I May Be Getting Old, But I am Not Too Old For An Adventure

Ciao raGatti! Mi dispiace... I haven't felt like writing for a while. It has been cold here in Casperia and when it's cold I just feel like curling up in a ball close to one of the warm termosifoni radiators or in front of the camino fireplace if my humans have a fire on. I love it when there is a roaring fire in the camino. Especially when my humans are cooking some sausages there...

I have been thinking a lot about age lately. I hear my humans and their friends discuss how old I am. They tell me that I was born on July 7, 2000, so I am almost 17 years old, as far as I can figure... But I also hear people talk about cat years. Are those different? Why should they be different from human years? Anyway, which ever way you want to calculate it, I have been feeling my age a bit lately. It may be the winter. It slows me down a bit. I am not as spry as I used to be but I can still jump from the toilet to the bathroom sink for a drink and I recently jumped from the kitchen counter to the floor which seemed to surprise and even frighten some people. Ha! Yes, there are days when my hips hurt and I take the stairs slowly but I am still a kitten at heart. I still like to play.

The other day I went for a walk with James, one of my humans. It was a warmish winter day here in Casperia and there was sun warming the stones of the piazza at the top of the town in front of the big church. When we moved here from Canada the bells of this church used to ring three times a day, more on Sundays. They would ring at seven in the morning, at noon and once again in the evening. 

Photo courtesy of Giorgio Clementi

How the dogs in the valley used to howl when they rang, especially in the morning. But the bells have been silent since the last big earthquake. They tell me that there are cracks in part of the roof of the church and that they stopped the bells from ringing because people were afraid that their vibration might cause more damage.  

Anyway, we went up to the piazza for a walk. The grey stone steps that lead to the piazza from the door of my house are always in shade and were very cold to my paws, but once we emerged on the piazza the stones there were a bit warmer, and it was good to feel the sun on my back.

  

My human picked me up and let me explore a stone wall just below the church bell tower while he did some exercises there. My humans are ageing too and seem to be making an effort to get out and go for a walk every day. I am constantly reminding them that a good stretch is good for them too.

I like to go out for a walk and I really like the piazza in front of the church when it is sunny. Every time I go up there I explore a little bit more. There are a number of stone streets and alleyways that connect with the piazza. I am always searching the plant pots to see if there is any green grass growing there. I loving eating grass. It helps my tummy if I have fur balls, but there is not a lot of grass around my part of the village. Miaow! That really is my one and only complaint about my life here. I miss being around grass.

So every time I go out for a walk and explore a new strada or vicolo I am on the look out for grass and every now and then I come across a blade or two and boy does that make me happy.

I climbed up some stone steps to explore a small stone landing in front of an old abandoned house. The landing was green with weeds and wild herbs but sadly, there was no grass... I did find something that interested me though... There was a big hole under the door to the old cantina... a hole big enough for me to crawl through. 

It was strange. I had been on that landing countless times before but had never noticed the hole before. Perhaps it had been blocked by something previously or perhaps I was too focussed on finding grass during my earlier visits to notice it. But there it was... an adventure waiting to be discovered. 

James had followed me up on to the landing, I guess, to see what I was doing. I looked up at him and he smiled back at me. I took that to mean, "Go ahead, Smokey. Go on and explore," so I slipped into the hole under the door and sniffed around the dark interior for about ten minutes. 

When I slipped through the hole under the old wooden door it took only a second for my eyes to adjust to the dark. Inside was not anything like the cantine I have been in before. Instead of an ordered pile of firewood and bottles smelling of red wine there was a jumble of collapsed beams, broken terracotta, and crumbling mortar. The room was a ruin. Over and above the smell of crumbled mortar and wormy beams was the unmistakable smell of cat. Though it was in no way a comfortable cantina, it was obviously a refuge for some lesser fortunate felines during inclement weather. As I gingerly made my way through the maze of rotten roof beams and fallen bricks, I thought I could hear something outside. Was it the wind? Lately, my hearing has not been the best. I continued exploring the ruined cantina, pushing through the cobwebs and every now and then being showered by a rain of crumbling mortar.

Unbeknownst to me, James had started to panic when I did not come out right away. Apparently, he had gotten down on his hands and knees and peered into the hole and noticed that the floor of the cantina had collapsed. At that point, he had run back to the house to grab a packet of my favourite cat snacks, Felix Party Mix and when he got back he knelt beside the hole calling me and shaking the package.

Usually if either of my humans did something like this I would come running, but as I mentioned earlier, my hearing is not as good as it used to be and I had travelled quite far into the cantina. I continued to explore. In my place, two grey cats, probably the regular occupants of the cantina, turned up looking for treats. This caused James to panic even further. He was worried about me being surprised by the arrival of these two strange cats who, no doubt, had sharper claws than I do these days. 

