Animal lovers are recognizable from the get-go, and "M" was clearly among this category! Every little creature we saw was called a critter, regardless of the actual species. From squirrels and chipmunks to birds of all feathers, we always found a furry friend to capture our interest! Needless to say, this led to quite a number of interesting conversations and an occasional "incident."
During my first meeting with "M", I was introduced to two of the cutest little critters you'd ever want to meet, if you're an animal lover and/or have no allergies, that is. "M"s daughter had recently acquired two kittens, brother and sister, and the pair were no more than four months old when I first met them. They were quite skittish at first, but quickly grew acquainted with me when they realized that I would be the source of their meals for the next five days!
As a cat owner myself, I was not offended at all by their behavior. At that time in my life, I had five felines who ranged in personality from hostile to hilarious. "M"s daughter had informed me beforehand that I would also be watching her two new kittens, in addition to her Mom, so I felt confident that I could handle the arrangement. There was just one warning I was to heed, according to the daughter. "Whatever you do, please don't let the cats out." Got it! As cute and curious as they were, and no matter how much they complained, they were staying in the house! Case closed!
Perhaps it is better to say, door opened! I quickly learned that the house contained three main routes to the outside, in addition to dozens of windows. Luckily, the windows were securely shut, as Autumn was waning and Winter was quickly making its presence known. Most of the leaves had already fallen, and the great outdoors looked as grey and barren as it should on a late November day in lower New England. Brown, dying leaves blanked the ground, with only a few colorful hold-outs clinging desperately to life.
The three main doors in the home had very good locks on them, but they could also be easily opened by a clever human being! "M", extremely intelligent and chock full of all kinds of life experience, clearly fit this description. During my first day with her, we went over her daughter's instructions many, MANY times. Under NO CIRUMSTANCES were the critters to be let out of any of the doors! "M" nodded and said she understood completely, as the little ones were so young and needed to be protected.
Most of our first day was spent in a sitting room that was full of plants and windows on all three sides. It was a beautiful place to sit, chat, drink tea, and get to know each other. It also contained a door leading directly to the patio. Several times during the overcast afternoon, the kittens would longingly look out the door, and I could sense their yearning and curiosity. But they were easily redirected by playful activities.
One of their favorites was to slide on the home's exquisitely designed throw rugs. As "M"s father had been an antique furniture dealer, there were many exotically patterned "cat toys" scattered throughout the entire house. Even better, was the fact that underneath every single one, was a brilliantly polished wooden floor that was purrfect for a cat to slide on! Both brother and sister would take turns running up and down the rugs, which caused them to slide up and down the floors. "What fun!" exclaimed "M" every time one of the little critters would go for a magic carpet ride! Weeeeeeeee!
"M" was already enamored with the kittens by the time I came on the scene, and they had taken quite a shine to her in their short time as members of the household. When they weren't sliding, or staring out the door, they were usually curled up near her, with one of them always on her lap. "M" loved to pet the kittens, especially the one that favored her warm embrace. It sounded as though she was purring with him or her (I could never tell the two siblings apart), and the sheer delight in her face was a joy to behold. It's amazing what the loyalty and unconditional love of an animal can do for a person's soul!
After dinner, "M" and I would retreat to the TV room, which though decorated with windows on three of the four walls, did not have a door that led outside the home. That's when the most bonding would take place. And not just between "M" and the kittens, but also between "M" and myself. "M" loved to watch westerns, as well as any film that had a historical base. Together, the two of us (four, if you count the critters) would travel back in time to eras and places that seemed so much more inhospitable to human survival than our current world. This fact fascinated "M", who loved to engage in long conversations about the successes, and failings, of mankind's journey to the present time. As a lover of history myself, I would relish these moments with "M", as would the critters, who took turns curling up on her warm, soft lap. Very rarely, one of the kittens (again, I have no idea which one because they both looked so much alike), would jump up on my lap, quickly realize it was the wrong one, and leap off to lay closer to "M". No insult taken.
Bedtime, I quickly learned, my first night staying in her daughter's home, was a well-established routine for "M". There was a definite order to preparing for sleep, and I followed the plan exactly as it was laid out. First we would both clean up in the bathroom, with me guiding "M" through the steps that needed to be taken. Then, we would get dressed in our night clothes, usually a casual and comfortable top and bottom from LL Bean for "M" and a not so soft, discounted pair of pajamas from K-Mart for me, with me assisting "M" into hers. Her dementia was more evident in the evenings, and "M" was not only confused about which clothes came off and on, but also why they had to be changed at all! To her, it was morning. Or maybe afternoon. But definitely not time for sleep! Although "M" would lay down in her bed, accompanied by two content critters, she was not to stay there for very long. As with many afflicted with dementia, "M" would awaken frequently during the night, wandering throughout the first floor of the home. My bedroom was adjacent to hers, and although she made no attempt to open my door, I could hear her pitter-pattering up and down the halls. Occasionally, I would go out and encourage her to return to her bed, which she would do willingly, always blaming herself for not having stayed there in the first place. But invariably, she would rise again, roaming the halls with the flashlight she kept beside the bed. When I was certain that she was safe and at no risk of harm, I would fall into a not-so-restful sleep, my radar still in tune with "M"s movements.
