9:57 PM - 19.09.04
Lost in the Barrens
Apparently Canada Post and Canada Customs don't have the same legislation to reference on banned substances Mary_Jane. It isn't surprising - a lot of government agencies don't believe that Canadian law applies to them.
The theme was lost souls today. A knock at the door when I was on the phone with one of my daughter in laws. I could see a form but not a face through the frosted window that is by our front door. Appeared to be a woman so I opened it a crack fearing the exodus of several kittens if I wasn't careful. That little Star almost made it to freedom when she zipped through but I dropped the phone long enough to grab her tail (not on purpose, but it was all that was left inside) to slow her down. The woman on the other side was quick on the uptake and captured our little renegade. Handed her back to me and I stepped out side, closing the door behind me so we didn't have any repeats. " Are you L?" No no one by that name here. "Is the name of the this street X?" Yes. "Are there any other streets that have this name but a different ending like Court or bay or ......" Yes bless city planners they love confusing citizens when they are travelling outside their own communities. Can I help you find someone? "Yes I'm looking for L she said she lived on this street." Well if you can give me a last name or phone number we can call her to get more precise directions. "Well I don't know either of those, I'm not even sure of the street name." Oi. Do you have her house number? "Yes it's xyz." Well then the house three doors down has that number perhaps you could try there and if that is wrong come back and I'll see what I can do. She didn't return so I'm assuming it was the correct house. The neighbour that lived there for about 15 years moved out this summer - I haven't met any of the new residents so I couldn't really offer any more assistance than that. City living - anonymous and invisible sometimes.
Next up was one of the kittens - Gryphon. Gryphon is a male - he thinks he is invincible. Sounds familiar - right dear diary? My youngest had opened one of the covers on the ventilation system in our house some time ago so he could change the destination of the cable wires that run through the ducts. We have a three outlet contract that number three son set up years ago when he paid to have it installed. The outlets were placed in the living room, one downstairs bedroom and what is now the cat/computer room. The cats don't watch TV and when we're on the computer the TV is just a nuisance. My youngest decided that cable in his bedroom was much more useful. Right.
He restrung everything and then reattached the vent covers - loosely. Gryphon learned of this fascinating turn of events when he was exploring this morning. He did the cat equivalent of "hey Bubba, watch this...." scampering down into the ducts, with his siblings clustered around the gap now open in the hallway wall looking on admiringly. I was in the computer room writing my weekly report for my supervisor. I'd just hit the send button when I heard this piteous chorus of meowing coming from just outside the door. You see I have to close the door when I'm writing because otherwise said kittens dance all over the keys making composition a little bit tricky. Anyway checked outside the door to see what was wrong and managed to pull three kittens out of the ducts as they were heading off to the rescue. The adult cats were pacing on the perimeter of the scene obviously upset but smart enough to know that two wrongs won't free the lost one - besides, most of them don't fit in the ductwork any more. Counted noses and realized that Gryphon was the only one missing and so it was he who was wailing in the bowels of our ventilation system. Checked the setting for the furnace and was thankful to see it was off. No fried kittens in this domicile thankfully. Next up captured and locked the remaining kittens in their room so that I wouldn't have to try and pry any more little bodies out of the vents. I was calling into the vents trying to coax Gryphon to return the way he came but he must have been quite disoriented by the maze. The adult cats were watching carefully and suddenly rushed for the stairs. It seemed that the mewing was coming from the back of the basement somewhere so I headed down with the felines to see what could be done. Finally located the noise in the laundry room.
Good thing the ceiling isn't finished. Looked up and saw a little face peering down at me crying piteously. He was sitting in the well where the pipes from the bathroom sink descend. I couldn't reach him there even standing on the washer for extra height because the hole was too small. Coaxed him over to the well where the pipes from the bathtub feed through the floor, because it is quite a bit larger. Nothing to stand on that would make it possible for me to reach him - the washer and dryer each weighing more than I could manage on my own. Both boys were out so I was on my own as the rescueing party. My youngest has a small dinette table in his room - ostensibly for homework but we won't go there right now. It's at the opposite side of the basement so I instructed the adult cats to keep the baby where he was while I went to haul the table through the maze of rooms and hallway in the basement. Finally got the baby out no worse for wear, shaking and whimpering he was and clingy for a long time after. The only wounds were mine where he dug in his claws in my wrist and forearm trying to make certain I wasn't going to drop him. Puncture wounds - hydrogen peroxide took care of the nursing part of the effort and that was enough for the day. The cats clustered around the lost soul cuddling and giving solace, while I went and had a nap after making certain every other vent was secure. Needed that.
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