GIMME SHELTER

It is Sunday afternoon as I write this post; Saturday was my exercise in persistence that paid off. It also was a trip around the world or at least around Brooklyn - it was my appointed day to pick up our new winter cat shelter.

Thankfully, the weather was perfect for travelling public transportation and all the walking I managed to do before I arrived at the pickup point. A 2-train and 1-bus trip coupled with wrong directions and the wrong bus stop supplied by a well-meaning but not-too-familiar-with-his-route bus driver added about thirty minutes and a crash course of a section of DUMBO to my travelling time. That was OK because I did get to enjoy the great weather besides seeing a part of Brooklyn I never visited before.

Once I arrived at my destination, I found it ironic that the bus stop I needed was 2 stops past the one where the bus driver told me to exit and happened to be right in front of the place I needed to go! So much for asking for directions.

The winter shelter is spacious and should accommodate about 4 cats. Since we have about 7 cats showing up on a regular basis, I could have used an additional shelter but there was no way I could manage another on the return trip. Neighborhood Cats supplied the shelters for $10 each instead of the usual $15 along with straw. 

Armed with the shelter and an extra bag of straw I was ready to make the return trip. Sadly, I had to forgo a plastic bag of food since it was too heavy to carry home. How I could have used that food!

Artie managed to get another picture of the Norwegian Forest Cat Saturday evening when he showed up for dinner. I can't keep calling him 'the Norwegian Forest Cat' - the more I look at him the more he looks like Buddy except for the white and tan accents on his chest and face. Maybe I ought to refer to him as Buddy's cousin?

We caught a glimpse of one of the black cats and both Artie and I thought we saw a collar. If we're right, someone is letting their house cat out or has abandoned their pet. It put me in mind of Six Dinner Sid a perfectly charming children's book about a smart cat who manages to live with 6 families on the same block so he can get 6 dinners every day. He answers to 6 different names, has 6 different beds and everything works great until Sid catches a cold.

After the trips and picking up the supplies, I fed everyone and put out fresh water. At that point I decided enough was enough, I needed to do some chores for the canine and humans in our house so setting up the shelter would have to wait for Sunday. The Gimme Shelter saga will continue with my next post...