James sprinkled the treats far away from the cantina door to distract the new arrivals then ran back to the house and apparently brought back two hammers and a pair of pliers with the intention of breaking down the door to rescue me... But just as he was about to launch his assault on the ancient portal I stuck my head out of the hole and climbed out into the sunshine. I was finished with my adventure. 

James knelt and laid down the tools beside the hole and pulled off his blue scarf and gently brushed away the grey powdery mortar dust that covered my head. He then me up and gently examined me to make sure that I had not been injured in any way while I had been inside the ruined cantina. I was fine of course. I may be almost 17 years old and perhaps am not as nimble as I used to be, but I can still look after myself.

I looked up at James' worried face and blinked a couple of times to reassure him. "Let's go home, Smokey," he said. He picked up the tools and the two us ambled back down the cobbled steps to the house.

When we got inside, I got lots of pats and ten of my favourite snacks. I had had a wonderful adventure. I had gone exploring... done something new, something that broke our winter humdrum routine and at the same time I think I may have frightened James badly.  

James lifted me up to the kitchen sink which is my favourite place to have a cool drink of water. I had a long drink, washing the taste of the cantina dust from my mouth. Then I got down off the counter and jumped into my favourite chair in front of the fireplace and had a nap. I can't wait for Spring to come. I may be almost 17 years old but I am not too old for new adventures.  

Statemi bene raGatti. I will write again when I have some new adventure or news to share.

Mannagia! Fa caldo qui in Italia! They Never Told Me It Would Get This Hot!

Ciao ragatti! My apologies for the long silence. I am not sure if you have seen the news about the weather here in Italy, but it has been very, very hot. I have never felt heat like this in the house before... and outside, it is even worse. 

For the past couple of weeks, the temperatures have climbed and stayed in the high thirties, and some days it has even climbed past 40!

It is so hot that the pads of my paws burn when I walk on any of the stone cobbles that have been long in the sun, so I don't go out exploring much in the day. Luckily, Via Latini, the street where we live here in Casperia, is narrow and has high stone houses on both sides of the street so for most of the day the street is in the shade. I worry though for the cats in the colonies in the cities like Rome where it is even hotter.

Me checking to make sure that my cat grass isn't getting burned in the heat

According to my friend Maria, most people in town shut and shutter their doors and windows during the day to keep the hot air out of the house and the cooler air in. This works well for Maria who has two layers of apartments above her, but this does not work well in our apartment which is on the top of the building. The beautiful tiled ceilings of our apartment transmit the heat of the day directly into our house, and if we don't keep some of the windows open the apartment becomes a forno... that's Italian for furnace!   

So for most of the day I am sleeping or at least snoozing in a cool place, either downstairs in the kitchen, or on the floor of the bedroom or the library. The bed in the bedroom is often too hot to sleep on. It's a wonder my human gets any sleep. 

Did I mention that one of my humans has gone back to Vancouver? He's been there for almost a month now and is supposed to come back in a couple of weeks. Every so often I hear the two of them talking, using the computer. I used to worry seeing one of them locked in the computer screen, but I know all about Skype now. It is comforting to hear their voices together. I miss my human who has gone, but I know he will be back soon. 

So, yes, I rest or sleep most of the day. In the late evening though, when the sun begins to set, there is a noticeable drop in the temperature. That is when I wake up and want something to eat. During the day I don't eat much but I drink a lot. I have a martini glass of water beside my bowl in the kitchen, and another up in the bathroom. My favourite water to drink though now is the delicious cool acqua which my human leaves in a cool watering can beside the door to the street. My human is always watering the flowers, herbs, and tomatoes outside, so the water is always cool and fresh how I like it. 

As soon as the temperature drops, my human goes out for a couple of hours to spend time with his friends down on the piazza beside the bar. Apparently a refreshing breeze begins to blow there as soon as the sun begins to set, and the people of the town and visiting tourists alike gather there to chat and enjoy drinks and something to eat while watching the sun set. 

My friends Helen, and Ritchie, and Giampiero enjoying a drink on the piazza outside Vigna 

I hear from my human that my friends Helen and Ritchie sometimes go there. They too seem to be hiding as best as they can from the heat these days. I haven't seen them as much as usual, but I understand. The human friend I see most these days is Giampiero. He visits every now and then with my human to do a language exchange on the steps outside the house. I have learned a lot of Italian overhearing the two of them reading together. I don't know if they realise, but I watch and listen to them from the window above, making sure no pigeons bother them. 

