I bought a barnhouse in Indiana (literally a barn that has been renovated into a house. We sleep in the hayloft) because I thought it would be a) cool, and b) a good place to go during the hurricane season in Florida.
(Special note: since I bought my barnhouse last July, there has not been a hurricane in Florida. Floridians, you have me to thank me for that, apparently.)
I did not really think about how my husband’s Key West cat would react to being relocated to Indiana. She is a mostly outdoor cat in Key West. I figured she would be fine in Indiana.
I did not think about how the barnhouse is situated in the middle of a field, surrounded by woods that would make M. Night Shyamalan freak out.
So when we got here with the cats (after a trip I’d rather not discuss: suffice it to say my cat, Henrietta, appointed herself Federal Air Marshall, meowing loudly every time anyone spoke or moved at any time. No cat, however, leaked bodily fluids on anyone, which I consider a miracle), we suddenly realized: Slutty-McSlut-A-Lot knows nothing about WOODS. Or FIELDS. She is a city cat. All she knows about is rolling around on sidewalks and catching lizards.
But of course ALL she wants to do is go outside. She has been crying piteously (starting at 6AM every morning) to go outside. When we do not let her go outside, she does this:
–ten feet in the air, or this:
–twenty feet in the air.
And yes, the above is when I finally screamed, “LET HER OUT! JUST LET HER OUT!”
So we did. She promptly disappeared into the woods, never to be seen again.
Just kidding. After we lost sight of her, we ran into the woods after her, screaming her name, and emerged covered in ticks and most likely poison ivy to find her sitting on the front porch looking at us, like, “What is wrong with you?”
We have not let her out again.
How does one acclimatize a city cat to the country? We put Frontline on her. What else can we do?
In non-cat related news, there is a ROY (rumor on the yard—you would know this if you’d watched Kathy Griffin the other night) that Sci-Fi channel is not renewing The Dresden Files for another season. Say it isn’t so! This is ONLY show I watch on this channel. Go here if you’re interested in seeing what you can do to help save the show (if it’s not already too late)!
The news isn’t all bad. Here is an Indiana sunset to soothe you:
Just don’t stand out there looking at it too long, or a tick will crawl on you.
If only they made Frontline for people.
More later.
Much love,
Meg
