I was working at my computer. Don Juan and Zerlina were in the yard, and, well, I wasn't watching as closely as I should.

Usually, Don Juan makes enough of a racket climbing a tree or going over a fence that I can hear him and catch him. But when I looked outside to check on the kitties, I saw only little Zerlina!



Don Juan was nowhere to be found.

So I looked in all his usual hiding places in the apartment. I looked in the trees. I checked the yard. I checked the next-door yard. Then I started checking all the other yards. I'm on a block of apartment buildings and little parking lots and yards, so it was harder than you might suppose.

I returned to my yard, discouraged. Then, I heard Don Juan's melodic meow. (Zerlina's meow is a soft Siamese-type sound.) Zerlina was looking outside, as if she wanted to tell me that Don Juan was out there.

I called Don Juan, and heard him meow again. THE LITTLE &%$#@! WAS IN THE CRAWL SPACE UNDER THE BUILDING. He'd pulled out one of the little screens and crawled inside. I called him over to the opening, pulled him out, and told him he was a BAD BAD BOY. And that I would NOT let him out in the yard again!

Then, he tried to join Zerlina on top of my iMac and slipped off the back and onto the floor. And I cooed over him and asked if he was all right.

[sigh]

Liz