When dawn finally came, so did "M"s ability to fall into a more restful sleep. It was during this time, that I learned to take care of other things around the house to prepare for our day. First off, was straightening the rugs that the kittens had disheveled during their slipping and sliding. Once in the kitchen, I would prepare the coffee pot and put away any dishes from the night before. That's also where the critters would soon be enjoying their morning feast. Having cats of my own, I anticipated that I would be tripping over the two little ones as I opened their Fancy Feast cans, which was to be mixed with a healthy dose of kitten chow.
So much for expectations. As I got their little dishes ready (separate ones for each of them), it suddenly struck me how silent the house was. No slipping. No sliding. No pitter-pattering. Just an uneasy quietness. The kind that comes when my cats are all outside rather than tangled around my feet waiting for their food. Realizing exactly what was wrong, I frantically began to rush around the house calling, "Here, kitty, kitty, kitty!" Luckily, the furnishings were rather sparse, and there weren't too many secret hiding places to check. Unluckily, that could only lead to one other conclusion. The critters had gotten out!!!
The first door I bounded out of was the one that led to the patio, as the kitties seemed to enjoy the view from there the day before. Wow! I had no idea how big the back yard was up until this point! Woods! Everywhere I looked, nothing but woods bordering the entire property. My call grew louder as I ran the perimeter of the yard. "HERE, KITTY, KITTY, KITTY!!!" As my voice rose in decibel, my feet declined in warmth. It dawned on me that I was in my slippers and not so soft discounted K-Mart pajamas, and it couldn't have been more than forty degrees outside. I ran back inside, got my coat, then decided to make a go of it from the front door of the house. It was a little less woodsy out that direction. ""HERE, KITTY, KITTY, KITTY!!!" Who was I fooling? These kittens were no more likely to come to me than they were to befriend a roaring brown bear. If they didn't like my lap the day before on a warm, comfy couch, what hope was there for them to eagerly scamper up to me in the great wide open?
My heart sunk deeper with every critter-less minute that passed. I had done everything else exactly as instructed. Right to the letter. "M"s daily routine successfully maintained in spite of her daughter's absence. There was only one special instruction, and a big one at that. Whatever I did, I was NOT to let the cats out! And truth be told, I didn't! But I hadn't factored in the case of "M" letting the cats out during the night! I could just picture brother and sister staring longingly up at the doorknob, whining in their baby kitten voices, "Meooooooooow!" Translation: "Pleeeeeeeeeeease let us out!" How could anyone resist their cuteness, especially a critter lover like "M" who was awake most of the night and couldn't help but see the little night owls howling to be free?
Boy, had I screwed up! And on my first night of the job to boot! I had to figure out a plan! And quickly, before "M" woke up. At this point in the dilemma, I had given up on running around the large yard bordered by woods yelling, "HERE, KITTY, KITTY, KITTY!!!" If insanity is truly doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results, then I was certifiable! Not to mention extremely cold!
Back in the house, making sure that "M" was still safely tucked in her bed, I paced up and down the exquisitely designed, exotically patterned antique throw rugs. No pitter-pattering for me. This was serious, heavy-duty, no-holds-barred pacing! On a positive note, I couldn't help but notice how beautiful the rugs really were. Stunning actually. The ones that my cats slid on at home were, not surprisingly, from the sale racks at K-Mart. They didn't seem to mind the difference, though. I had easily amused cats.
But these two creatures belonged to "M"s daughter, who would not be so easily amused if her new additions turned up missing, and I was person responsible for ensuring the safety of not only her mother, but her beloved pets as well! Just because I couldn't tell them apart didn't mean "M"s daughter couldn't! Sure. They were your basic grey-striped tabby. Very common. In fact, I had one myself. But it's not like I lost a spatula and could run to the K-Mart to replace it! These were her babies!!! Her interchangeable, look-alike babies! I had to find them!
An idea struck me in mid-pace, and I chided myself for not thinking of it sooner. It was still breakfast time for the kitties. And wherever they were, inside or out, they would still be expecting their delectable meal. Why not open up the Fancy Feast, mix it with kitten chow, and place the bowls on the cement steps outside the doors? One at a time. First the back porch, then the front of the house. "Absolutely brilliant," I told myself, trying to salvage whatever self-esteem was left.
