Home Again

 These pictures were taken shortly after we got home.  I didn't want to look at Mom for reasons that will become apparent.

I couldn't wait to get back in my window and look out again.  Part of the haze you see is dirty windows and part of it is smoke.

Karen Jo:  First of all, I want to thank all of you for all of your prayers, purrs, crossed paws, good vibrations, pug snorts, and good thoughts.  They worked!  The fire fighters kept the fire completely out of town and off lab property.  I am writing this late Sunday, but it won't get published until after midnight, so whatever I or the kitties say about today is Sunday. The evacuation order was lifted today and my brother drove us back home this afternoon.  I got home too late to go to work (I thought), but I was feeling a bit guilty about it until I discovered that I wasn't on the schedule for today.  I fed and watered the kitties, unpacked, fed and watered the birds and did the laundry.  I will now turn the blog over to the kitties, who are aching to tell you their tale of woe.

Sunday night was really weird.  Mom came home and fed us and put on her PJs and played with us, just like usual.  Then she started putting all sorts of things in bags, including some of our stuff. She was running around like crazy and then went to bed really early, for her.  Monday morning, I thought things were back to normal, but Mom kept stopping whatever she was doing and listening to the radio very intently.  Just about time to go to work, the phone rang and after Mom talked for a while, she started throwing even more stuff into bags, including our food.  A lady we know came over and suddenly Mom stuffed us both into our carriers and we got put in a car and off we went.  It was awful.  I was in the back seat with three other kitties, while lucky Emma got to sit on Mom's lap. Two of the three other kitties were meowing up a storm.  I chimed in once in a while, but Emma barely said anything.  I bet it was because she was embarrassed.  She pooped in her carrier before we were even halfway there.

Emma:  I was scared.  I am not used to being near so many other kitties, especially loud ones.

You were in Mom's lap.  I was stuck in the back with them.

Emma:  I got Mom's lap because I am small and fit into a smaller carrier.

We finally got where we were going and we got stuffed into a bathroom.  We didn't even have a litter box at first.

Karen Jo:  I had to go out and buy you one.  The litter box I packed for you wouldn't fit in my friend's car with all of our stuff and you five kitties.

We finally got a half-size litter box and food and water.  I kept asking when Mom was going to open the door and let us out, but it turned out that we were stuck in there.

Karen Jo:  It was very kind of my nephew to volunteer to take us in, but he has two kitties of his own and you two have feline leukemia.  You had to be kept separate and the bathroom was the only room available.

Emma:  I adapted much better than Herman did.  He kept rushing the door and getting shoved back in and scooped up just outside the door and brought back in.  I just stayed put.

I got the nickname Houdini because I got out the second night and the humans never did figure out how I did it.  I am tall enough to reach the doorknob, but the door opened in.  Anyway, about four in the morning the lady human found me in the living room looking out of the sliding glass doors.  The bathroom door was open, but silly Emma was still inside.  I got scooped up by the nephew and shoved back in the bathroom. The third day, I discovered that I just fit into the sink and started taking my naps there.  The morning of the fourth day, we got stuffed into our carriers again and off we went.

Emma:  This time Herman pooped in his carrier before we were halfway there.

I had to go.  At least I went in the back corner of the carrier and used my towel to cover it up.

Emma:  Herman complained all the way there and it was a long time.  I just settled down in my carrier and tried to nap. When we got where we were going, we got stuffed into an even smaller bathroom for a long time.

Karen Jo:  We had to get the bedroom ready for you and my brother wanted to check that there wasn't anything left in that bedroom that you could mess up.  It was just a couple of hours.  Then you got a whole bedroom to yourselves, with a full sized litter box that I bought for you.  I tried to sleep in there with you the first night, but my allergies got too bad and I had to move.  The next day I got permission from my brother to open the back door to that room and lock the screen door and put on a fan, so you could get more fresh air.  I slept in there with you that night.  The last day we were there, my brother found the door to the bedroom open twice, so we actually had to lock you in there and I had to sleep elsewhere, because the lock only worked from the outside.

Emma:  Again, I adapted right away, but Herman kept trying to escape.  The second night we were there, he actually bit Mom.

I didn't really mean to hurt her as badly as I did, but I was scared and hurt.

Karen Jo:  It was as much my fault as it was yours.  You made a run for it and I made a grab for you and all I managed to catch was your tail.  You wouldn't stop pulling and I wouldn't let go, even when you growled at me.  I and your hind end were still in the room, so when you turned and bit me, I closed the door.  I was afraid that if I let go, you would run and hide and getting you back would be a real problem.  My brother's house has so many places for a kitty to hide.  I was also afraid that if you got upset enough, you might pee or poop and contaminate my brother's house.  I figured that getting bit was a better option.  I never expected you to bite me as hard as you did. Six teeth punctured my skin and the deepest one from a fang got infected.  So today I got to visit an urgent care center and got a shot and ten days worth of antibiotics.

Emma:  After Mom got back from the doctor and she and her brother ate lunch, Mom came into our bedroom and started throwing things in bags again.  Then we got stuffed in our carriers again.  Herman didn't put up any kind of a fight, but I did.  I thought where I was wasn't so bad.

I just wanted to go home.

Emma:  Then why did you poop in your carrier again?

I didn't know we were going home.  I was stressed out.  I meowed all the way home.  It was the longest trip yet.  I pooped on my towel and kicked it to the back of the carrier. At last we got home again and do you know what I found there?  Empty food bowls!  I complained about that, you can be sure!

Karen Jo:  Of course.  I emptied the Stinky Goodness bowls just before I left because I thought they would get really stinky while we were gone.  I fed you as soon as I got your stinky carrier out of the house and threw away your ruined towel.  Now we are home and everything is getting back to normal, sort of.  The town is full of smoke and I could see the fire on the ridges west of town.  The fire fighters set a back fire in the canyon that was the fire's easy way into town and feel totally confident that that edge of the fire is contained.  Keep purring for the rest of the people threatened by this fire and the others in the state.  This fire is called the Las Conchas fire and it is the biggest wildfire in New Mexico history.