Pawed-Cast 3: Up All Night With Raymond

Catly night notes from East Santa Cruz - a 5-minute read

Apr 03, 2024

RAYMOND - Photo courtesy of WallpaperSafari.com

Winner of an Erica Drayton “Top In Fiction” Award

It’s 3:00 am and you are tuned to UP ALL NIGHT WITH RAYMOND

Welcome back to all my insomniac subscribers! Thanks for tuning in to my third pawed-cast, where we share all the cat-news from here on the left side of Santa Cruz, with furry night-owls around the world.

I’m sitting alone out here in the dark of the back porch, watching the endless rain. No moon or star pierces the gloom, and there’s no cricket-music, just a sporadic chorus of tiny tree frogs. The sea lions are already awake in the lower harbor, lolling about on rocks, barking like dogs. The sound is, somehow, comforting. So, yes, just another drippy night on Monterey Bay where we wait, with a sigh of exasperation, for a sign of spring.

I had hoped for a live interview for you tonight with James Ron of

Before I forget

and Rebecca Holden of

Dear Reader, I'm lost

, but at the last minute, neither of these fine Substack writers was inclined to stay up until 3 AM. Who can blame them on a night like this?

Here is the Home Report

• Nothing but rain, rain, rain. I spent a good part of the week on The Perch, where I can, at least, keep an eye on the garden. I admit I am a little lethargic and leaning toward glum.

• If you, too, are in a winter funk, I recommend hiding under the bedspread, so no one knows where you are for part of each day. While waiting for spring, it sometimes helps to just sleep and be invisible.

• Last week I was out in the workshop with Dennis, as he needed a little help with a plumbing snafu. He followed my advice and we got the job done quicker than ‘Bob’s your uncle’, as they say in the pipefitting trade. We’re a good team.

• The temperature dropped drastically this week, so D. brought the hotbox back into the house. He sets it on top of the heating vent, so I can bake my brains on these chilly days. It is not the finest construction, but he purpose-built it just for me, and it does serve the need, so I am grateful. He’s a real nice guy ( except when he tries to sneak up on me with the flea goop.

• Mary, bless her heart, thought I was looking a little bored, so she signed me up for a new class of Cat Yoga with neighborhood guru, Swami Bandana Ram. I find the discipline fits in well with my usual habits.

Now for the neighborhood Cat Scan

Intruder Report:

One overly-friendly raccoon tried to get in the cat door, but wisely withdrew when he saw Mary heading his way with her lethal broom.

One salamander went for a few laps in the garden fountain — just dog-paddling, nothing fancy. They are harmless creatures, unless, of course, you accidentally eat one. Then you die.

One cross-eyed adolescent opossum tried to climb the Australian fern, but I chased him out. Didn’t want him to feel too welcome.

I had a great time tossing around two lizards, until I accidentally bit the tail off one of them. Dennis says it will grow back. I snacked on four large crunchy beetles. Tasty! No dogs or other cat-eaters encroached on my territory this week.

Gossip from the dog park:

My friend Otto-Miguel, the Chiweenie who brings me news from the leash-free playground across the street, was vacationing in Petaluma this week, so I had to rely on what I could glean from Toulouse, the ancient French bulldog. He is cat-friendly, but he’s difficult to understand. This is what he told me ( I think) :

1.) Preen-cess Lee-Lee, zee spoiled lee-tel Pekinese always sink zat all zee balls, bones and bees-kets belong only to her. But she learn zee lesson in etiquette ziss week from a Shih Tzu who rolled her over and bared his lee-tel teeths. She run back to Karen, who peek her up and take her home.

2.) Poochie, zee new basset hound is vair-ee happy because he has now a girlfriend. Her name is Lucie. But … I sink he does not know she have sree more boyfriend. I sink Lucie weel break his heart.

Updates:

• Yes, D. and M. did get me dosed with the nasty flea goop. I held them off for ten days, but, finally, they caught me napping in the back closet and trapped me in a corner behind the vacuum cleaner. Traitors! They made me so mad, I wouldn’t even speak to them. Until dinner time.

Well, that’s it for tonight, friends! I assure you things will pick up around here soon as the sun comes out and the tourists return to our clean, white, beaches, roller coaster, cotton candy and salt-water taffy. I can almost detect the scent of Coppertone in the air.

I am happy to announce that this pawed-cast now has subscribers in 42 states and 44 countries. All thanks to you! And remember— if you have questions or catly thoughts to share, please comment below. And remember to tell your friends it’s time to start staying

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