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Another day, another visit to the vet. That’s why you missed me yesterday, or I missed you, or however that works: Marrakesh and I were taking advantage of an open “urgent care” appointment with his veterinarian.
The lump I’d been feeling on his tail, when he’d let me touch it, was seeming more and more like a giant scab with congealed blood, which turned out to be exactly what it was. Dr. Seward thought it was a bite wound, or possibly he caught his tail somewhere.
It didn’t seem to be bothering him at all, and although she was sure he would need a cone or e-collar to keep from fussing with his tail, he doesn’t seem to have paid it an ounce of attention — but he was far more quiet on the drive home than going to the vet, so I think he decided she was more help than harm. And for an uncuddly cat, he has twice climbed up next to me and curled up on my arm this morning. Right now he’s between my feet, which seems to be his favorite new morning spot.
You might think, from this blog, that Lynn’s and my hobby is messing up electricity —
Peter the electrician came and couldn’t find anything, despite a fairly thorough exam, other than he thinks the commercial freezer ought to be on its own circuit in the garage. He decided perhaps we’ve just had a string of bad coincidences, which are apparently continuing: Lynn’s $300 mixer stopped working yesterday, and there seems to be something wrong with the new robot vacuum, but I’m sure this is all us and nothing to do with the house.
— but really, our long-time hobby is taking animals to vets. It’s our favorite use of all our discretionary income. Although yesterday’s visit made me feel kind of like a stalker, and this morning’s e-mail is furthering that.
As usual, my real estate prognostications were once again all wrong. First I thought our recently divorced neighbor here in Riverwalk, who listed his house for an astronomical amount, might sit on that for quite awhile. Then, when it sold right away, I assumed it was to second homeowners. Wrong and wrong.
Lynn met one of our new neighbors just the other night, and came back with their names, but I went to the vet’s office and came back with an entire history.
While trying to figure out who Marrakesh might have encountered in his brief forays outside (he is waiting for us to turn up the heat outdoors), I mentioned the orange cat we saw on our deck several months back. This put Dr. Seward in mind of our new neighbors, with whom she seems quite familiar.
So now I can tell you that Jason, the neighbor Lynn didn’t meet, used to own a high-end eatery in Crested Butte to which I’ve never been. Apparently Jason was the chef as well as the owner, and one night, according to Dr. Seward, a patron from Texas was so enamored of the place that he offered to buy it right then and there. Cash.
Jason and his wife Erica, the neighbor Lynn did meet (and reported that she seemed very nice), took the money and moved out of state to care for a relative with multiple sclerosis. But they didn’t care for the geography and/or climate, and now they’re back — and living down the road from us. They put an offer in on their new house about the second day it went on the market.
The one point I’m least clear on is the status of their cat, whose name I was given yesterday but can’t recall (Fiona?). The cat got quite sick, and Dr. Seward reported admiringly that these folks did everything they could for the cat, but it was unclear to me whether she pulled through.
Without planning to, I learned more about the humans at this residence this morning, and can now tell you that Erica works for the Crested Butte Music Festival, since she sent me an e-mail, inviting me to join the Bluegrass and Beyond Camp.
It was actually a tad unsettling, opening my e-mail and seeing my new neighbor’s name. I’d never heard of these folks a few days ago, and now they’re practically omnipresent in my life. And I have yet to meet either of them. Or their cat, who may or may not be with them. But Dr. Seward started down this path when I mentioned the orange cat from this summer, so perhaps they still have at least one cat, even if it’s not Fiona.
In addition to meeting neighbors while gamboling about, Lynn has also discovered that were are Some Day going to have even more new neighbors, as construction begins on the 11th house out here at Riverwalk.
This one, which has to go down before it starts going up, is situated on the heretofore inviolate Caddis Fly Lane. By this time next year it could be the most populated street out here, since two of the people at the annual HOA meeting who expressed interest in building own lots on Caddis Fly, and neither owns the lot with a giant “ground heating” machine.
We’ve seen, over and over, my lack of savvy when it comes to making real estate predictions, so bear that in mind as I say this: it seems to me that anyone breaking ground in Gunnison County in January has more money than sense.
I do know this much: when Lynn and I started talking about building, the one thing we didn’t want to do was pour concrete in winter. So when did that happen? The week of Thanksgiving, after snow had already landed.
But Dusty did assure us that pouring concrete in November, even late November, was okay. “What you don’t want to do,” he counseled, “is pour in January.”
But that’s what these folks are doing. In good stalker fashion, thanks to the vast amount of information about anyone’s house that is public information, I can tell you that these people have an address in Texas, and they bought the lot they’re building on just over two years ago, and the one next to it a few months after that. Texas, breaking ground in January, a large floor plan, if the number of trees that have been chopped down are any indication . . . well, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions about these folks, until I get e-mails from them and/or take my animals in and get a full report.
In the meantime, I followed Dr. Seward’s instructions and took off Marrakesh’s bandage (festooned with chickens), and only then did he start licking it. So now he’s duct-taped together. I’m sure this will help. With his tail; probably not with our electrical issues.
Garbanzo Beans for Breakfast 