I've got so much good bloggin' to do but I have to interrupt it all to share with you the most recent ordeal in the Geller household. If you're not up for a story, you may want to skip this post, but if you are, settle back and put your feet up. :-)
If you read this blog, you know how I feel about our little kitty Atticus. He is a very important, loved member of our family. I utterly ADORE his cutey furryness!
Wednesday night, when I got home from school, everyone was gone and Atticus wasn't in the house. Not unusual but it's already dark and cold and so I start going to the front door and back door, calling for him to come in. It usually works. But no Atti. Later, when we're turning in for the evening, Atti still has not come home. This is unusual. He goes out all the time but almost always comes in to sleep. He has only stayed out all night twice. I go to bed worried.
When I woke up Thursday morning, I ran down the stairs first thing to see if he was at the door. He wasn't. I am officially worried now and have that emotional lump in my throat. Where's my boy?! On my way to work, I drove real slow through the neighborhood, looking for him, calling his name. Wednesday night was trash night so maybe he got stuck in someone's garage? It's happened before. No sign of him but I am panic every time I see one of those friggin' cat-sized lumpy sand bags people have left in their gutters from the snow. I checked in with Miranda a couple of times during the day but he still wasn't home. Worry worry worry.
When I got home from work Thursday, I immediately headed out to search for him. Glen went to hang out with his airplane buddies so he wasn't home yet. He called around 10:00 to let me know he was on his way home and to ask if Atti's home. I could tell in his voice that he 100% expected me to say yes. This had been the longest he had ever been gone. Glen got home around 10:30-10:45 and immediately headed out with a flashlight to look for kitty cat. About 11:30ish, he came in, breathless, and yells "I found him!" I raced downstairs and when I got there, he didn't have Atti!. Glen then proceeds to tell me he was in our neighbor's yard. In a tree. In a fir tree. In a very tall fir tree. Atticus is about 50 feet up it. I cry because I am so happy. We had a cat, Budley, who went missing for two weeks and that did not have a good outcome. I am SO thankful to Glen (my Hero!) for searching for Atticus in the dark and cold. It is such a relief to know he wa still alive. I was crying. We went to see Atticus, and I just kept on crying. He was so high and seemed so scared! "Meow meow meow!!!" There is no way we could possibly get him down ourselves. We called the fire department and they said they most definitely wouldn't come out at night and to call back in the morning and if they weren't busy, they would come and try. Okay, it's now midnight and I was supposed to go to try to sleep? Yeah, right!
Needless to say, it was a fitful, troubled night. I dreamt of Atticus so when I woke up this morning, I was extremely anxious. We went to see Atticus and he was still hugging a branch. I'm relieved but the reality of the situation has sunk in. Since he didn't come home that first night, we are assuming that Atti was already up the tree Wednesday night. If that was the case, he has now spent two nights in a tree, clinging to a few branches the size of baseball bats with freezing temperatures 50 ft in the air, with no food and no water. Very scary.
We call the fire department and they pretty much tell us to put some food out and when he's hungry enough, he'll come down. Period. So Glen starts calling vets offices, shelters, clinics, etc. Somewhere along the way we are told of a place called "Critter Getter." Glen calls them and they don't do that kind of thing but they give us three names of arborists (tree trimmers) who also retrieve cats and other animals out of very tall trees.
A bit more drama ensued because the first guy we called, Gary, could do it for $150 but he lived WAY on the other side of town. By the time we left messages all over the place to try to find someone closer, Gary got a tree trimming job with Troy, one of the precious few other names on our list! Sob sob sob!
We go over to see Atticus again, and fantasize that we can coax him down with food and water. I'm feeling pretty hopeless. I just don't see Atti climbing down. Falling maybe, but not climbing. He is 50 ft up and there are no branches the first 40 ft. It's all trunk. Gravity would not be kind to our boy, no matter how brave.
It's 9:45 am and I begin to stare at my cellphone, willing it to ring with some kind of good news. The morning has been filled with disappointment after disappointment. Finally, my powers work and my cellphone rings. It's Troy from The Tree Guys. He had just dropped Gary off on a job and could be over in about an hour. I almost pass out with happiness. Troy said that he doesn't get cats out of trees for a living but does it when he can as a way to give something to the community. As far as I'm concerned, he is the new St. Francis of Assissi, the Patron Saint of Animals.
Troy got to us in about 45 minutes (BLESS his heart!) and within 20 minutes, Atticus was down. He's in my arms ever so briefly and then runs behind some some bushes to take care of business, if you know what I mean! Poor little guy!!! I GLADLY pay Troy a very well deserved $150.
Once safely back home, Atticus ate, cleaned himself, ate a little more, cleaned himself a little more, slept in my arms a little, and then wandered off to Miranda's room to sleep. And I'm sure it's for the night. So happy to have this little guy home!
Oh and by the way, Atticus is SO grounded, no pun intended! :-)
