Amid this outpouring of two- and four-legged love I have to share this.
Jack is a great traveler.
He grew up at my in-laws’ house, until he was about 8. Romping around the neighborhood, striking fear among the local rodent population, and generally being an adorable little hunter. Then my sister-in-law moved out.
She moved down into Traverse City, pretty much downtown and some 25 miles away from the in-laws’ house, and she took Jack with her. He was content there for about 4 months, doing similarly to his old haunts.
Then one day he didn't come home.
Sis was devastated. She loves her kittehs like her children and a lot better than many humans. Cat person all the way, and she positively loved Jack so it was especially hard.
She and her family grieved, accepted after several weeks that he wasn't coming back, and then they sold their house and moved out into the sticks.
Three years passed since Jack left, three brutal Michigan winters.
And one day Jack shows up at the in-laws’ door. He made it home.
It was a journey of about 25 miles, through the concrete semi-jungle of TC for about 6 miles, through another 15 miles or so of wide open orchard-country, over a freaking bridge (!), and then through more orchards for the rest.
He basically made it from the bottom left corner of that picture to all the way up there in the misty upper right corner.
And much of the time, like the day in January when he finally made it and was suddenly scratching at their door, his road looked a lot like this
That is one tough feline, and smart. It isn't a big bridge, but it isn't a footbridge either.
It's the one in the lower right of that pic, and there's no way he could've made it without crossing that bridge.
He was just suddenly there scratching at the door to be let in like he'd never left at all.
A truly epic adventure.
As I wrote in gchaucer2's diary, I didn't know Tricia, and up to now I've not clicked on the pootie and woozle diaries very often. Not for any particular reason, I just haven't often been in them. I posted pics of my own furry beasts in gc's diary.
And I've decided that as a pretty big woozle person myself I really have no excuse for not going into the furry diaries. It's a thing I'm going to remedy.
Rest in peace Tricia. You are greatly loved and will be greatly missed.