Memo to middle-aged mom: No. One. Cares.


I’m writing this more than a month after I snapped the picture of this article/headline and I’m still annoyed.  I understand that teenagers feel like everyone is watching them.  It’s a developmental stage and they grow out of it.  I have much less patience for adults who think the world is their audience, when the world could care less.  Either wear the two-piece or don’t, but don’t inflict your psychodrama on the rest of us.  Geez.

Surprise!


I pick up most of my library books from the hold shelf rather than the stacks.  Along with the book comes a piece of paper with my name on it which, after having checked out the book, I fold into quarters and use as a bookmark. It’s quite handy.  But imagine my surprise when I received a text message from my friend across town.  What are the odds?

Well, not as wild as one would think.  We are both in the same book group and that book was on our list for the monthy.  And there are only 10 copies at the library, so that narrows the chances a bit.  But still, funny that she would get the book right after me and a fun text-message surprise for my afternoon.

ps.  We both liked the book.
pps.  Which was Far Far Away by Tom McNeal.

Flowers? For Me?


No.  They were delivered to one of our teachers.  The delivery woman explained they were for the teacher’s daughter, but I was to give them to the teacher. I put the flowers in the office and passed along the note that her daughter’s flowers were there, assuming she knew the drill. She did not, however, because she arrived in the office thinking they were flowers from her daughter to her.

They were not.  They were from her daughter’s ex-boyfriend congratulating the daughter on her recent engagement, with a very passive aggressive message that made all of us roll our eyes and chuckle.  Needless to say, the daughter wasn’t interested in said flowers and was out of town, so guess who got to keep the flowers?  Me!  Thanks ex-boyfriend! I loved them.

Catio Tour. Last stop.

There were more stops on the east side of town, but time was running out so Fantastically Fenced was our final stop.

I liked this one because it looked like a normal yard.  The overhang keeps the cats from jumping over the fence, but otherwise looks fairly normal.
 

The fencing is also powder-coated.  Which probably explains why the estimated cost was around $3,000.
 
Backyard view.
 
Gate from the driveway.
 
Sunny perches.
 
Side yard view.
 
On our way out.
 

Catio tour. Stop the fourth.

A Yard with a View.  But before we get to the yard, I liked this little window box.
 
The couple used mesh fencing to keep the cats in and the predators out.
 
 
 
Here is the way the cats get to the second level deck.
 
 
It was built the same time the Portland Tram was built.
 
The cats have a very nice view.
 
Closeup of the mesh fence.
 

Third Catio.

This is the Five Ferals’ Fort and is built in a house-turned-shop in Multnomah Village.
 
Detail of wire.
 
The cats can pass from the shady part on the back half of the house to the sunny side yard using this tunnel.
 
The sunny side.  There was an umbrella (you can see the yellow in the top of this picture) to keep off the sun for the duration of the tour.
 
Here is the cats’ entry to the basement of the house.
 
And a long view of the sunny area.
 

Second Catio

Here was the Backyard Oasis, which also had the cat perched happily in it.  He (or she?) seemed pleased that  so many people were stopping by to admire.
 
The cat is that white blob in the center of the picture.  There are apparently three more cats who were not around to be viewed.
 
The couple who had this built recommend galvanized wire.  They had to paint the ungalvanized wire when it rusted.  I also liked the big access points/doors.
 
Detail of roof.
 

First stop on the Catio Tour

What is the Catio Tour?  Why it is a showcase of Portland-area cat patios, of course.  The Catio Tour is sponsored by the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon and the Audubon Society of Portland.  For a five-dollar donation, the MAunts and I drove around to six Catios on the west side of Portland.

Our first stop:  The Skybridge Hideaway that just happens to be near Aunt Pat’s house.

From the street you can see the overlook so the cats can see what goes on outside the fence.
 

The cats access their catio from the owners’ bedroom.
 
Detail to see how the connection to the window was made.
 
More detail.
 
From the window the cats walk along the side of the house to this enclosure, which also contains their litter box.
 
They can climb from the large enclosure to bridge to their street view hideaway.
 
Which has a door so their owners can access that area.
 
Detail of one of the perches, plus construction technique and type of fencing.
 
A ton of perches.
 
Corner seat detail.

The docent told us the owners were surprised at how active the cats were at night once they were allowed out in their catio.

Exact words!!!


I’m quibbling here with the term “inner-city.”  I know by “inner-city” they are using shorthand to describe the bad part of town where opportunities are few and mostly people of color live.  That place, when Mitchell Jackson was growing up in Portland was not the inner city, it was in Northeast Portland.  Inner city is over by the Keller Auditorium and is rather nice today, and then.