Rock Crest Renaissance

Today, Mom was the first one "on property" at the Crest - trying to get a little Zen time to herself to pound nails out of the boards that Dad's removed from the flooring we're trying to protect. Not long after, Dad and Brien arrived to wreck havoc on the honeysuckle up the hill behind the kennel.

By the time K and I arrived, after a lovely hiatus with the hordes of humanity at Costco, Dad and Brien had brought an entire honeysuckle grove down near the chipper. My first job was to unload the host of groceries I'd bought, hoping to make our days a little easier and not require so much pre-planning every time we're trying to get over there to work. Yesterday we ran low on water - definitely something we don't want to experience again. So today's load included about 3 gallons of water, a container of ice, 2 huge containers of juice, some fruit, bread, trail mix, string cheese, turkey slices, Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke. That oughta do it!

I was finally about to get started when I went out to see the Kennel cats and realized that one was missing. !?!?!! I'd brought over some plastic chairs for them to lounge on and some containers to hold what the Cat Queens will scoop from their litter boxes. I was surprised to think that both Firefly and Maddie would be under the same box they like to hang out in, since the two are not too fond of each other. When I lifted the box to see no Firefly, a massive search ensued. Aside from Houdini, I could not possibly imagine how that cat could have escaped, since she's quite mellow to begin with and the last cat you'd expect to try to make a break for it. Since Dad had seen one of the Queens late last night before he left, I assumed she'd just taken the cat to the vet, but, calling her to confirm, I learned that was not the case - we had an escapee.

Both Queens came to inspect the premises, consternate about how she'd have disappeared, and determine a plan. They decided to set a cat trap with some wet food and see if she'd return during the quietude of the night. It was very upsetting for us all, but it was time to move forward with the chipping, so the ladies departed.

The next several hours was all about hard manual labor. There's no such thing as "light duty" at Rock Crest. I primarily chipped and hauled trees to the chipper, while Brien pulled more down from the hill. Dad constructed transportation devices to move some of the heavier debris from the other side of the hill, and we just kept the machine chugging along. At one point, a large stump wedged itself in the machine, and it wasn't looking good for further progress. Dad worked tirelessly to liberate that stump, and eventually, with enough coercion, he was able to free it from the jaws of Mr. Bitey, the chipper.

Another several hours passed of the same thing -- lots of sweat, lots of aches, lots of pulling and getting sliced and diced by sharp twigs, thorny branches, and tangly foot-trapping vines. The satisfaction came in getting all of that debris into the chipper and seeing it disappear from the yard to become a beautiful, tall pile of chips out in the "back 40."

As we were cleaning up to go, which, for me involved a complete costume change since I'd been attacked by velcro burs and my entire ensemble was covered in them, I spotted another one of the Cat Queens coming up the driveway. She, too, was concerned about the missing girl and thought that maybe calling for her once it was quiet would bring her out. I took her to the kennel to show her how things were set up and pointed out the location of the trap. As we were wrapping things up and preparing to leave, who did we see but Firefly coming into the outdoor kennel run area, meowing loudly, like "OK, I'm back! Where's my dinner?!" She looked delighted to see us and made no attempt at escape as she was picked up and whisked back into her run. She happily consumed the wet food we'd put out for her, and all was right with the world.

It's like running a circus, doing this project... Mom, de-nailing boards, us attacking the yard overgrowth, K in the tent, playing games on the computer or one of our iPhones, excavators coming and going, builders arriving and departing, Cat Ladies coming to care for the Kennel Cats. Somehow, we're coordinating it all, but it's definitely not for the faint of heart. As Brien likes to say, "Rock Crest: Where Everything Bad is BIGGER!" ;)!