Our indiscretion oft does serve us well, when our deep plots do pall

[pameladean]

Which is to say, that for some months now I've been meaning to Do Something about the Stack o' Cat Carriers in the upstairs sitting room. They were stacked like the Three Bears' carriers, a gigantic one suitable for taking cats across long distances on the bottom, a smaller but still capacious one in the middle, a tiny one only really suitable for a six-pound cat on the top.

I passed them today on my way to my office to glare at my book. "I should Do Something about those," I thought.

Then the weather radio started going off. It was still yammering about severe thunderstorms when the sirens started. The sky was not green, but I don't really feel that tornados are anything to fool around with. Ari, poor honey, was asleep in his carrier, which is the middle one. I shut the door on him and went on through to my bedroom, where Beryl, the tiny cat, was looking vaguely bewildered. I scooped her up, which is not something one does lightly, carried her into the sitting room, and thrust her into the small carrier. This often does not work because she grows extra legs and uses them to hang onto the outside of the carrier. But I was too fast for her.

I lugged them one by one down to the basement, and told David what I was doing. I hadn't been able to get the Weather Underground page to load, but he could, and there was a tornado warning for Hennepin County, but Minneapolis was not listed as one of the "cities impacted." I went back upstairs, incidentally capturing Naomi and incarcerating her in David's room on the way. I couldn't find Arwen, but I figured that she would show up if I rattled the food bag. Her default reaction to crisis is to hide under heavy furniture, which is exactly what NOAA recommends in any case. That left only Jordan, the Papa Bear of cats; and I knew where she was, and she's easy. I spent the next half-hour listening to the weather radio, grateful that I wouldn't suddenly need to leap up and imprison five cats.

We didn't get a tornado; we didn't even get much of a thunderstorm, though other areas certainly did. But I think, on the whole, that I'll just leave those carriers where they are for the rest of the tornado season.

In other news, we have catbirds. Luckily, they don't have to be put in carriers during tornado warnings.

P.

Comments

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

My dad's plane was diverted to La Crosse because of wind shears. I have no idea whether we'll be able to get him from the airport in time for dinner or whether that'll have to be a different week.

[pameladean]

Well, phooey. I don't suppose he's always wished to visit LaCrosse.

P.

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

He arrived in Mpls too late for dinner but too early for us to be seriously frightened.

[carbonel]

In other news, we have catbirds.

Have you provided a seat for them?

[pameladean]

Several, but they seem to prefer the peabush hedge.

Possibly I should ask one of you baseball fans for assistance. I may not know all the ins and outs.

P.

[sdn.livejournal.com]

you have four people and five cats in your house. are you collectively one (1) crazy cat lady?

[birdhousefrog.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. Five cats. Very wise to keep carriers about. Herding cats is like, well, herding cats. There's always that one freaked-out cat that is never where it's supposed to be in these emergencies. On the other hand, I doubt very much that they appreciated your forethought. They probably complained bitterly about this treatment, as cats will.

Oz

[gypsy1969.livejournal.com]

The analogy I've always heard is that herding Unitarian Universalists is like herding cats.

[clindau.livejournal.com]

I was working at the Guthrie scene shop today during said tornado warning. It was, uh, interesting. First, the sirens outside were barely audible over the dull roar of saws, drills, etc. It actually sounded like one more machine. Shortly after the sirens stopped, a Stern Voice came over the PA informing us that a tornado warning had been issued "in the Minneapolis area" and that we should all go to the thrust theater. So there we all were, the entire population of the building--admin, actors, restaurant staff et al--in the thrust seats waiting to hear what was going on. At about 3 the all clear was sounded and we all went back to work.

I wonder what would happen if a tornado warning was called in the middle of a performance, especially if all three venues plus the restaurant were full. That would be one crowded theatre. Fingers crossed it never happens.