Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Meg and I really love our cats

Meet Napoli, Roma, and Tipperary!



After driving 16 hours down to Tennessee we did what anyone would do. We dropped off the cats in the  safe enclosed location of the master bathroom, since they had to get used to very new home. And then we went to Lowe's to buy some supplies to build what would hopefully be a truly awesome cat scratch post.

14 foot board of wood
12 inch wide tube
10 inch wide tube
10 feet of 3 inch pvc pipe
4 feet of 4 inch pvc pipe
10x12 foot carpet


That is what it all looked like laid out on my back porch. The first step was to carpet all the pieces so the cats can scratch to their little hearts delight. You see I have really nice paneling in one of my rooms and Napoli has a habit of stretching and running his paws/claws along walls. They need some place to use and sharpen their claws, it is natural and cats will do what cats do! I can't say if it took longer or shorter than I thought to carpet everything because I really don't think I had any appropriate way of estimating the time. I do know it was pretty easy and went well.


This was basically where we stopped for the night. It was fully carpeted and we worked out some final details in the design At this point it was late and we wanted to check on the cats who were still locked in the master bathroom. When we opened the door to the bathroom Napoli came to the door and so did Tipperary. But poor Roma was hanging out in the shower and he didn't budge. We pet each of them and then went into the bedroom, leaving the door open so they could slowly start exploring from bathroom to bedroom. The door to the hall was still closed so we could keep them contained. Well at some point Nap and Tip came into the bedroom but Roma stayed in the shower. In the morning I tried to carry him from the bathroom into the bedroom but he freaked out and I put him back down in the bathroom. We left the bedroom leaving all three of them locked in the master suite since the cat scratch wasn't finished yet.
It didn't take too long that morning to complete the structure. And then we took our time adding some toys for detail and catnip! We were very pleased with the finished product.























Now the cats are adjusting to their new home, some better than others.

Napoli AKA Crazy Man (can you guess why?) has surprised us by being the most well adjusted kitty.



He was the first one out of the master bedroom and quickly began exploring. So far he seems to really enjoy playing on his cat scratch.

After I had been on the road for about 45 minutes Meg called me because she couldn't find Tip. I knew she couldn't have gone anywhere and figured she was hidden among boxes. Meg found her an hour later sleeping under my sleeping bag. See if you can find her.


Since then she has started venturing out and exploring the house.

Poor Roma has been having the hardest time of all three. As I said before he freaked out when I tried to carry him out of the bathroom. He also didn't start venturing out of the master suite until almost Saturday morning. Apparently he has a fear of light fixtures. In our old house the ceiling fans blend into the ceiling and we have higher ceilings. Every once in awhile he would randomly run around but we figured that was him being a cat. In TN I have light fixtures in every room. Meg looked it up he probably thinks it is some kind of bird of prey lurking on the ceiling, this is why he freaked out when I carried him into the bedroom. It will take time but he is adjusting to his new surroundings. At least now when he freaks out after looking up we will know why! For now he just keeps a watchful eye.



The next big step in this move is September 6th when I drive down to TN with Schultzy.

Friday, August 23, 2013

She's gone country

Well this move is getting serious. Last week I drove with Meghan down to Tennessee so she can start her new life down there. Her job transfer took less time then we expected so she got to move early. She took our three cats- Tipperary, Roma, and Napoli. I have to say I wasn't looking forward to a 16 hour drive with three cats but it actually went pretty well. The week before we were leaving I stopped by the vet's office and asked if they had any recommendations for me on the road. They gave us some treats for the cats that would calm them and told us to cover the carriers with a blanket and they would go to sleep. I don't know if the cats really slept much but they did seem somewhat relaxed.

We drove down in a brand new Ford C-max hybrid and, I gotta say, it was great. We drove over 900 miles and spent only $70 on gas. Throughout the trip we averaged anywhere from 38-50 miles per gallon. So go Ford!

It's going to be strange. We have never been separated very long or by very far. We were six minutes apart entering this world and from that moment on we have pretty much always been together. Six minutes doesn't sound like very much but sometimes it can feel like a lot. I mean big sister/little sister may seem trivial with such a small time frame but there have been a few times when I have been keenly aware of the 'gap'.

1. On September 11th when we were five hours away from our home in college in New Hampshire and I first heard the news I immediately went looking for Meghan.
2. When Meghan was a pedestrian in a car accident and spent almost a month in the hospital.
3. Last week as I drove away from my house in TN leaving her over 900 miles away.

The last time and longest time we have ever been separate was when Meg was in the hospital after the car accident. Other than that we have always been together. We finish each other's sentences. We have stories we tell at this point we don't actually remember which of us they happened to. We even have freaky stories about shared dreams and other twin connection type stories.  It's going to be weird and I will have to learn to start talking in the singular.

Thursday, August 8, 2013

Hoping for 6 o'clock

Cross another item off my 'things to do before leaving New York' list.

On Sunday Meg and I went out to Montauk (The End) of Long Island to go whale watching. We left my house at 5am in order to be sure we were at the boat an hour before it was scheduled to leave. Since we made good time we stopped at Gosman's dock before heading to Montauk harbor. When we were younger we would climb out to the very end of the jetty. I remembered it being much more of a climb when I was younger. At one point we came up to a big gap in the rocks where one of them had been dislodged and rolled to the side, I wonder if that happened during Sandy? Here is the panorama view from the end of the jetty.


When I was little my parents took Meg and me whale watching on the Viking Fleet out of Montauk so naturally that was the fleet I looked up for my trip last weekend. In an earlier blog post I mentioned the Viking ship hat which I still have. We ended up taking the Viking Starship which I believe is the same boat we went on last year when we went for a late night fishing trip. On board the ship with us were several members from Coastal Research and Education Society of Long Island (CRESLI). Our announcer, Artie, was not only informative but also entertaining. I don't know if CRESLI has a partnership with other local boats but I think they made a great difference in our enjoyment of the trip. They helped spot and identify the different animals and provided information about the animals in a way that kept us engaged the entire time. Here is their url in case you want to learn more about the organization:
http://www.cresli.org/

Meg and I positioned ourselves at the back of the boat. It was a bit annoying being right over the propellers but it gave us space and a view of the back and both sides of the boat. Everyone else climbed up to the second deck or crowded in the front. Artie gave the locations of the animals based on the hands of a clock. The front of the boat was 12 o'clock the sides were 3 and 9 and the back was 6.

The first animal we saw was a loggerhead turtle, which Artie described as looking like a tire floating in the water. Here is some video I captured of the sea turtle which shows that is a pretty accurate description. I apologize for how shaky the video is I was having a hard time keeping it still.



We also saw two different humpback whales. The first had a white and black tail and the second one had an all black tail. The underside of the tail is like a finger print and is used to identify the different animals.





And finally to end the trip we had a most amazing experience. When I say the entire boat was surrounded by dolphins I am not exaggerating. Every direction I turned in there were pods of five to ten dolphins. It was breathtaking. Left, right, behind the boat, in front of the boat and under the boat everywhere you looked they were swimming and jumping in the waves.



I had been seeing reports of the trips seeing 200 and 300 dolphins and I kind of laughed at it. But now I have to honestly say it was not an exaggeration. It was also the perfect good bye to a part of NY I have always loved.