Christmas Spirit

Gary's Christmas-celebrating sister Karen has some cats she takes care of. You might call them feral cats. Or, you might call them domesticated cats Karen has caught roaming the neighborhood, taken to the vet, and sterilized. 

These cats, after their adoptions (or, again, their abductions), stay in Karen's garage until they have recovered from surgery. Often they remain. Karen feeds them, plus Stockholm syndrome may account for some of it.

That's why she sent Gary this email:

-----Original Message-----
From: S_____, Karen A
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 12:28 PM
To: Gary S______
Subject: Wed - Christmas Eve
Importance: High

Hi Gary:

Can you and Ellen make it earlier this Christmas Eve.  10:30 am. I would like to
be home by dark because of my cats.  (I have to leave the garage door
cracked when we are gone.  Don't like to do that at night).

-----Original Message-----
From: Gary S_____
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2008 2:05 PM
To: S_____, Karen A
Subject: RE: Wed - Christmas Eve

Xmas eve in the morning...   That sounds a little wacky but I wouldn't
want your wild cats to have to seek their own shelter OUT IN THE WILD.

I was going to work until Noon on Xmas Eve but I moved things around so
that I can celebrate Xmas Eve morning with you.

Gary S_____
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's
too dark to read." - Groucho Marx

==========================

Karen responded with "Ok thanks," and that meant Gary had to call me and have me give up a vacation day so Karen Mengle could be sure her house was secured against nighttime cat burglars. The laugh was worth it.

==========================

UPDATE: Okay, then. This is a great thing Karen is doing. I am chastised.

Comments

[Sherri]

I've done the same thing with local strays. We took a pair of boards and put them on edge under the door with an opening in the center. Of course, we have a garage door opener. Once the door was down, the boards did not move, and only very flat, skinny burglars could get in. Worked great. Cats love that stuff.

It's why we have a new house cat.

You are so obliging to rearrange your lives like this.

[#0.75]

I feel like this is reason #29387 not to get married.

[theQueen]

Sherri- I think we're pussy-whipped.
.75- Well, not everyone has a sister in law.

[Candy]

Teh awesome. You haz it.

[Big Dot]

I once took some unknown neighbour's friendly cat to the vet to get his untreated abcessed ear seen to, and had to stand there meekly while the vet told me off for not bringing him in sooner, and then I paid the bill. It was my finest hour.

Christmas Eve celebration - what do you do, put out a ceremonial mince pie and glass of sherry for Santa?

[Caroline]

How long does it take to celebrate Christmas Eve?

[TheQueen]

Candy - First off, I am humbled. You all are doing this for good reasons. But, I still think that in Karen's case this is a dangerous thing to do. They aren't her cats. I asked Karen once if possibly they might be someone else's cats, and she shrugged and said "They arent wearing tags." Plus, she carries with her cat-nabbing supplies. If she sees a cat without tags she coaxes it into her car, takes it to the vet and puts it under. Listen, if someone took my Fred when he would make his many escapes and then risked his life with surgery, I would be outraged. But I am telling her about Sherri's suggestion, and I was sorry enought to buy her this:
http://www.petco.com/product/106162/CatIt-Fresh-and-Clear-Water-Fountain-for-Cats-and-Small-Dogs.aspx
for Christmas.
Big Dot - I don't know, I think it's a German thing. Gary's father's side is very German.
Caroline - Three hours. So, I guess Gary will have time to shop for me Christmas Eve. He has the whole week off.

[Autumn]

I feel like you should write a screenplay or a book...Gary's sister sounds a wee bit..umm...interesting? Yeah. Let's go with that.

[TheQueen]

Autumn - yeah. Interesting.