The Scholar's Cat

You probably didn't know this, but yesterday was a random arbitrary national holiday celebrating cats!

Happy (belated) National Cat Day!

The holiday actually lines up perfectly with a new little addition to my home life...

This is Gracie.
My family got her when I was 9, and she has been with us ever since.

I can still remember the night she became ours. Our other cat Maggie had recently died in the most dignified way possible. Out in the woods behind our house, alone. Cats often leave their homes to die peacefully by themselves when they sense their time, which I imagine is part of their solitary nature. And in a way I think it's kind of nice she didn't subject me and my six year old sister to finding her corpse somewhere in the house. Yet, my sister and I were still holding out hope that she had merely gotten lost, and that she'd be back. Which is exactly what we thought was happening when, two weeks later, we heard a meowing in our garage.
Before my Dad could stop us, Caroline and I leapt up from the coffee table where we were playing Yahtzee and opened the door to see a slightly timid and very beautiful cream and grey cat with ice-blue eyes and a raccoon-striped tail. Not exactly a kitten, but clearly very young, the cat we came to call Gracie tentatively entered out family room and accepted some of the food we'd been feeding Maggie before she died. For some inexplicable reason, my parents gave into our begging, and let her stay in the house overnight. That night she slept on the foot of my bed all night long (something Maggie had NEVER done, no matter how much I wanted her to). Although we made a concerted effort to find her true owners (giving her a stray period in the local shelter and asking all of our neighbors) from then on, she was really our cat.  

Gracie was a better cat than Maggie. Maggie was NOT a fan of the kids in the house, and avoided  us to seek her quiet boring lifestyle on the couch instead. She would not play with us, didn't like being pet by us, and was quick to snap if we pushed her too far (I can remember being hissed at on more than one occasion). It's no wonder that around this time I was begging for a dog, who could withstand our rough-housing and could learn actual tricks. But Gracie more than tolerated our antics. She caught mice and chased birds for our entertainment on more than one occasion, catching them and letting them go. She was always ready to play, and loved attention from us of any kind. When I went to college, my Mom reported her sleeping on my bed while I was away, and she always remembered and recognized me when I came home.

When my Mom moved away from Michigan however, she made the decision that driving across the country wouldn't be so great for a 15 year old cat. Thus, Gracie needed to find a new home. We were lucky to find a new "mom" for her, in a friend of mine whom I worked with in the cognition lab over the summer.

Gracie adjusted pretty well to the new development, and was a pretty big fan of Caitlyn (as you can see).
However, more moving and new developments required yet another home for Gracie...and this time I didn't have any more options :(
Now, I'm personally a big fan of pet shelters (particularly no-kill shelters) for pets. However, after having volunteered at one, I have a pretty good idea of what kind of cat gets adopted, and which ones end up living out their lives in the shelter, never really getting the attention they need. The fact of the matter is that there is no short supply of adorable kittens. And unlike a puppy, kittens and grown cats need about the same level of attention. So naturally, older cats get the short end of the stick.

So after having a serious conversation with my roommates and landlord, I decided to permanently adopt her myself.

Cats are said to be sort of unintelligent when compared to other animals (like dogs). But after having Gracie, I'm just not sure that's true. She made the adjustment to the new place beautifully, and seemed genuinely grateful and relieved to be there.

She has also adjusted extraordinarily well to having three human roommates (something she has never been accustomed to). Immediately upon meeting each of them, she has actually run up and very politely introduced herself, before flipping over on her back so they can pet her. This has been a shockingly easy adjustment for both of us. And she seems very happy to be back with her original family.

Gracie isn't really my "kitty" anymore. Her coat had gotten dull with age. Her eyes don't see as well as they once did, and are less vivid. She's fatter, slower, less agile, and even a little less playful. But she's a great cat. She's social, she loves people, and I've loved coming home to her every day this week, and having a little company while studying at night.

Happy cat day!

Colorado Part 3 -- Pike's Peak and Mt. Princeton HotSprings

Welcome to more vacation pictures :)

Last week I shared the mental war that happened in my brain before jumping off a rock into the Arkansas River. At the time I didn't have any pictures to show you, but recently the rafting pictures were uploaded, and now I get to display my experience in all its glory...

It's so awesome!

For my final Colorado post I wanted to share my first official mountain climbing experience.

Pike's Peak is also known as America's Mountain -- apparently this is because it is was the inspiration for the "purple mountain majesty" lyric in America the Beautiful, but I happen to think it's America's mountain because instead of hiking and climbing the mountain, Pike's Peak is accessible by car :)

That being said, the harrowing journey up Pike's Peak is not for the faint of heart. There are almost no guard rails, and the road is very close to the edge of the mountain, making the trip up look as though you are perpetually about to fall over the edge at any moment. In fact, due to the inherent lack of safety during this drive, you are required to have your breaks checked before getting on the road! It is also recommended to go as early in the morning as possible...this is to avoid the bad weather that typically rolls in around noon. 

Despite our fear of the road's edge, we braved it a few times to step out of the car and walk around (capturing some pictures along the way). This is my favorite one...

covered in mountain dew! 

Before we knew it, plants like these dissipated, and we were closer to clouds than the tree line.  once we were at the top (and got accustomed to the major change in elevation) it was time to explore a few of the slopes extending from the peak. Those slopes consist mostly of piles of red boulders like these... 

While climbing on the slopes, I lost my footing and caught myself with my knee, bruising my knee and calf so badly, it took about a month to heal property and for the knot in my leg to smooth out. Although I wasn't in any real danger, falling down a mountain isn't fun, and I'm pretty thankful we weren't on the side of the mountain where loose footing would have resulted in a much worse accident. 

After my accident, Eric and I decided to head back to the summit and grab a picture for a little more proof of our mountain adventure...

And we indulged in some Pike's Peak homemade donuts (they are apparently a tradition -- I was unaware of this). I'm just going to assume that an major increase in elevation doesn't do wonders for the deep frier. They look a little wonky, but tasted great. 

Another highlight from this trip involved finding a colorado gem that wasn't in colorado springs.
On the night we climbed Pike's Peak we had dinner at a very nice restaurant called Rocky Mountain Brewery. There we had a waitress who told us to check out Mnt. Princeton hot springs at some point on our trip.

Mnt. Princeton was a bit of a drive from our campsite (about an hour and a half) but it was a drive we were willing to make for more awesome natural mountain treasures.
The hot springs are owned by the Mnt. Princeton resort, so unfortunately you have to pay a handsome sum to experience magma-heated water. But because they are privately owned, they are beautifully kept, and the resort engineered a couple of ways to enjoy the water.

The resort built several large pools near the river housing the springs. They fill these pools with water from the river and water from the hot springs to create the perfect temperature. The water is constantly flowing in, so it doesn't need to be heated and it doesn't need to be treated by chemicals...it's essentially a very slow moving river.

The other way you can experience the springs are to visit the river itself.

The faster, shallow river itself is very cold. But on the bank of the river are shallow pools constructed from rocks (pictured above) and these pools serve as mini natural hot tubs. Some of the cold river water seeps between the rocks, making the temperature of the magma-heated water manageable to the touch. The result is the perfectly calm natural hot spring. The temperature is even semi-adjustable! Different parts of the pool are different temperatures depending on how close you are to the river, and digging yourself deeper into the sand will make the water warmer.

It was a perfect night to close our Colorado adventure.

I hope someday I'll get the chance to go back. I would be lucky to stay in the shadow of the Rocky Mountain range again, swim in the rivers, ride the horses, hike in the gorges and look out for bears. Until next time...