A Bizarre Animal Vibe

There is a bizarre animal vibe in the air today and I don't know what to do about it.

I walked out onto the screened in porch a little while ago to let Maka out. The cats love the screened in porch because it is their version of outside. But at this time of year they are bewildered because they go out and suddenly realize it is cold and they say "Holy shit let me back in."

I let them out early this morning and they were right back in before I could say insufferable New England winter.

Which was cool because Maka curled up in my lap while I read and Lakota curled up in her bed.

So it's warming up and I decide to give Maka another shot.

I am standing on the porch talking to her and a bird suddenly bounces off the screen in full flight. Falls to the bushes below stunned.

I was horrified. I am standing there looking at this magnificent creature lying on top of the bushes wondering what the hell I was going to do.

There was no way I was going to leave it there. If it couldn't fly I was going to tend to it somehow, someway. I envisioned Channel 9 news running a feature story on how Gentle Joe nursed a helpless bird back to flight.

It took about a minute or two - which felt like a lifetime - when suddenly the bird just took off and flew up into a nearby tree. I waited a while longer to see it fly confidently out of the tree.

I felt better.

Maka came back into the house.

Later on I let Maka out again, closed the door behind her and fixed me some lunch. I'm standing there chowing when I heard a weird noise.

I walked to the sliding glass doors and looked out horrifed to see Maka OUTSIDE on the porch. She had burst through the screen on the door and was chomping on one of Carol's plants.

Please understand - our cats have NEVER been outside. We love them too much to play Russian roulette with their lives.

What the hell made her do that is beyond me. It took some effort for her to escape Stalag 13. I don't know what the motivation was. Must be one helluva tasty plant.

 I opened the sliders slowly, then opened the screen door slowly, praying that she wouldn't run off. It would have been heart attack time if she did. My heart was already pounding to beat the band.

She looked at me and casually walked back onto the screened in porch dragging a branch from the plant in her mouth.

I scooped her up and brought her back inside.

Man I do not know what is going on here but I am going to lay low for the rest of the day.  I am getting some kind of message from the animal kingdom and I am not sure it is positive.

Then again the bird did fly and Maka came back in.

Maybe its all about triumph over adversity.

Just the same I am going to take it careful for the rest of the day.