Chapter 2: The  Garage Days (and then the Kitty Cave)

That was a glorious summer, I spent my days running around in the yard, climbing trees, and taking naps in the shade by the pool.  Then at night, when it got dark and scary, Andrea would bring me into the garage so I could sleep and so “the bears wouldn’t get me”, she would say.  Ahh, I was living the life. 

I will say, it wasn’t all bliss though, Andrea got me this dumb green collar to wear (see photo on the right).  I hated that thing; every night while she was asleep in the house, I would pull it off and hide it under the car tire in the garage.  And every morning she would give me the same lecture “Van, you have to wear this, it’s for your safety. “  I’m not sure what a safety is, but it must be important to her.  After about a month, I accepted that the collar was just part of my life now. 

Then the leaves began to change and it started to get colder.  That’s when I made my next move, into the main house.  I was now living in the lower level of the house, the basement.  Had the whole place to myself. What a kitty bachelor pad.  Carpet, chairs to nap on, fireside heat; I thought, this was a pretty cool pad.  Andrea even put a thing down there that she would check every night to make sure it was warm enough for me, a “thirgomometer” I think.  She called it the Kitty Cave down there.  I liked it.  The best part of my move to the basement were the really early mornings I shared with Tom.  He goes to work before the sun comes up and every morning I would sneak up the stairs to the kitchen and he would give me a snack before he left for work.  That’s how we became friends, of course.  Ahh, those early mornings were the best.  Then I would get a second helping of food from Andrea when she would get up hours later, acting like Tom hadn’t fed me.  I really made out on the deal, as you can see. 

Speaking of my early morning snacks with Tom, that’s when the next beautiful thing came into my life…the treat jar.  See photo above.  This was the best invention.  Sandee bought it for me and Andrea filled it up with these morsels of goodness, treats from heaven.  I didn’t know my life could be this good.  I would do anything for one of those treats, and Andrea knew it too.  I had to learn some tricks.  Sit, shake, and of course, her favorite, “high five”.  It was worth it though, just to get a taste of those yummy treats. To think, I’d gone from living in the mud under the deck, to having my own master Kitty Cave and premium treats out of a special golden kitty jar in just the first few months of my life. Ahhh, I thought, “I’m going to like being a part of this family”.