Morning Rituals

Mrrrr Friends,

It's been a tumultuous week on the weather front. Last Sunday, we were in the midst of January Thaw. It was 50 human degrees outside with blustery southerly winds. The Blue Jays were totally doing the pairing up and territorial thing, chippies were scurrying about chattering at each other, there was even a screaming Red-tailed in the sky. I felt like I had a fur coat on...a weird sensation for a nude dude.

But these hardened Adirondackers knew it was just a thaw. Thursday there was a blizzard and Friday night, during the brightest, biggest moon of the year (the Wolf Moon), the temperature dipped into the -25 area. Yesterday morning, I had to break my fledgling 4 degree rule...it was -8 during my morning stroll. But the sun was out and it was gorgeous, so my paws didn't even feel chilly.  Mind over paw?

Alex loves the sun, and spent some quality time out on the porch with our friend the Solstice tree who's providing second story protection for birds. Boo thought she might turn into an icicle but she was fine.

And my brook, while icy, continued to merrily burble along.

Nevertheless, outdoor frolic time is curtailed in these colder times, so a furry guy has to depend on his other morning rituals to help give his day meaning. While my nighttime antics are top-secret - perimeter duty, critter watch and other things that help the world spin on its axis - I always try to wind up sleeping innocently next to Oom. That way, her first big morning ritual is also mine - coffee with foam.

Every morning Oom makes her and Boo really thick coffee with fluffy foam. Now, coffee is not good for cats, but the foam sitting on top is very, very special, in moderation of course! The milk comes straight from the cows at the Essex Farm CSA to my lips. Foamy, warm and frothy, it is a special treat. Every morning I have 3 fingers of foam...uuuummm yum.

At this point of the morning, Oom is stroking the Aluminum Cat...I still don't know what she sees in it to keep her there all day. Me, I take this time to expand my horizons and learn about important subjects.

By mid-morning after warm foam, outdoors time, and intellectual activity, it's time for a little nourishment. Now all of you know how much I love kibble. It is rare for me to veer from the path of cat kibble, however I make exceptions for foam, a good French or Italian red, and yoghurt. Mmmrrrmmm, the same cows that give me the great milk also make yoghurt...they are a talented crew! Here, I am waiting for Oom to make the bananas and granola go away so I can get to the yoghurt.

At this point, there's really very little to do but sleep...until dinner time.

Sno-Cat

Bob the Cat

Mrrrrr Friends,

This is Bob. (S)he is new in our neighbor-hood...at least we all just figured out (s)he's moved in!


(A neighbor of ours, Darryl, took this photo in his back yard.) Bob's a kitty that will eat a kitty, given half a chance. Now, I think that's out of bounds, but I don't think I can argue, since I've mangled a few mammals in my wild youth (and there was that mouse this summer, a victim of old instincts).

We were thinking Bob, or Bobbie (though I think he's a dude like me), was hanging out on the other side of the Ausable River - a few reports had come in in the past week, and were confirmed by my pal Ranger Rob.

On our walk across the brook this weekend, Oom  ran into some paw prints that looked like Big Cat prints, but they had an elongated heel, or handle, at the base. We didn't have our camera, but we looked close and, after checking the print database...we think Bob has been in our neck of the woods, on this side of the river, too.

That kind of changes how far Oom lets me wander in our morning outings. I guess she's right...I'd hate to be a victim of someone else's instincts.

Reality Check

Mrrrrr Friends,

I've been getting a little flak for seeming to have abandoned political and environmental commentary here in the blog. It's true that I've been pretty obsessed with my new home and our adventures outside. I'm still engaged with the big blue marble and my critter friends in it, but I've also been a bit worried about how to live up to my own furry responsibilities to protect the earth, our home. That shouldn't stop me from talking about what worries me though, and doing what I can.

It's hard to know what one cat - albeit a furry, black blogging cat - can do to make a difference. Biodegradable cat litter? Check. Minimal packaging for cat supplies? Check. Organic food and catnip products? Check. Carbon Neutral Cat? Check. Recycling of cat fur as bird nesting material? Check. Support of local environmental organizations working toward balanced, sustainable, long-term solutions, and other groups that help critters? Not as much as I'd like, but, check. Occasional rabble-rousing, awareness-building, engaging in spirited debate, and sharing of info? Not as much as I'd like, but, check. People who are engaged in the the conservation struggle? Check.

