Tyger Pupate, burning bright?*

Tiny (hyperventilating in the backseat, above) and Baby gave us a scare yesterday afternoon en route to Goomp's after the car engine suddenly stopped, leaving us stranded in Danvers on the verge of I-95 N, baking in a devil's anvil of 99-degree temps with no air conditioning in sight. We opened doors and tried to calm the puddies with cat whispering, but what with the roaring traffic flying by just yards away and the relentless sun beating down upon us, they were not for calming. It took AAA, with an assist from a State Policeman who stopped by, about half an hour to reach us -- not bad -- but the fellow who was going to tow us to his garage claimed he was allergic to cats and would not allow our feline companions in his cab. We melodramatically asserted that we would therefore ride with the animals in the car atop the flatbed trailer. No way. It's not allowed.

Somewhere in there, the fellow changed his story, claiming it was the boss's policy not to allow animals in the cab anyway. Hot and irritable, we behaved badly, but eventually we both worked it all out and parted company patting backs and smiling after the young man redeemed himself by diagnosing the problem -- failed alternator -- calling a local auto supply concern who delivered, and personally installing the shiny new Delphi Corporation alternator (above) himself.

Upon awakening in the magic kingdom that is Camelot-by-the-Sea in summertime this morning, we managed to transmogrify the nightmarish automotive journey of yesterday into the equivalent of the modrin-day airplane trip -- with all its attendant inconveniences and indignities -- that is our era's gateway to the dream vacation. So here we sit -- and cook, and check the pool filter for bloated frogs and enjoy the transcendent view -- and talk and watch a hawk making lazy circles in the sky. Actually, we've been watching tent caterpillars skeletonize selected leaves of Goomp's apple tree and one of the red oaks (above and below). Like most everything, grist for our blogmill. As far as looking out for the trees' welfare, Tuck is on the case. As for the cats, once they touched terra firma down Goomp's they were in their element. Both stayed out all night, presumably terrorizing the local small-mammal community, and came bounding in with tails up and smiling from ear to ear for breakfast this morning.

Fun fact of the day -- and Google wasn't even involved. We turned to Goomp's snail source of etymologies and definitions, Webster's New World Dictionary:

Caterpillar, n. [ME. catirpel; ONorm. Fr. catepilose (OFr.chatepelose) lit., hairy cat < L. catta, cat + pilosus < pilus, hair], 1. the wormlike larva of various insects, especially of a butterfly or moth.  2. a caterpillar tractor.  adj having an endless-track drive: as a caterpillar grader.

"Hairy cat" and "endless-track drive." 'Reminds us of Tiny and the Babe campaigning for the next meal.

Update: All things hairy and beautiful now boarding Modulator's Friday Ark #150.

*Thanks to our sis for the totally awesome blog title referencing William Blake's "The Tyger."

Comments

[pam]

That's a fear of mine, that I'll break down one summer day with the dogs in the car... I always take water, but not enough to keep them cool while waiting for roadside assistance...!

Thank God you got help quickly.

[Teresa]

Holy Cats!!! (so to speak) It was a tad too warm for something like that to happen yesterday. I'm glad it all worked out in the end and I hope you've been able to chill out with a lovely frosty glass of something nice at Goomp's.

[Gayle Miller]

Thank goodness for your relatively quick rescue and that the babies rebounded so quickly.

I'm still trying to get the Sam critter to behave civillly 2+ months after our move from Ohio to Virginia and it's SLOW going. But then, Sam had a very miserable existence before I rescued him and I think that experience, even this long down the road, still informs his behavior. Or am I kidding myself?

To someone sweltering in the D.C. steam bath, those pictures are both cooling and envy-inducing!