Grüss Gott, Guten Morgen und Ich spreche kaum deutsche! Yup, here we are. After 32 months of rattling around the country and the world, Heidi Ho is all back together.
It started on October 29 when I loaded the troops into the trailer and said goodbye to Columbus, Georgia. We first headed for Illinois to take my weary mother home. This was her first experience at packing and moving my household and she had had it. This leg of the trip was relatively uneventful. Minnie Pearl and Georgia Girl each took a turn at slipping out the door of the trailer but thanks to my habit of counting noses and check ing the area before we move, they were retrieved.
Calm reigned during the two weeks we spent in Illinois. Charli, Schroeder and Thomas were allowed out for part of the day which kept them from going stir crazy. The rest of the gang adjusted well to their cramped living quarters. Mother’s Susan got her nose in a knot over all those cats out there. She hates cats; the fact that she is one is beside the point. She would leave in the morning when allowed out (in a town of 1,300 you can let your cat roam in relative safety during the day) and not show herself again until chow time. One evening she failed to return; it had been snowing all day. So at midnight yours truly and Heidi were out with flashlight plowing up and down alleys looking into and under things. No luck. Mother and I were up and down all night looking. At 6 A.M. Miss Susan banged on the back door and demanded breakfast. She was dry and clean; obviously had gone in some place to escape the snow and some one closed a door.
From Illinois the troops and I trekked to Beltsville, Maryland (D.C. suburb) where Heidi was to stay with her favorite baby sitter. Because of her age and an acceptable alterna tive, I had decided not to take her. We arrived at Barb’s about 9 P.M.; fed the troops and got everyone settled, we thought.
When I went out next morning, the first thing I discovered was that Holly had presented us with two new baby boys. Henry had gotten out of his quarters 65 days previously. At the time, I had foolishly thought that I caught him in time. While we were home, I had realized I hadn’t. The next thing I discovered was that Charlibrown was missing! I searched every corner of that trailer, but finally had to admit he wasn’t in there. I was sick because I couldn’t remember when I had last seen him. Charli has (or had) a nasty habit of darting thru doors and we had made two after dark stops the evening before. I was almost certain I remembered shooing him back but not quite.
Heidi and I searched the neighborhood but no Charli. This was disheartening because when he is out Charli always hangs around the trailer and comes when called. So after scooping Molly and the new kids off the seat into the half suitcase nursery bed in the closet (where she has cared for two other families), Heidi and I drove a hundred miles back to the rest area just off the Pennsylvania Turnpike, one of our two stops. The other was on the Pike another 90 miles back. We contacted the caretaker who had been on duty no he hadn’t seen Charli. We searched and called no Charlibrown. –
I almost went on back up the Pike, but besides being concerned about Molly (I had barely checked her) I had a nagging hunch that Charli was back there somewhere. We got back about 2 P.M. but no Charli. Barb came home from work and I broke the news. We spent the evening stewing. I had decided that I would hit the road early next day and go back up the Pike and hope I could recognize the spot where we had stopped. About 8 P.M. we went out to tuck the kids in and I made my third discovery Molly had three boys. Abraham had been born after I left to look for Charli and because the closet is dark, I hadn’t noticed when I came back. Then when we left the trailer, Barb spotted some thing under her car – there was Charlibrown, dry as a bone in spite of all day’s rain and chattering like a magpie about the fact that he was starving. I don’t mind admitting that I bawled all over him. I said Charli had a habit of darting thru doors – he lost it someplace in that Beltsville neighborhood. Hasn’t been near a door since.
A couple of days later we bid Heidi a very sad «So long, see you later.» and headed for New York. Stopped for a cup of coffee with Carol Noggle in Newark, Delaware and met Humphrey, Chester and their harem. A right handsome tribe of M.C.’s, I must say.
Spent a wonderful week with Betty and Rod Ljostad who so generously volunteered to baby sit my crew until I could send for them. Especially nice was the MCBFA meeting where I met a lot of nice folks who thus far had been just names. Then on Saturday, November 30, I took my one phrase of German, «Wo sind meine dreizehn katzen?», and headed for Stuttgart via MacGuire A.F.B. (Betty taught me that, «Where are my 13 cats?», for use when the tribe arrived in Germany).
Three week later, meine dreigehn katzen arrived in Frankfurt via Vari Kennels and TWA. They made the trip in fine shape, thanks to the expertise of Rod and Betty. After all my practice, I didn’t need my German phrase at all; the TNA agent spoke perfect English. It was a bit hilarious. When I walked in and said that I had come to meet my cats who were arriving on Flight 270, he replied that yes, they were on the manifest he had just received and how many did I have? I took a deep breath and said thirteen. He grinned, and said «That’s what the manifest says but I thought the teleprints had malfunctioned.»
A When they arrived, he took me and the cart full of cats, who were apparently taking it all in stride as only a bunch of nosey pussies can, to the customs office where we had a bit of difficulty convincing the German agent (who didn’t speak English) that I was not importing a bunch of cats to sell. Finally I told the TWA man to tell him that some people collect stamps, I’m a nut that collects cats! The translation of that must have been wild because the customs agent started laughing and our troubles ended. As he was checking through the health certificates, he grinned and said something like «You have a family of peanuts». Had me puzzled for a moment; then I realized he had seen the names «Charlibrown and Schroeder». Some things are universal.
Two weeks ago Heidi joined us. She seemed to have settled down to stay with Barb, but the day after I called Betty to give her a shipping date for the cats, she began demo lishing the household (ESP?) and when 90 lbs. of shepard decides to do that, you’d best give in. We did and TWA came through with flying colors again. There was a two hour delay while the plane sat in Zurich, Switzerland waiting for the fog to clear at Frank furt but she had obviously had a good trip – not a bit perturbed by it all. She and I made the third trip to Frankfurt last Saturday (Feb. 15) to meet Molly who had finished raising her family. One more trip and I’ll have to wear a disguise or that customs man will change his mind about the validity of my «personal pets».
So thanks to a lot of nice «friends in need» a big move was really made relatively easy. Special thanks to my «trailer sitter», Liz Eastman, who drove all the way down from Maine to take the rig out of the Ljostad’s driveway and tow it to her «back orchard».
Scuse me for being long winded but it was a long 3 months. Next time, I’ll tell you about our «togetherness» household and hopefully have something to report on the cat fancy in deutscheland.
Auf Wiedersehen,
Connie