Category Archives: Sol Duc

by

Sol Duc and the farm

This morning is quiet, quiet and Sol Duc and I took a late walk for us. We could hear bugs and a train, across the valley. We went over to the fence where the farm starts. Barbed wire and an electrified fence, so we did not trespass. Sol Duc is wearing red, but get her in the weeds and she’s darn difficult to see.

Have a wonderful day and drive carefully.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: barbed wire.

by

Goals

Are they called goals in cornhole?

Sol Duc has a goal.

Warm belly fur. I am not sure she is going to like going home. When we first drove up the Olympic Penisula, my daughter was two. It was three pm on New Year’s Eve, getting dark, and we were on 101 with the very tall trees blocking most of the light. “Where sun, mom? Me no can see sun.” Sol Duc will probably ask the same thing: Where did the sun go?

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: goal.

by

Cagey

Traveling from Washington to Colorado, Elwha did not like the car and the unfamiliar places. I took the cat carrier apart in the hotel room and he decided that it was safer inside it than out, even if it was in pieces. Sol Duc did not enjoy the car but is less worried about it all.

And here is Sol Duc in a virtual cage, a shadow cage. She likes the back yard a lot. I have had the house closed up because of the smoke for the last two days, but there is less today.

Do you know the poem by Ogden Nash, The Tale of Custard the Dragon? The chorus is as follows:

Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased lions down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

I love that poem! And I love the lines:

Meowch! cried Ink, and Ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate, climbing in the winda.

Ogden Nash was perfectly happy to bend words to fit the rhyming scheme and to heck with spelling!

The entire poem is here.

I still have not heard about Elwha. I hope that he has moved in with an older couple and spends most of his time on their laps. I can see him crying for a nice safe cage.

I thought there must be a song of it, but so far I like this tenth grade rap version best!

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: cage.

by

Tough cat

Sol Duc is quite a cat. The other morning I let her into the fenced back yard. I went back in to get my tea.

There is a knock at the front door. I open it and there is Sol Duc. “Meow!” which I hear as “Mom, I’m not supposed to be in front of the house without you.”

She comes in and I take my tea to the back. Oh.

Yes, I see the problem. She went into the neighbor’s yard and then around to the front. But she didn’t run off, she knocked. Apparently the storm was pretty hard on the fence.

This morning, after two days of rain, there were lots of small frogs singing to the sunrise in the man made run off space across the street. There is about a foot of water in it and the small frogs were all singing to their true loves. They continued to sing as the sun rose. Guess they better make hay while the pond is present, or something like that.

Sol Duc is a tough cat and smart. I think she still misses Elwha too, especially when I am at work, but she is careful not to run off.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: tough.

by

Moving

Sol Duc and I moved yesterday. The place we were in was billed as having a kitchen. It has a refrigerator, dishwasher, sink and microwave. NO STOVE! AUGH! I could check out a hot plate with one frying pan. I would describe this as a fast food kitchen. Ugh. I like to COOK. I also found a nice farm stand and bought a bunch of vegetables. The farmer said, “Thank your parents for raising you right with vegetables.” Heh. I will go back.

We are now in a small house, at the western edge of Grand Junction, with two bedrooms! Now my daughter can visit again. Sol Duc worried about the ceiling fans and hid under the bed for most of the day. This morning the fans are off and she is exploring. We have a fenced yard, though she won’t go out without harness, leash and me. We are in the southwestern corner of the development and there is another development across the street. It only has three houses, so we have lots of area to wander around. This am we are out at 5 am and can hear roosters from the farm kitty corner to us. And cows. We have a fabulous view of the mesas to the south and west and we are no longer surrounded by parking lot and highways. The local Coloradans seem to really love their pickups and especially loud ones. The valley acts like a bowl and highway sound travels a long way.

We both miss Elwha. Sol Duc was fairly panicked when I loaded the car and put her in the crate. I think she was afraid we were going to drive for three days again. She likes the house though and came out to purr last night. This morning she is exploring. I am keeping the second bedroom closed since my daughter doesn’t do very well with fur.

We still hope that Elwha turns up. Come back, Elwha!

I will go finish checking out today. I had to have Sol Duc out of the room we were in twice a week for an hour, so that they could come in to clean. That was fairly stressful for both of us. The instructions they gave us were confusing and it was eight days before they explained the rules. Which did not match the written rules. Anyhow, I am OUT OF THERE. Some of the staff were really nice. Others, well.

I had more stuff to move than when I arrived, all food. The new place is great though built for tall people. I am not tall. I am now on the lookout for a desk, because all the chair/table heights are wrong for me. I will ask the rental folks first.

My Ex and I used to dance to Saffire, way back in Richmond when I was in medical school. Fabulous and here is a song about rising.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: rise.

by

View

I took this somewhere along the 1217 mile trip with two cats from Port Townsend, Washington, to Grand Junction, Colorado. Idaho, I think. This a view rest stop as I drove up out of a valley.

Elwha and Sol Duc weren’t too sure about the trip. We started with them in the back and a net between the from and the back. I had to stop within an hour because they could get by it. Elwha wanted to ride by my feet and Sol Duc under the seat.

So then I set up their crate in the back seat and put both cats and the catbox and water into it. They didn’t love it but it worked. I would put their harnesses on and then put them in the carrier to go in to motels.

It was pretty exciting to check into a motel with two cats.

A new place to explore each evening.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: panorama.

by

Comfort?

Mother says we are at a Comfort Inn, but I don’t think so. I am NOT comfortable! Mother packed things for days and took them out to a car. Not the usual one! We don’t like it when she leaves, but this time she kept taking OUR things out. Our privy! Toys! The playtube! Our crate! We wondered if she was giving them to Other Cats, horrors. But then she put our harnesses on and put us in the carrier and in the new weird smelling car. The car went with us trapped inside! And it went and went and went.

We objected. Mother had a net between the front and back, but we both outwitted that easily. Sol Duc went under the seats. I sat on Mother’s lap. She stopped and explained that this was not safe. I knew that! Cars aren’t safe! She put us back in the carrier and moved things around and then we rode in our crate. We had food and water and our privy. We could see Mother and the horrible terrible trucks around us. We complained some but at least we were in the crate. We slept sometimes.

At last Mother stopped and put us in the carrier again. It smells very strange outside and we are NOT at home. She took us in to the Comfort Place. I refused to leave the carrier. She took the top off, but I can hide under the top.

We really do not know what will happen today. Mother can be very crafty. We outwit nets, but the car is more difficult. We do want to stay with Mother.

Last night we used the harnesses to make new art. We are crafty too.

For the Ragtag Daily Prompt: craft.