But I still feel like I should be able to do more.

Of a piece with that, I've got something for you to watch if you haven't already. This is a gorgeous but hard-hitting, 1 hour and 30 minute film about our world and what we...well, mostly it's what you human types...have done to it. There is beauty (humpback whales and charging elephalants) and there is ugly (tar sands, clear-cutting, poverty). It's a call to action.

Click here to watch Home in English, give it time to load up (click pause on the YouTube screen at the beginning and wait 20 minutes), make it full screen, and watch.

If you'd like to know what you are getting into, here's a preview.

Watch the long version (remember, that link is above). Think about it. Tell me if you come up with anything else for a furry, environmentally aware cat dude to do, or share what you are doing.

100!

Mrrrrr Friends,

I've been working on a pathbreaking treatise for my next blog, but then I realized: this is my 100th post!

Who would have imagined, when I first set paw to keyboard almost 3  years ago, that I'd be blogging my way into so many human, feline, sciurid (that's marmot and his cousins), and canine lives?

Here I am working with my art director on a recent blog. Layout is exhausting.

I write my own stuff and usually work late at night. The new immortal portal aluminum cat has a keyboard without an umbilical cord and a mouse without a tail. The mouse without the tail is a bit of a problem, as it's hard to stay focused and not slap it around the house like a hockey puck.  Anyway, I can put out a good draft, but the html editing foxes me.

The other part of my team is my editor. He tends to work alone, bouncing stuff back to me after he's sliced and diced it. After a couple years of patient correction, I'm just beginning to understand the comma....don't get me started on the semi-colon.

It's been a pleasure sharing the virtual scratching pad with all of you. Thanks for keeping up with my cat-antics. For goodness sake, keep writing and commenting and, for the computer savvy among you: follow me!

In celebration of 100, I've gone into my private video archives and rustled up a special clip. My art director has also gone to some lengths to improve your video watching experience!

Here is my uncut 2008 Catolympics trial in Bathtub Gymnastics. It's true, before tree-scaling became my dedicated sport (okay, except for paw hockey, tail-chasing with Alex, and hiking) back when I was younger, more energetic, but generally lacking focus, I engaged in a wide range of cat-sports.

The goal of Bathtub Ball, the more common name, is to play wildly with the bouncy ball so that it is (a) either constantly in danger of bounding out of the tub or (b), for the more mature and physically adept cat, always on the verge of spiraling into the drain. Much like Olympic gymnastics for humans, Bathtub Ball pushes cats to engage in challenging but graceful, physical pyrotechnics with the illusion of ease and, all the while, skirting the edge of disaster - in this case, the danger of the ball going down the drain! Notice my careful final positioning of the ball at the end of the routine.

Enjoy!

Snowshoe Cat

Mrrrrr Friends,

What a beautiful weekend it was here in the beauteous Adirondack Park! In the middle of winter, the temperatures reached 40 degrees F. It was super warm...I had Oom give me a good brushing to thin my very thick undercoat before we went out to hike each day.

We still had enough snow to go snowshoeing together...

Here, I am stretching and cleaning for our hike while I'm waiting for Oom. See the bits of blue sky!

After she got her new snowshoes on I had to do a thorough check.

The decks are very sturdy - a cat can warm his paws easily here. More importantly, the decks can be used as a springboard up the human leg when it's time to get out of the snow and take a break on Oom's shoulders - a real difficulty in deep snow.

I  made sure her bindings were done right.

And we were off! Oom blazing the trail and me following along.

Snowshoes are useful for an inquisitive, hiker-cat because they occasionally reveal cool stuff under the snow.

But for the most part, they simply make traveling easier, even when you're a purebred Wisconsin Snowcat made for snow travel. The snow thus far this season has been easy to punch through even to the expert paw. We haven't seen development of much pack - which improves conditions for furry guys like me strolling, hiking, and bounding about.

The snowy ice-hats were gone from the brook waters, though snow still covers the boulders.

