Cat Capers

As I have been working on the JayBee these last several weeks, the cats have been hangin' out with me. They sleep nearby, they walk all over whatever I'm working on, they get in the way, they demand attention. But they are also good company, and often entertaining.

Some of you may remember that, years ago, Bear used to climb up into the JayBee's rafters. He hadn't been up there in years, as far as I know. Two days ago, when I had the JayBee opened up (the tarps pulled back off it so I could work on the rafters), Bear sprinted up the ladder and joined me up in the rafters.

He hung out a bit...

... then hopped back down the ladder.

George had never done any real climbing, that I knew. He always even seemed challenged to look up and appreciate that I was up overhead. Then, today, he seemed particularly distressed that I was up in the rafters and he was on the floor. First, he jumped up into a window opening.

I guess that wasn't good enough, though. Next thing I knew, he hopped up the ladder and joined me up in the rafters! Doesn't it seem odd that these cats so easily climb a ladder with round, metal rungs?

He freaked me out with his wandering around. He didn't seem all that stable or steady. I kept reminding myself that cats are nimble and agile, but he worried me nonetheless.

When George had had enough of being up high, how did he get back down? Did he go down the ladder? No. He fell! Yup. He tried to get down using a window header as a step, and he fell. He bounced off of a few things, and ended up on his feet. He's kind of an old guy, so I was worried about him. But he seems to have survived okay.