"Oz never did give nothing to the Tin Man that he didn't, didn't already have."
Waking up at 5:30 a.m. is never easy. It's much less easy on a Saturday morning, especially when the forecast calls for cold and gloom and the bed is warm with fresh clean sheets and a cosy boy body next to you.
Ms. Bones (as we sometimes affectionately call Kaylee) was set up to get spayed by the Neuter Scooter today. It's a traveling bus clinic that goes around the tri-state area and spays and neuters cats at a price much lower than the vet's office. Her appointment was for 7:00 in Hamilton, so I got up early, got dressed and even braided my hair, and put the cat and two clean towels in the cat carrier I borrowed from my mom. (We have a carrier, but it's much smaller, and Mama's thoughtful like that.) At 6:20, as I was about halfway there, my cell phone rang. I didn't recognize the number and was about to ignore it when it dawned on my still-sleepy brain that it might be the folks at Neuter Scooter. Sure enough, a kindly-sounding woman with a drawl told me that the vehicle was having trouble and would be twenty minutes late. She asked if I could let the others know. I said I'd be happy to and continued on my way, glad that I could be useful.
I got to the church in the little town, nestled between old houses, boulevards, alleyways, and a gun store. It's the kind of quaint old place where a lot of mainstream America lives. I've been more urban than that for a while now, but rest assured I remember actually living in those places. The nostalgia abounds. Anyway, I parked on a little one-way road behind a couple of SUVs and minivans. I got out of the car and walked around. People in their cars opened their windows for me so I could give them the news. I went back to read my book and wait for the clinic people to arrive.
They didn't. A few minutes after I had told everybody about the delay, the lady-with-the-drawl called back. She said the clinic was canceled - more car trouble - and that she'd like me, again, to let everybody know. She said that if we had pre-paid (as I had), we could get a refund. If not (or if we still wanted to go through with it), there was another clinic about half an hour away that would start at 9:00. She gave me an address, and I patiently and presciently asked if she could give directions from here to there. She said she'd call me back, and I talked to Kaylee and sort of smiled to myself as I waited. On the back of an old paystub, I wrote down the backwoods direction to the other place. Drawl-lady thanked me again "for what you're doing," and I again climbed out of the car to share the news.
The people in Hamilton were kind enough not to kill the messenger. I went first to the car in front of me and told her my spiel. She looked bewildered and thanked me before she drove off. I went to the van behind me and started retelling my story. By then several other people had gotten out of their cars and were starting to walk toward me. I repeated the basics - "cancelled," "refund," "directions to other location," "9:00." Most people sighed and told me a little bit about how the clinic's had trouble before or how they were up early or had work or just looked disappointed. One woman, just a little older than me, told me she'd been to the other location before and offered to take other people's cats with her. It was a really sweet gesture. I reconfirmed the directions with her but, not knowing when the clinic would be over, I decided to come home. My work here was done. And besides, I have a meeting at 11:30 with some girlfriends anyway.
I drove back, listening to some groovy tunes and watching the State Troopers come out of the woodwork to start their Saturday morning shifts. The rain turned into mist and then cleared up a bit as I came back into town. Kaylee must have known that she was in the clear. Sure, I told her so as we drove out of the little podunk town, but you always have to wonder how much they really understand. Either way, Kaylee didn't cry at all on the way home.
Comments (16)
Would she need to be kitty-hospitalized after being spayed? I have only had boy cats so I don't know. After Pumpkin's nuts where wacked, he came home and jumped around gleefully. I figure a spaying would be more invasive and perhaps more painful.
How old is Kaylee?
it's kaylee's lucky day then!
ds
children know things - they may not get the verbage but they get the intent. You might have been more wound than normal for your little girl which made her more nervous. For you, I could see this might be a minor confrontation. With the weather clearing and the need to not confront or worry about the kitty she calmed down. Or she could be like my kitty, after 15-30min in the car she finally figures out there is not escape no matter how many mews she says. Speaking of, she has decided to become jealous of my books, so much so even though I had broken the binding in order to hold it all in one hand reasonably well (big book in length and thickness) & to pet her with the other - she bit me, breaking skin and two drops of blood. that was 30 min ago, now she's laying on the book so I can't read it at all.