A Cat's Adventure

A Cat Adventure

Several weeks ago, my wife [often referred to in these essays as The Lovely Joan or TLJ for short] and I drove from Tampa to Sanford, Florida, to take the Amtrak Auto Train to just south of the District of Columbia and, thence, to visit family and friends on the New Jersey shore.  Tropical Storm Andrea accompanied us all the way; torrential rain and unremitting wind made driving difficult and the usual aggregate driving time of less than six hours took almost nine.  When we finally were at our motel in Tom’s River, New Jersey, we were wet and tired, and rushed into the lobby.

TLJ thought she heard a faint noise outside the car, a cat’s soft mewing, and we felt sorry for a poor animal caught in the storm.  The next day, we drove to our son-in-law and grandchildren’s home, along parkways at 65 miles per hour.  We visited and made plans to visit the newly restored boardwalk at Seaside Heights the next day; meanwhile, we drove along more parkways at high speed to eat a hot dog at Max’s in Long Branch, a treat for which I had lusted!

Later that afternoon, we were returning to our motel and, at while stopped at a traffic light, TLJ asked if I had just heard the same plaintiff cry.  I had not and we kept on our way.

In the morning, the rain had stopped and we picked up son-in-law, Kenny, and grandchildren, Morgan and Zach and drove to Seaside.  This beach community, devastated by Hurricane Sandy had made great progress in restoring its boardwalk and, at least during the summer season, has no hesitation about charging tourists and other visitors astronomical parking meter fees: 25¢ for 10 minutes.  Joan and I obtained handfuls of quarters and she and Kenny began to feed the ravenous parking meter.

Again, she heard the noise and it was clearly coming from under the hood of the car.  The hood was lifted and, sitting on a ledge at the rear of the engine compartment, was a very small, very frightened kitten.The sight of a raised hood and two older drivers brought a crowd, including at least three police cars, six officers and a number of passersby.  Police officers, our grandson and others all tried to extract the trembling animal from the car, but each time she scooted to the other side of the compartment.  After 30 minutes or so, the kitten was prodded from the car and ran into the arms of one of the crowd that now had gathered around.

After assuring the police officers that the kitten would receive a good and loving home, we left.  Back at Kenny’s home, the kitten was fed, given a bowl of milk and cleaned up.

The kitten, now named Nina, has found a home, doted on by Morgan and made to feel welcome.  She has become fast friends with Bimbi, a Jack Russell terrier puppy and will be just fine.

Questions arise.  Where and when did this very small creature crawl into the engine compartment of our car?  In Tampa, in Sanford as the car was being loaded onto the railway cars, somewhere between Virginia and New Jersey?  The miracle is that she was not injured by a fan or burned by the heat of the motor.  How did she retain her refuge while the automobile traversed a number of turnpikes and parkways, all at high speeds?

We will never have all the answers, but meantime, have a great family story.