Hi there,
Riker here. Life has not been following its normal course the last week or so. The family has been leaving early in the morning with ladders, buckets, and drop clothes in tow, and coming home late in the evening half exhausted. It all looks quite interesting. I wish I could go along. From what I have heard it has something to do with stripping wall paper for a friend. I'm not really sure what "wall" paper is... I'm a cat, and even I know paper belongs in printers, or on the floor under the printer, not on the wall!
At any rate, we cats have been spending a lot of time alone with each other lately. This last Wednesday the back door, which had not been pushed shut completely, blew open in a slight bit of wind. For a while we all stood there looking out. The backyard which looks so tiny from the upstairs window looked quite big when seen with the possibility of entering it.
At first it was a fun little field trip, we sniffed at the breeze, chased crickets (we even brought some in the house to show the family when they came home), and watched the birds from a close up range we never dreamed possible. At some point in the afternoon things took on a more ominous tone. When Freckles and Tashi came out to explore, a certain cat (who shall remain nameless) decided it would be a good idea not to let them back inside again!
The family didn't get home until after 10:00pm. Vicki noticed right away that the back door was standing open. The call quickly went out to count us. Tiba, Grace, Mother, and I were all sitting in the living room looking quite innocent, but of course Tashi and Freckles were no where to be found. The family looked under all the beds, and under the stairs. Then they grabbed flash lights and ran around the neighborhood calling for them. I really wanted to go out and help them search, but they wouldn't let me.
They finally found them huddling under the deck in the backyard. There was no way to get to them, and they wouldn't come out, EVEN FOR MILK! By this time it was about 11:00pm, and the Ashtons began pulling the deck chairs around hoping to spook them out. Finally, in desperation, Vicki got out the vacuum cleaner. Boy howdy did that work well!! Tashi always has hated that crazy thing. He came shooting out from under the deck so fast it made my head spin! Freckles followed him soon after and before long the back door was securely closed, and things settled down.
Our little taste of freedom was interesting, but I'm not sure any of us really want to repeat it any time soon. But hey, if the opportunity were to present itself, who knows.