Big excitement at the Critters house this morning.

[Critters2]

While I was asleep, one of my doors blew open when the wind picked up this morning. When I came downstairs, I couldn't figure out why it was SOOOO cold. Then I saw it--the side door wide open, and the two never-been-outdoor-cats sitting right in front of it, trying to decide whether to go out. I called them back and closed the door, then realized that Leon, my formerly indoor/outdoor cat was nowhere to be found.

Leon was an alley cat in Iowa, who kept trying to sneak into my house. One very cold winter day, I picked him as he tried to get in my back door, took him to the vet, got him cleaned up, tested, vaccinated and neutered. And he became an indoor/outdoor cat. He was the toughest cat on the block, but the competition was made up of other indoor/outdoor cats who would run home to their (human) mommies when Leon kicked their asses. There was very little traffic. It was a pretty safe place to be a cat.

Not so here. We live right downtown, just off a state highway that's the only way to get to the only bridge over the Illinois for like25 miles. So, LOTS of traffic. And quite a few cats--real alley cats who probably know how to take care of themselves. So, when I realized he'd gotten out, I panicked. Between the traffic, the cats, and the fact that he doesn't know his way around, I was really scared.

I went out on the back porch and called him. Nothing. Then I went out front. Called him a couple of times, and then I heard his little "beep" (Leon doesn't meow. He beeps). I turned to look, and he literally JUMPED into my arms. Yay!!

But, apparently, he smells oddly. The other cats have been hissing and smacking at him ever since he came back in. Shamu keeps putting his ears back and trying to pick fights. If he doesn't stop, Leon will kick his ass, too.

I am SOOO glad he came right to me, and didn't wander any further away. You don't realize how much you love 'em until they do something scary!!

Oh, and I've moved a big armchair in front of that door, so it doesn't blow open again. It's a door I never use, because it's in my living room which, with a fireplace and a huge radiator, doesn't have a lot of free space to put furniture in. This armchair has always been in front of it. Now, it's pushed RIGHT against it. I'll ask the custodian to put a hook and eye or something to keep it closed more securely this coming week.

Uh-oh. Leon is kicking Shamu's ass. Gotta go!

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Let Leon kick Shamu, and then the cycle of violence born of mimetic desire will have been pacified

for a time, until another scapegoat is needed...

[Critters2]

2. I think we should ritualize it. A good ass-kicking once a week or so,

to keep the community happy. Peace through violence. Tried and true.