Nine Lives

This afternoon I saw a fire truck in front of our house and Lilly and I went outside to see what was going on. This was the problem...

Our neighbor Wendy's cat Crouton was stuck in a tree. Funny as I walked outside and saw the fire fighters all looking up into a tree I said, "Tell me you're not here for a cat up a tree" and they said, "Yes indeed." Well it was no joke... Crouton was very very high up - think 50 ft. The poor little kitty. He was recently rescued from a shelter by our neighbors and is an indoor cat. Today we are expecting some storms with high winds. When the winds picked up it blew Wendy's front door open and out Crouton went (no one was home). When Wendy got home she heard Crouton crying in the tree.
The fire fighters were not helpful. They said their ladder was only 25 ft high and the cat was approximately double that. They also said they were preparing for the storm and there were wires in the way and they couldn't risk their lives for the cat. Well thank goodness we're raising an animal lover because this is what Lilly had to say to the fireman...

"You climb that tree and get kitty cat!"

That's my girl. The fireman did humor Lilly and called for the cat while holding up food but they were otherwise useless and left.
Well as I'm sure you've figured out if you read the blog or have known me for any amount of time - I have a soft spot for animals (and children) and could not rest knowing we were getting a storm with high winds and this cat was stuck. She was crying and hanging on while the branches blew. I called two tree trimming services to see if they could bring out a bucket truck but no one answered their phones. Wendy (neighbor) called Verizon to see if they could send out a truck but they didn't have any trucks in the area. I then called my neighbor and friend Kristen whom I call with all my animal sob stories (homeless bunny, injured goose, missing bunny babies...). She was cracking up at yet another call but as usual she set into action. She called her husband at work (he owns Ace Hardware) and he called a buddy who has rock/tree climbing gear. I misunderstood and thought he currently climbs trees but was mistaken. Later I found out he's afraid of heights AND it's been 10 years since he's climbed. But he came over and we all went outside for the show. ** Did I mention I was tutoring?? At least I called his grandpop and told him to come 30 minutes later so we could enjoy the action.**

Here is Ray, the crazy tree climber... Notice Lilly and Matt (whom I tutor) in the background - so cute together!

Watching closely...

I think he was getting tired. This is when I found out he hasn't done this in ten plus years. Then I started to worry about him AND the cat.

This cat was very very high up.

If you look closely you will see a flying Crouton. When Ray finally got up to the cat she climbed onto his back and was very nervous and scared. So a few men below held a blanket and Ray dropped the cat. Perfect landing (thank God) right into the center of the blanket. All the kids cheered.

Wendy (with her son in the background running over) was very happy to have Crouton back safely. And Ray made it safely back down the tree. Another happy ending.

Never a dull moment around here.