This and That

One-and-a-half weeks ago, Ponzo was a little angry at me because I had substituted his dry cat food, a perfectly good brand, with a new grain-free cat food, and so he went on a hunger strike. The hunger strike lasted no more than twelve hours, but it was long enough to let me know he was not happy with my decision. After all, he had not been consulted. Therefore, Ponzo even refused to eat chicken soup that day. He would only drink some water. Before bedtime, however, he relented and ate his soup, when it appeared that I was not bringing back the old food. The following morning, Ponzo tried his new dry food and decided he was going to eat it. As for salmon oil, Ponzo really likes the taste of it, since he usually makes a nosedive for the dry cat food which has been squirted with the oil. I could have introduced the grain-free cat food simultaneously with the salmon oil, which perhaps would have prevented the hunger strike, but I wanted to see if Ponzo would eat the new food by itself. Regardless, chicken broth still remains a must-have on Ponzo's daily menu.



I admit I dote on Ponzo because of his FIV. But the other cats and Rebel are not lacking in the food and affection departments. Aside from chicken soup, the only difference is that Ponzo's more expensive storebought food usually comes from a pet store, not to mention my health food store purchases, while the others get their food either from the supermarket or Costco.



Since I happened to have an appointment out of the area yesterday, I thought I would stop at Costco on my way home. I do not know how I did it, but I got lost, which is something rare for me. I have a pretty good sense of direction and I can read a map. My excuses yesterday were that I was tired and I did not have a map in the car. But I was determined to find Costco, even after accidentally touring the city for nearly an hour. Okay, I am exaggerating--it was no more than forty or fifty minutes. A waste of gas, yes. But on the bright side, I got to see some interesting architecture. Over and over again. It sort of reminded me of the movie Groundhog Day, only I was unaware of the outcome because my day one was endless. Perhaps it was more like deja vu, since I was coming back to the same spot, going in a circle. Everything which had been unfamiliar started looking familiar. Finally, I found Costco.



I was very tired before I finished loading my car with the big bags of cat food and dog food. I suppose I made a comical sight trying to get the bag of dog food out of my cart, especially when it got stuck, so to speak, hanging on top of the cart. That was immediately after I dropped a large box of Milk-Bones on my right foot. And at that point, I really did not care if the bag split in half, as long as I would be able to leave the parking lot.



Exhausted, I reached home. I decided to leave all my non-perishable items in the car overnight. It crossed my mind that the cat food, dog food, and Milk-Bones in my car would be enough to make a very generous dinner for a bear family of four. So I went outside and made sure the doors were locked. Not that I expected a black bear to open a car door. But this morning, there were no signs of any animals visiting my car overnight--meaning no new scratches on the vehicle.



Now I shall tell you why I thought of black bears foraging for food around my car. Over the years, I have heard two stories of a black bear crawling through a vehicle in my housing development. Two separate accounts of different people and different vehicles. However, I suspect it may have been the same black bear, who has a thing for climbing through people's cars. Both times, the people had unloaded their groceries, left their car doors wide open, and gone into the house. And both times, a black bear had climbed through the vehicles. The first vehicle had been empty. The second vehicle contained a bag of cat food, either just before or at the time of the bear's visit. Moral of these stories is that one should never leave one's car doors wide open in a bear crossing area, especially after a trip to the supermarket. Incidentally, the owner of the first vehicle thought it was funny, while the second vehicle's owner was up in arms over the audacity of the black bear to invade the sanctuary of a vehicle. Needless to say, I thought they were funny stories, since no harm had been done. Obviously, the bear thought the open doors were an invitation he could not refuse. So if my car had gotten scratched overnight or the windows broken, it would have been my fault. Would I have found it funny? The answer is: my glass is half full. Honestly, if I had been at all concerned about the probability of a black bear damaging my car for some food, I would have parked it inside the garage. Locked car doors are to keep foraging people honest.