In Memoriam

Although this blog has gone on unexpected hiatuses in the past, this one was not due to busy schedules. As we related in the last post, Spanky had been experiencing health problems. He seemed to be improving, but he took a sudden turn for the worse at the end of May. He passed away peacefully on June 1, curled up with Jason on the grass. He had lived with Jason for 17 years and the rest of the family for most of a decade. We all miss him terribly. After a lot of thought, Dante and Edmund have decided to continue with the blog. Spanky always loved writing for it and they want to continue it in his honor. If you have any memories of Spanky you’d like to share, please leave a comment. He was a great cat and I know he’ll be missed. 

Dante

I’m never very good at this stuff… but Spanky always liked writing so I’ll try to do this right for him. I was just a kitten when I met Spanky. He was older and more serious, and sometimes I didn’t like it when he lectured me. He could be grumpy at times, especially when I tackled him or didn’t listen, but he always took care of me. He taught me how to clean my fur and how to get better at stalking. I’m all grown up now but I still liked to get his advice on stuff ‘cause he knew all sorts of things. I really miss talking to him. He’d want me to be all responsible now ‘cause he’s not here to take care of Edmund and TGWWGA. I won’t ever be as good at it as he was, but I know he’d want me to try my best. He was the best mentor a cat could have.

Edmund

Spanky always protected me from scary stuff. He’d let me sleep with him so I wouldn’t have nightmares and he’d yell at the vet and keep the Monster distracted and chase away anything bad. He’d even take on the vacuum cleaner! Now that’s brave! I’m trying to be brave just like he was. The Monster really misses Spanky so I’ve been cuddling with him to make him feel better. Even though he’s the Monster, he loved Spanky too so he must be okay. I still get sad sometimes when I see Spanky’s bed is empty but Mommy says to think about all the good times we had with him and then I feel better. He was the best biggest brother ever!

Happy Birthday, Spanky!

Spanky had a birthday! He's 17! That's like super-old for a cat, but I guess Spanky is special. He was already special 'cause he has extra toes and he lets me sleep on him, but now he's even specialer. :D I know he looks grumpy in the picture, but he had a very nice birthday. We all sang to him and he got a cupcake. Well, he didn't get to eat the cupcake because cupcakes aren't for cats, but he did get some tuna fish. I wonder why nobody gave him a tuna fish cupcake? That way he could have his cupcake and eat it, too!

Ever since his birthday, Spanky has been going to the vet a lot. I'm not sure what for, but he's always very grumpy when he gets back. Spanky and Mommy had lots of arguments about going to the vet (Mommy won those) and when it was okay to bite people (Spanky won those). Spanky says that if she stopped taking him to the vet, he'd stop biting people. Seems like a good idea to me, but Mommy was worried about him and so she made him go. But now he's doing much better. Yay! He even gets special cat food that Mommy made just for him. It smells really yummy and sometimes she lets me have some once Spanky's finished. I'd tell her I want my very own homemade cat food, but then she might take me to the vet with Spanky. I don't like the vet. It's scary! O.o

Dante and me had to help Mommy and the Monster take care of Spanky so we didn't get to blog very much in April. We wanted to, but we were just too busy. We went on lots of adventures before Spanky got sick and now that he's feeling better we get to write about them. It's very exciting!

[Editor's Note: Spanky is doing quite well for a cat his age, but he's developed a few conditions that needed regular treatment at the vet's office. He's improved considerably and the vet expects him to keep trying to bite her for quite awhile yet.]

Housekeeping

Edmund and Dante (Spanky didn't want to have his picture taken)

Now that they're posting more regularly, the cats thought it would be a good idea to update a few things. They've now all got brief biographies in their profiles and they've been streamlining posts' tags. For those that are new to the blog, you can read Spanky, Dante, and Edmund's profiles and/or read their introductory posts. They also tell me they miss reading people's comments. Apparently, it doesn't count if I just tell them what people said when they ran into me.

They're thrilled that you all love reading their blog and they have some really great posts planned for the next few months. Thank you for reading To Say Nothing of the Cat!

Cedar Breaks

Editor's Note: The cats put together this article about our trip to Cedar Breaks and asked me to post it for them. So without further ado:

Cedar Breaks National Monument

Spanky: During our cross-continental trek, my humans and I decided to take a brief detour to visit the Cedar Breaks National Monument in Utah.

Edmund: Dante and me were there, too!

Spanky: Yes, you were. As I was saying—

Edmund: But you didn’t say we were there! You have to say it or it doesn’t count.

Spanky: Ahem. Myself, my humans, and my feline companions visited Cedar Breaks during our trip.

Edmund: Thank you!

Spanky: You’re welcome. Now if I may continue without any more interruptions…

Edmund: eep

Spanky: Set well up in the mountains, Cedar Breaks is a natural limestone amphitheater, five miles in diameter and 2,500 feet deep.


Edmund: We had to climb a very twisty road to get up there! And when we got there it was cold and very windy. I though we were going to get blown away. *nod nod nod*

Spanky: It appears that some of us are more easily impressed than others. As I was saying, the sides of the amphitheater have been eroded into a variety of gullies, canyons, free-standing “fins,” and pinnacles. Iron oxide has stained much of the originally white limestone, creating a colorful array of reds, oranges, and yellows.


Dante: My person was ridiculously excited about all the rocks. As if being a book person wasn’t dorky enough, she has to go and be a rock person, too.

Spanky: Well, it was fortunate for us that she was there or we wouldn’t have known what we were looking at.

Dante: Dude, they didn’t even let us out of the car.

Spanky: Perhaps if you spent more time looking out the window instead of sleeping you would learn a few things about the world.


Edmund: Don’t fight! Fighting makes me very sad.

Spanky: Very well, then, I shall continue with my talk. The area that is now Cedar Breaks was once at the bottom of a large lake. As the Pacific plate plunged underneath the continental plate during the Cretaceous period (144-65 million years ago) the area was lifted up and the water drained away. Wind and water (in both liquid and frozen form) did their work and left us with the beautiful scene we enjoy today.



Dante: Could you have made that any more boring?

Spanky: I’m not going to dignify that with a response.

Edmund: I though it was interesting. Is the Cretaceous like cat food? They both start with C!

Spanky: I appreciate your enthusiasm, Edmund, but let’s hold questions until the end.

Edmund: Okay.

Spanky: The park contains camping facilities and numerous hiking trails. The Visitor Center also hosts a variety of informational programs about the park’s history, geography, flora and fauna. It’s located quite close to Bryce Canyon, Zion National Monument, and the Grand Canyon.

Edmund: I want to go camping!

Dante: No way, man. There’s no electrical outlets.

Spanky: I hope you all enjoyed the presentation. Please see the link below for more information about the monument. Anyone interested in taking home a white cat with black spots, please see me.

Dante: I heard that.



Official Web Page: http://www.nps.gov/cebr/

Welcome to California!

I hope you've enjoyed reading "To Say Nothing of the Cat." Below are some pictures from our trip. The cats had a lot of fun writing this and hope you all enjoyed reading it. Currently, the are discussing if they would like to continue with the project, so look for updates from them in the near future.

A Bit of Background

Now that the cats have all introduced themselves, I thought some background information about the move might be in order. Spanky, Dante, and Edmund are moving because Jennifer (that's me) has been accepted to the Ph.D. program at the University of California, Riverside. We will be rolling out in a little less than 2 weeks and we will arrive in California about a week later. There is still lots of packing to do (not to mention loading the truck) so I'm sure the cats will have more thoughts to share before the trip.

I hope you enjoy reading this blog and feel free to post in the comment section; the cats tell me they love reading them. :)