WHAT ARE THE ODDS?

POST # 64


Four pairs of cats eyes gaze at this stranger in their home. James, Essie, Gaffer and Sally complete the team of furballs here on a quiet street in Victoria, where only a few hours ago, I arrived after a quick overnight in Vancouver, which was preceded by an extended bus ride from Grand Forks.

These cats are new to me, and maybe it will take a few days for us to settle in with each other, but we'll see how that goes. At this early stage they all seem to be quite friendly but it could be that it's just getting close to dinner time because as soon as I get anywhere near the room where their dishes are located, they come a running. "Don't worry you cats, I haven't forgotten about you yet, but I need to get a few other things done first, if you don't mind." Like type up this blog for instance.

I heard today that it is international pi day, as in the number pi, 3.14159 etc. and so forth. I also heard that we have now calculated pi to ten trillion digits after the decimal place and even after all those numbers, the sequence still doesn't repeat. So the odds of it ever repeating are very small indeed. However, that wasn't the reason for selecting today's title. Here at the "cat house" I have four cats and they all have extra toes. Now every now and again I have seen a cat with extra toes, but what are the odds that all four cats in the same household would have them? My guess is that it would be pretty slim, especially in light of the fact that they aren't all related. I guess with all these extra claws walking around the place I should be concerned about scratches, however these guys and girls all seem to be pretty mellow and I think we will all get along just fine for the rest of the month of March.

It's been a long couple of days for the Thoughtful Wanderer, and I am looking forward to a rather early night tonight. The house rule here is that the master bedroom is kept as a cat free zone, and even though I am used to and even prefer having a cat or two (or four as the case may be) to cuddle up to during the night, I also like to stick with the rules that the owners have in place. So tonight, they will all be on one side of the bedroom door, and the housesitter will be on the other side. I feel confident that there will be ample time to curl up together here in the living room, or upstairs or the kitchen or wherever, so all should be well.

And if this rain continues, I will be spending more time indoors as a result, so the cats and I will have plenty of time to bond.

The house is located very close to the ocean, and as Spring is right around the corner, I am looking forward to plenty of walking and bike riding so that I can continue to increase the strength in my right leg. Even though I am becoming less and less of a city dweller these days, as far as cities go, Victoria isn't too bad, at least for now that is.

The day is yet young, however after a short sleep last night and the accumulated travel over the past two days, I think I'll keep this on the short side for today. My new feline friends are back to giving me "the look" and so I guess I should take the hint and get their dinners ready. After that, we can all settle in for our first evening together and for this cat, it's going to be an early one indeed.

Time to catch up to a few emails and maybe get in a quick ride before the sun goes down. The odds of that happening are very good.

Happy trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer