Wild Walk

Although walking in my neighborhood is good exercise, a work break, and a great time to listen to an audiobook, it's not without dangers!

A skunk, who was very nervous when I stopped to look for my boyfriend Old Guy.
I backed away quickly; didn't want that skunk running toward me!
Old Guy was non-nonplussed.
Scary!

The gang...er, um...gaggle of Canada Geese made me walk all of the way around them, so they wouldn't rough me up.
Frightening!

Frozen kitty sniffs at frozen pup.
Last weekend was an ice-carving festival in town.
Freezing!

Sly: "Halt!  Who goes there?"
Me: "Sly, it's me, the lady who walks by daily."
Sly: "You cannot pass, not without the password!"
Me: "Um...how 'bout I give you some scritches?"
Sly: "That'll do!"
Bribery!

Yep, it can be dangerous in my 'hood!

Ouchie!

Stairway, with vertical scratcher.
The kitchen door is on the left.

In case you didn't know, years ago we installed a cat walkway around the walls of our dining room, and The Hubby created a stairway.  The stairway has a tall scratcher post (made from a discarded carpet tube and sisal rope), and pieces of commercial carpeting on each step.  Chuck and Angel enjoyed it, and Da Boyz use it to chase each other, and to look down upon the world as if pondering the meaning of life.  From this image, you can see Chuck's portrait on the wall, a horizontal scratcher on the floor, next to an old typewriter.  (You'll have to ask The Hubby about the typewriter...)

Now, the ouchie part.  I reached down to retrieve a cat toy from behind the scratching post, and managed to bounce my noggin off a corner of the stairway!  No blood, no concussion, but I'm telling you, it smarted as much as anything!  Still stings, even.  No medical intervention needed, trust me, but my warning to all: BE CAREFUL OUT THERE!

Taking care of cats is dangerous work; there are teeth and claws, and spit and *you know*, plus the possibility of serious injury from cat toys and climby things!  Classifying myself as still an amateur cat-wrangler, this rookie mistake of clobbering my skull is an impawtant lesson learned.  You've got to keep your wits about you at ALL TIMES, and engender some own cat-like survival instincts!

Be safe out there, cat people!

Oh NO!

Tommy at The Poupounette is very sick...

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