaps Josh's Mom looks harder for him then).  She says he likes to be outside.  Sure, but not always.  He's a beautiful tortoise-shelled tabby, aka, dark and blends right into the parking lots and streets in the dark.  I have to shoe away cars sometimes, like last night, when Josh is following us a few paces back.  Sometimes, I'll carry him across the bigger street, or avoid it.

Indie is mostly deaf.  (He can hear high-pitched noises.)  He knows our neighborhood, and he's white.  If he got out, I'll look for him.  I used to let him out some Sunday mornings by himself for a little while, or later Saturday night, but not any more.  I am just not comfortable risking him being outside for any real length of time.  I would also leave food and water for him on my patio, however, or if another one of my cats was outside.

Josh has been out a couple days now.  I did feed him late last night, and this morning (before our walk with Daisy, let's cut to the chase here i.e., not make him do our rounds but just feed him, and let Daisy-girl romp and go as fast as her morning energy wanted today).   Daisy is becoming a big amorous, even more eager to see Josh than usual.  Now that's amusing.  Josh was really wet.  Josh's mom hadn't walked her dogs and gone to work yet, so I hoped he'd get inside for the day.   

Our second walk, after dropping M off at school where she truly believed she and some of the boys in her class would still run an "extreme race" sort of tri-athalon for the younger students this morning as it wasn't raining too hard uh-huh, after Josh's Mom would be at work, Josh joined us again even more deliberately.  So wet still, I suppose this length of time with bushes as shelter means little time to truly dry off.  He really seemed to want to spend time with us, and join us.  As in, join us inside.  Petting him, "I'm going to PetsMart today and buying you a shelter [for my patio]."  When I walked around the corner and opened our front door, I feltmuch warmer air.  Josh had followed, and then tried to come in with us, a bit hesitantly.  I figured what the heck, I'm not going to keep him from his owner.  Josh came in.  Indie came over.  Josh backed up.  Indie chased him out.  No contact, but as Indie stalked, I picked him up and took him back inside, safe, warm where he felt confined.  (I imagine God feels like this sometimes, doing something for our own good that we don't appreciate, can't comprehend fully.)

I took a cat carrier from the closet, thinking it'd be off the ground so drainage, I'd add some towels from Dad.  Indie thought it great fun to get inside while I got the towel.  lol  Outside, I put the carrier facing out, while snug under a patio table, towel inside for some warmth, a bit of dry food in front (I figured there was plenty of fresh water and the food was more for bait).  It isn't fully obvious from the inside (of my home).  Josh let me carry him onto the patio.  I put him down near the food so he saw the "cubby hole" of the carrier. 

He wasn't around when I left for work, grumble, a few minutes late as I took the time to take care of my neighbor/coworker's cat who couldn't be bothered to spend a few extra minutes finding and bringing in her own cat.

I didn't really wish to leave work at lunchtime today.  Just pouring again, and coldish.  I decided to skip getting mail from Dad's.  I finally drove home, no mail yet, no Josh in the carrier.  Daisy had heard me, so we had a drenched dog (I was alright) walk in the rain.  After getting some actual food to eat, I left home to return to work.  Josh was eating the small bit of food I'd left in front of the cat carrier.  If his mom didn't come home for lunch today to walk her dogs (different schedule then me), or Josh didn't see her, well, at least he knew an enclosure he was welcome to use.  "Hi, baby," I whispered and smiled (as I walked on in the rain).

I'm not sure either Indie or Josh would truly wish to exchange lives, but I suspect for a few hours, they'd enjoy being on the other side of the door.  Both sides of the door have appeal for the one stuck behind the other side.

 

(p.s. -- For the record, if it was dangerous weather today for a cat to be outside in, gale forces slamming water throughout all the patios, also, freezing rain / freezing temperatures, overly hot weather, whatever, I'd simply close Indie up in my bedroom/bathroom, and taken Josh into M's bedroom / bathroom.)

 

Update:  I'd tried to add this via IM, but somehow, it went instead to a comment on my AIM profile.  I don't even know how to get to my AIM profile, so this quite confused me.  LOL.  Oh, and I just now figured it out (now being late June, 2008).  So, I wrote this 8 months previous (to June 2008), meaning to add it HERE:

 

 

It was just 11:11, M kisses the clock or watch when it hits that time:) So, update time and perhaps to bed.
Tinkerbell (aka, "Stinker") is hiding in M's bottom dresser drawer with her night clothes. Safe. Warm. Came in recently from talking with Josh's Mom. Seems he went in late afternoon. Dogwalker has a key to their place. Good. And, he'd been in a full 24 hours before he was out overnight and all that.
More of a light rain tonight. Looking from my side of "the door," I must admit. I'd rather have all of this rain, then have fires. A nice southern-California weather day occasionally? Well, yes, certainly. Year-around, with fire season? Nah. Give me my four changing seasons. May God watch over all of his beloved ones tonight. I thank him for giving me friends, animal and otherwise, to help me through my pain.
I'm not sure how this will work, so hopefully in theory, this all added as a comment to my last entry on "both sides ofthe door." Doing it via IM'g "AOLJournals." We'll see.

 

Tags: raining for 3 days, rain, indoor cats, outdoor cats