Snow Day Memories

By Gentle Mouse, Indoor kitty and happy to be there.

Good morning, friends. 
Grammy and I woke yesterday morning to a pile of snow on the balcony and all the surfaces around us... rooftops, tree branches, shrubs and sidewalks.  The roads were wet but otherwise clear.  Not my favourite time of year.  Well, that made me think back to when I was a kitten with my mummy, Whiskers.

We were outdoor kitties.  Mummy said it wasn't by choice but I'd never known anything different.  I was born outdoors in late summer... but then soon after, the nights were getting cooler.  Suddenly they were downright cold.  Brrrr.  And we were always hungry and I was  scared.  Mummy was too but was brave and protected me.  Once winter set in we had to find shelter.  We searched and searched, then Mummy and I saw an open door to a garage.  Inside she scanned the space and found a spot where we could hide.  Still cold it was at least out of the wind and weather.   

One day a person saw us slipping in and out of the garage.  We were so hungry and were looking for food.  There was nothing but frozen grass.  Yuk!   Well, that person started putting food out for us and closed the door keeping us inside.  I wanted out but mummy said we were trapped.  We would hide until that lady was gone but oh, it was so nice to have food to eat.  Mummy and I snuggled together to keep warm.  This went on for days.  Then one afternoon a wire cage thingy appeared and there was food inside.  Mummy warned me not to go in but I was so hungry.  Then since I was going in mummy followed.  I guess she decided we should stay together. 

Trapped.  Oh silly me!  Sorry mummy.

Later that day someone came, picked up the wire cage and transferred us to a bigger cage with warm blankets inside, gave us more food.   It felt good to be warm and no-longer hungry.   Later a man came, picked up our cage and put it into a van.  I was so scared but Mummy cuddled with me and it was so warm inside that I fell asleep once the van began to purr.  It purred for a long time, moved, stopped, moved some more but I slept through it all.  Mummy stayed alert and made sure I was okay.

Eventually the van stopped, the tall man got out, took us into a building - Grammy's building, as it happened.  Well, when he set us down we were on a soft bed.  I was scared again... there was another person there and she smelt strange. That smell made me sneeze. The lady opened the carrier and I got really scared so I hid at the back of the cage where she couldn't reach me.  Mummy was soooooooooooo brave.  She peeked out, then jumped into the lady's arms, put her paws around her neck, purred and tickled her cheek with her whiskers.  And that's how Mummy got her name. 

Mummy told me later that she'd decided this was our new home and our new Mummy/Grammy. She liked that strange smell and said it smelt like a baby after a bath.   So, we were home.  It took a while before Grammy accepted that she would be a foster failure.  Silly Grammy.  

Oh and I became Gentle Mouse because I was a scaredy kitty but never hissed or spat... just squeaked and tried to scamper away when I was picked up. 

Imagine that!  A snowfall made those memories all come back.  Luckily the family are warm and inside ... the cow kitties, Grammy and me, Gentle Mousie.

Well, that's it for today.

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