Sophie
needs to go west because my Dad (93!)
looked horrified when he thought I meant she wasn't moving with us to Berkeley California.
Anyone got a couch she can sleep on till we get there?
What Sophie, my dad, and me (to be perfectly honest) need is a place for Sophie to stay when she arrives in the Bay Area by trucker. We are taking the train.
My dad announced one day that he wanted to move to California. His wife of 68 years (minus 1 day) died last March and he is devastated. He still looks around the house and everything reminds him of her and he gets very sad. He carries around a little heart framed photo of the two of them and sets it up in front of him in the living room so he can keep her with him while he does his crosswords. He wants to move on with his life while remembering her in his own quiet way but I think he's overwhelmed with the memories this house holds. He's arthritic and the stairs really hurt his knees. I moved him upstairs last year but every trip to the dr. hurts on the way out and the way back in. So we need to move from this house, for sure.
He looked over at the metro train one day coming back from the doctor's and said he wanted to take a long train ride. "Where do you want to go?" I asked. "Chicago?" he question/answered me. "Do you really want to go to Chicago? I asked."No."
"We could go to California and then just stay there" I said. He chuckled at the idea and I let it drop. I really miss my adopted home of 25 years but I had resigned long ago that I was exiled to Maryland (not a terrible place by any stretch) for the duration and that was that. I had plans to get a veggie van and wander the country for a long time getting out and riding my bicycle whenever the mood struck me when all this family responsibility stuff is over. And that was fine. It was something to look forward to and I bookmarked everywhere I came across that I might want to go, stop in and drink a beer, take ride, a swim, whatever. And then my dad looked up from the couch 15 minutes after we got back and announced that he did want to move to California afterall.
I didn't believe him at first. I thought that he would forget about it, or change his mind but, well, he didn't. I started working on the project without quite believing my good fortune. Can we take the car and Sophie on the train? No and no was the quick answer to those questions. But Amtrak does take service animals and there's a website where you can register whatever animal you have. You see, there are no national guidelines yet about what qualifies, there's no such thing as an official national registry of service animals so basically all you need is an official looking piece of paper that's believable. I think scroll work and calligraphy helps. And of course there's a website that'll do that for you and they only charge $40. But then I realized that, although I would dearly love to have my pootie with me so I can calm her down and help her relax (well, at least I'd be a familiar presence), I wouldn't be able to properly focus on my father (who is 93, after all) or my unpredictable brother (who can derail this whole project at any minute).
So I logged into the #sekritarmey and asked for suggestions. The Pootie people came through like champs and I have now have a better plan. Whoknu suggested Operation Roger and they will pick up Sophie and deliver her to us in California but I need a destination address for the application and I don't have one yet. It's also possible that I won't have an address in California until after we get there. I am flying in June 3rd for a quick whirlwind tour to see if I can rent a place, but we may be staying in a hotel after we get off the train until I can find something suitable for my dad, my brother, Sophie and I.
So.
Is there anyone in the Bay Area who would like to look after a very sweet, very puffy, kitty for a few days or maybe a few weeks? I know this is a lot to ask but if you've ever thought about having a kitty and put it off because you just weren't sure, well now is the time to try it out. She is an only kitty though. She doesn't get along with other kitties so anyone who was thinking she could bunk-in with their crew for awhile, thanks very much for the thought! (really, much appreciated!!) but it wouldn't work. She's very sweet to people, but not to anyone else. I think she thinks she's superior.
I got her as a foster to help with my parents and my folks were besotted. Just having a pootie (named Pootie One for over a month, so committed was I to the foster idea) around made them much happier. But she was so thankful and so puffy and fluffy, and she slept on my head for the first week as if to say you're my hoomin and don't make me go back. Indeed, the first time I went to bed after we brought her home from the shelter and I laid down to go to sleep, she dive bombed me. She hit me in the chest with her self. Instantly I had a kitty belly in my hands and she was purring. (She loves belly rubs and getting her muzzle ruffled, back scratches and her purple rubber brush. If you leave the brush with her, she'll try to brush herself with it.) When she first came home, she found the softest place in the whole house, my mother's duvet, and stretched out on her back and I swear I could hear her say "YYYYEEESSSSSS! Now that's what I'm talking about."
I took her to the animal events doing my duty as a good foster person but she looked so forlorn back in a cage. I cannot understand why no one took her. It hurt to see her like that. I advertised her on Craigslist and by the time someone finally called, I sabotaged the call. I couldn't bring myself to give her up even to a family that clearly wanted her. I adopted her even though I didn't want a cat of our own. I'm allergic for goodness' sake. All my Berkeley friends are allergic too so not only can't I ask them to take her, but they won't even be able to come over and visit once we've moved. I had wanted to be able to move at a moment's notice, get in a veggie oil van and drive away whenever I was released. But both my parents doted on her and I fell in love with her despite being allergic (stinging nettle tea is amazing. I don't even notice it. My friends however don't believe me). And here we are, moving to California with our pootie who we can't possibly give up.
Maybe you've always wanted to try having a pootie of your very own but you're allergic. Here's a chance to see if stinging nettle tea works for you, too. No side effects and it tastes just like the stereotypical mild herbal tea you'd expect. I add a teaspoon of the dried leaves to my Trader Joes Black Mango Tea every morning and it's great.
If you can help out with a place for Sophie to stay for awhile in the Bay Area, maybe a day, maybe a week or two, we would really appreciate it.
I have to go bathe my dad right now but I'll check in later.
Thanks everyone for reading and hopefully not hating because it's a pootie diary, of sorts. All positive suggestions are most welcome.
c