Me trying to talk to Sconsi. She just kept on eating my kibble!

I tried to do a language exchange with a little female cat that comes to visit us every now and then to check and see what is in my food bowl, but she didn't seem to want to talk to me. I did my best to talk to her as she munched on a handful of my kibble on the stone steps outside my house but she never responded.

At first I thought it was my bad Italian. Then I thought she was just interested in me for my food. Later I found out that her name is Sconsi, short for Sconsolata, and that Sconsi can't talk. I cat that cannot miao! Pensate!

Yesterday there was a thunder and lightening storm here in Casperia. Bright forks of lightening lit up the sky. The storm began with a lightening strike very near our house. The loud crash of thunder woke me and my human from our afternoon nap and knocked out our electricity for a while. A strong cooling wind blew all during the storm and by the time evening rolled around, the temperature, according to my human, had dropped 13 degrees from 39 to 26. The house was comfortable for the first time in months. Maybe this means the worst of the weather is over. I sure hope so, because I sure don't feel like writing in this heat. 

Me, resting in the cool evening breeze coming in through the library window 

I have asked my friends Helen and Ritchie to see if Dennis, their cat would like to do a guest post on my blog. I would like to hear more about how life is for cats here in Italy... especially from the viewpoint of a native. Apparently, Dennis is interested, but he too is a bit under the weather, so to speak. I hope it cools down soon so we can all get back to writing. So stay tuned, there will be more posts coming in the next month or so. So, ragatti, Miao for now! A presto! Stay cool!

Dennis, resting on the cool floor of his, and Helen and Ritchie's house on Via Massari

Mamma Mia! - 9,000 Kilometres from Home to Rome!

Homemade Stringozzi for dinner in Vancouver

I blame it on the stringozzi. I knew my humans were crazy about Italy... More often than not, when they cooked back in our house in East End Vancouver they would cook Italian. As they got ready, they would open a bottle of wine, light some candles, and put on Italian music... Depending on what they were cooking they would play Paolo Conte, Mina, Biaggio Antonacci, Mango, or Tiziano Ferro. I didn't really care what music they played... What I did like was when they cooked pork sausages and shared them with me at the table.

My humans have been travelling to Italy off and on since 1999, the year before I was born... I was nine years old when they left me in the care of a family member and went to Italy together for the second time. It was at this time that they discovered Casperia, the Lazio hill town where we now live, and stringozzi... the hand-made pasta typical of the region.

No sooner had my humans returned from this first trip to Casperia then they were planning their next visit. My humans seemed fixated on this place...   

By the way, that is my window just under the square 12 panelled window near the tree. From here I see much of the Sabina

Each time my humans' visits to Italy increased in length and in frequency. They would come home to Vancouver and tell me stories about the people they had met and the many cats that they had made friends with... 

I don't want to blame the cats along with the stringozzi, but perhaps they are another reason why my humans love this place... 

Cicciopalla... They say he is Casperia's Number 1 Cat!

The cats... and the amazing sunsets...

Whatever their reason or reasons, I am here now... Nine thousand kilometres away from home... here in Casperia, just an hour or so away from Rome, in the Province of Rieti.

I feel a little more settled here now... My humans have found a brand of wet cat food I like. One of their friends, Maria, has found them some dry food that I love... and I have new friends here. I am finally meeting the people my humans used to talk to me about... and they are lovely... They give me pats and chin scratches... they talk and play with me... and some bring me ham and other food and treats like catnip. I was surprised to find that most Italian cats have never experienced this wonder. I feel very lucky.  

Slowly, I am getting used to the stone and the terra cotta tiles, the roaring wind and thunderstorms... and the bells... Do you know that they ring church bells at seven in the morning, at noon and at six o'clock at night? At first I was startled... but now I find them a comfort. 

I have found a number of favourite places here in the apartment... the big chair by the larger fireplace downstairs...

...and the chair by the wall heater in the library... and I love getting up on the windowsill in the morning and watch the pigeons and other birds flutter outside on the terracotta tiles. 

When I chatter at the birds my humans give me a pat on the head and say "Good Smokey." The other time I like to sit in this window is in the afternoon when the sun warms my fur and the sky turns gold and red as it sets.

I think I will stop writing now... it is late and my humans are going to bed... I will write more in a while... In the meantime, if you see a cat, give it a pat... If you see a hungry cat... feed it... If you see a homeless cat... be as kind and as generous as you can... 

Dennis Dakin, a few days before finding his forever home

We cats remember... and we have our ways of passing on rewards... So until then... Miao for now.

Ciao! Mi Chiamo Smokey... Miao! My Name Is Smokey...