This weekend thaw should help form a nice cold pack of what remains, and, if we get more snow as predicted, the conditions for a Snowcat should improve remarkably.

Snow pack is a pretty serious subject but to simply get a sense of the average snowpack temperature and density in your region - as well as snow fall data - go to this cool site. I recommend playing with the Google Earth link. I'm wishing for a colder snowpack temperature and depth, as well as more snow!

Today the temperatures have scuttled back down which is good, and Oom and I are watching the skies for flurries...

How High Can One Go?

Mrrrrr Friends,

It's been a few days since I had a chance to go out. Oom went to a conference - like she needs to spend more time talking to people - and Boo didn't see fit to get me out for a walk. He did let me hang out on the porch so I could check tracks and sniff the winds.

Anyway, I've been pent up, and I relished the chance this morning to get out into the world, go down to my brook, play in the snow, and check out the various animal tracks I had been seeing for days. (No porcupines here, but deer, squirrels, a few too many dog tracks and what Oom and I think might have been a fox.)

After doing a tour around the neighbor's yard - since my neighbor cat-pal Brewster isn't getting out, I'm covering his perimeter duty - I got an urge to do some climbing.

It started out as an innocent clawing of the arbor vitae...an exercise I engage in often, as you can note in the first photo from my last blog post. Then a few fulsome tugs up the trunk, and I was in familiar 7 to 8 foot territory. Oom was happy to see me up and about.

The urge was on me at this point, and I just kept going...

I explored some outer branches.

At this point, I had been up a good 20 minutes and attained an estimated 25 feet. I could sense Oom wasn't completely comfortable; neither was the Blue Jay that flew into the tree thinking I was a crow to be harassed...surprise! He left pretty quick without so much as a peep.

In the end, I got up to the top of the main trunk.

I gotta admit, I had a little trouble at this point figuring out how to get down. The branches were no longer like stairs. Oom was telling me to come along and reaching for a ladder, so I had to resort to a butt-down, "bear-cub" strategy. Not pretty, but it works.

I guess you can climb pretty high, but chances are you've probably left some folks behind, and they're probably worried that you might get stuck or fall. In the end, a smart cat finds his way back down to earth in a timely fashion. If you stay up too high, too long, it's not fun anymore.

Winter Cutbacks- Indoor Alternatives

Mrrrr Friends,

The urge to hibernate is strong. Okay, I admit, it is more an urge to simply sleep a lot. The idea of going without kibble for a period longer than 6 hours is unacceptable. But my outdoor antics have been curtailed by the icy snow and the cold temperatures. (No one has yet come up with catluks!)

Mind you, I go out every morning, no matter what. Gotta do scenting and stretching at least!

But a cat has to look for inventive indoor activities for additional winter exercise and to keep up his energy levels...and work off the kibble consumption.

My latest, favorite game...a variant of the old floor/rug game: chase the carriage whip. 

Nice use of wide window ledges and filmy curtains, eh?

Have to be very careful with the claws. But the positioning right next to the Aluminum Cat ensures lots of attention. Until, of course, the game spills out on to the floor.

Not long after a good session of play, it's time for a nap...and the cycle continues. Wake up, feel the need for food, fuel up; feel the need to play, get tired....read a little, nap...

Cold Snow

Mrrrr Friends,

It's a gorgeous snowy morning here in the Adirondack Park. Our neighbors across the lake in Vermont received 26" of snow overnight. Here in our little valley shaded by the Sentinel Mountains, the accumulation is much more modest...so far.

Looking forward to frolicking in the fluffy stuff, I went out this morning and, within seconds, thought my little pads had fallen off.

After getting down the hill, I bummed a ride on Oom's shoulders. We got down to the bench but, my paws were still cold. We took a quick peek at the  brook...

But that was it. I was trekking back...for about two seconds. Then I bummed a ride again.

Turns out it was 4 degrees out there.  I kind of thought twice when Oom first opened the door. The second clue was that there were no birds or chipmunks noodling about... Then, my paws hit the permafrost.

I now know my paw limit in human temperature terms. Don't go out for a bare paw walk when it's 4.

I'm thinking hibernation is sounding pretty good right now.  That, and intensive cat toy research.

Has anybody found me a set of catluks yet?