Sure enough, within seconds of placing the food dish on the patio doorstep, one of the kittens came bouncing out of the woods making a b-line for his (or her) breakfast. In a flash, I grabbed the little fellow (or female) and whisked him (or her) back into the house, making sure the door was closed firmly. Then I carefully slipped back out to grab the food dish. After all, I did promise the critter breakfast!
One down, one to go! A second try on the patio led to no luck, so I decided to focus on the front of the house. This would involve the electric garage door, which I highly doubted "M" would have known how to open, especially with the remote out of reach, and the front door. In fact, the front door was most likely the one she would have let the critters out of in the first place, as it was in the middle of her pacing route.
I went through the same routine with the front door as with the patio door, all the while checking to see that "M" was still asleep and making sure that kitten # 1 stayed on the house. Carefully, I placed the yummy breakfast entree outside the front door and waited. And waited some more. Nothing. Not even a rustle in the almost bare Autumn tree limbs. I stood inside and stared out the narrow window next to the door onto the stoop, waiting a little longer. "Well," I tried to reason. "Maybe I could simply replace one kitten, which would be much easier than replacing two." But I still didn't know who was the boy kitty and who was the girl kitty, which would cause a problem if "M"s daughter came home to two kittens of the same sex!
Then I saw him (or her). Slowly slinking around the corner of the front stoop. Gingerly making its way to the cat dish. Resisting the impulse to rush right outside and grab the little imp, I waited until he (or she) was thoroughly engaged in eating. I silently squeezed out the front door, and grabbed hold of the second little critter. "Good boy or girl," I muttered, stroking the kitten's head. "What a good boy or girl!" Once again, I retrieved the food dish, and managed to get both animals set up properly in the kitchen, just the way the morning routine was supposed to go.
The first thing "M" said after she woke up and made her way to the kitchen was, "I'm so glad the little critters are safe in the house. It's so dangerous outside." She had no recollection of letting them out during the night, and I didn't have the heart to tell her what had actually happened. My main concern was that this NEVER, EVER happen again! Not on my watch!
While "M" was enjoying her hot cereal, juice, and coffee (tea would come later in the day, of course), I found a blank piece of note white note paper and some markers in one of the kitchen drawers. I consider myself a fairly decent writer (and hopefully you do, too), but fully admit my failure as an artist. Just take a second look at the fungal art if you have any doubt. But this project did not require anything too fancy. Just the basics. With some markers, I drew a round ball on the note paper. Two round eyes, triangle ears and nose, topped off with a nice set of whiskers, and a smile for the mouth. Ta da! A spectacular rendering of one of the critters! It didn't matter which one, of course. They both looked the same.
"M" and I enjoyed our second day together much in the same manner as we had the first. A cup of tea and some deep conversation about the "bad man" who tried to take over the world seventy years ago, a well-balanced lunch consisting of tomato soup and a ham & cheese sandwich, along with a piece of fruit, an afternoon western series, with intermittent commentary about "how people could possibly survive under such poor deplorable conditions," a brief (and I mean BRIEF) nap, a relaxing pasta dinner at the same time as the critters enjoyed their evening meal, a continuation of the western series after that, and then our bed-time preparations. And accompanying us every step of the way were the two little kittens. Slipping and sliding. Nap lapping. Purring to perfection. "Absolutely adorable!" "M" would frequently exclaim with delight, adding again that it was so good that they were "safely inside the house."
After "M" was tucked into bed, flashlight on the nightstand, I closed her door and went into the kitchen. There I retrieved my work of art from the morning. My simplistic, yet clearly recognizable, rendering of a content cat. I then took a purple marker and wrote in distinct, clearly legible, very large letters: WE DO NOT GO OUTSIDE!!!" With the utmost care, I taped the drawing to the front doorknob. Then I drew a second drawing, just as artistic as the first, and taped it to the patio doorknob. My work done for the day, I retreated to my bedroom, exhausted, but satisfied.
During the night, I heard "M"s feet again pitter-pattering up and down the hallways. And I heard her speaking softly to the kitties, warning them in her sweet, loving voice that "They do not go outside!" I felt a great feeling of relief wash over me.
The next morning, I awoke to two very hungry, amazingly loud, howling kittens. A boy and a girl, although I couldn't tell them apart. I didn't know what they did during the night, and I didn't care. Whatever it was, they had done it inside. And when "M" awoke from her soundest period of sleep after dawn, the four of us enjoyed a lovely breakfast together, followed by another fine day filled with thoughtful conversation, tasty tea, good food and lots of critter play!
No comments:
Post a Comment