Me and my traveller's blanket

Ciao raGatti! My name is Smokey... I am a fourteen year-old long haired tabby. According to what my humans tell me I was born in a warm closet in a basement of an older house in an East Vancouver neighbourhood. I was the seventh kitten of a litter of seven, born on the seventh day of the seventh month of the year two thousand. I don't really know if that means anything but my humans like to talk about it. When I was very young I was adopted into a house shared by three humans and an older cat named Bibbs. Bibbs has moved on to another one of his nine lives... 

For most of my fourteen years, I have lived with my humans in a beautiful blue row house surrounded by lush flower and vegetable gardens. The front window was always open so I could exit and re-enter our house whenever I pleased. There was a wooden rail just outside this window where I could sit and enjoy the sunshine  and watch the world go by. Don't ask me what that big orange thing was... He didn't stay long...

   
Below the rail was a brick patio which was completely obscured from the road during the summer by tall tomato plants, rose, tree peonies, and other greenery. There was always fresh grass to munch on in this garden, and if I wanted to enjoy fresh greens further afield, there were always the yards and gardens of our neighbours down the road or across the street.

My humans always planted catnip for me in pots on the back porch. There was always food in my bowl, and fresh water in a high stemmed martini glass for me... Yes.. a martini glass... Never mind...

My humans never left me alone... If they went away, there was always someone here to look after me and keep me company. I had a secure home, and a soft bed to sleep on. I have to admit, I had a pretty wonderful life...

Then one day I noticed changes in my house... There was a lot of banging and other strange noises from construction in the basement, and things started to get packed away in boxes and disappear from their usual places in the house... I found this very disturbing... Then one day, while I was out exploring the neighbourhood, our beautiful bed disappeared from the upstairs room where we usually sleep... All that was left were boxes and random papers... and we all had to sleep downstairs on the hide-a-bed couch for a number of weeks... What had we done do deserve this terrible change and disruption in our lives? 

My humans were acting strange... They were always tired and a bit cranky, but excited somehow... They would always talk to me in low reassuring tones... as if they were trying to prepare me for something...

Then early one morning... they packed up my food bowl and martini glass, picked me up, put me in a red carrying case... and through the course of the next 22 terrifying hours, my life changed for ever...

Prior to this unexpected journey the longest I had been away from my home was for short visits to see Dr. Rob Spooner, my veterinarian at Yaletown Pet Hospital. But this was different. Instead of a short car ride from Strathcona to Yaletown and back, I had to endure a longer ride to a noisy airport... I had never seen or heard so many people together in one place in my entire life. I was taken to a special room where a very large man took me out of my case to examine me... He was kind and gentle, and I was back in the case before I knew it. 

From there I was taken into a large room full of food smells where my humans ate and drank for a while before heading to another area full of people sitting in long rows of chairs. My humans kept on talking to me... Telling me what a good boy I was...  

From this place I was taken to another smaller narrower room full of people sitting very close to each other. My humans put my carrying case in a small space under the seat in from of them. And then there was a roar and the room we were in started to move...

I don't know how I survived the next nineteen hours... At one point in the journey it got too much and I hd to pee in the case. It was humiliating... Luckily one of my humans opened my case and pulled out a layer of wet towel and dried me off as best we could. 

During the final hours of this journey I remember there was another long car ride through a large and noisy city then out into a beautiful green countryside. There were many hills and the car was always turning this way and that to follow the road... And then the car stopped and we all got out.

And this is where I am now... They call it Casperia... It is a stone town built high upon a hill. Stone houses are built atop other stone houses... There are no cars inside the town walls... the streets are all made of stone stairs... 

...and outside the door of the house where we now live there is not one blade of glass to chew on... and n catnip...

My humans seem very happy to be here, but I am in shock... This is all new and so very different from the house that we used to live in... 

Our house is made of stone, not wood. The roofs here are made of hard red and orange terracotta tiles, not spongy asphalt... 

I live in a world of grey stone and terra cotta reds, not green... The smells are different... the sounds are different... The food and the water is different...  The birds are different...

What a place! What a life! It is life I am living in a strange dream where the only connection I have with my past life are my humans... but even they sound different... When they speak to me, they speak in a way I don't understand... The speak the same language that the other people who live here speak... They seem happy... sometimes too happy... 

Me? I don't know... And that is why I have decided to write this blog, to share my story... my experiences... the things I see and hear...  my hopes and fears... And maybe... just maybe... this will all make sense... this will all be okay... My humans are here with me and they are happy... We'll see...

  

 I think I will say good-bye for now... I will write some more in a few days... Time to have a bite of food and take a nap... Miao for now!

Smokey