Yesterday was the two-year anniversary of Chris’s passing. I wanted to post something about it yesterday, but I lost track of time and didn’t think about it until today. I also wanted to publish the new book about his life on that day, but my cover artist’s mother fell ill and the cover was delayed. It arrived this morning.
I added text to it and formatted it, which I will show you when it is ready, perhaps tomorrow. What do you think?
I thought a lot about Chris while writing the book and I hope this keeps his memory alive. He really was special and is missed very much.
Rose and I spent a long weekend on Anna Maria Island for our 26th anniversary, which is in two days. We hired a cat sitter to come in three times a day. I know, two times is sufficient, but we have spoiled cats. Here is one of the photos she sent us.
The fact that both of our cats were hanging out together was surprising. Perhaps they behave differently when nobody is home.
As we always learn too late but never remember, going away is not as good as staying home. We woke up early Sunday morning and decided to pack up and go home. When I say early, I mean around 4:00 a.m.
Rose didn’t want to get home while the cat sitter was there, so we stopped at Publix to do our shopping. We still arrived too early, so we parked at the library, which is at the end of our street, and waited ten minutes. We left as we saw her car drive by. It felt like we were spies, waiting for our mark to leave so we could bug his house.
As I was bringing our luggage in, Frankie escaped. He first crawled under our car so I couldn’t get him but then came out and raced across the street.
The road that runs along the side of our house is fairly busy, perhaps because many of the amenities, like the library, are located near the end of the street. I try to keep Frankie on our side of the road when we walk so that crossing it doesn’t become a habit. Maybe that’s a bad strategy because that’s the first thing he wants to do when he’s free.
I followed Frankie across the street. I don’t like trespassing on people’s property, but since Frankie isn’t very familiar with the area, I wanted to make sure he didn’t get lost. He went behind the homes and came out on the next street. I managed to herd him back toward our house. It’s amazing how fast an almost fifteen-year-old cat can run.
From the photo above, our house is the first house on the right across the street. When I caught up to Frankie, he took off running. When he reached the street, I saw two cars coming. I waved my arms and yelled, “Stop! Stop! Stop!”
Fortunately, the woman in the lead car had her window open and heard me. She stopped her car as Frankie raced in front of her. I waved and said thank you to the woman. It was quite embarrassing.
Frankie then hid under our car again. Fortunately, he was close enough to the edge that I could grab him and pull him out. Returning home was more of an adventure than going away.
It is hard to believe that I have been writing Bad Cat Chris for over ten years now. My first blog post was posted on June 3, 2012. For some reason, I thought it was June 12. I was getting ready to write a post about it today when I discovered my error. Now I feel like the thunder has gone out of the celebration.
I looked back over the life of the blog and found my most popular posts. Here are the top three.
I have 845 followers through WordPress, 28 through email, and I have no idea how many through other sources. I also have 3129 followers on Facebook (even though I still can’t share blog posts there because Facebook thinks my blog is spam). In addition, I have 1033 followers on Twitter, 886 on YouTube, and 220 on Intagram.
I believe that one of these two photos is the first picture that I took of Chris. They were taken at the shelter on October 3, 2009 when I brought my wife with me to see him.
Chris at adoption center with Rose.Chris meets Rose
We did not adopt Chris then. We had a vacation coming up and my wife had a business trip after that, or vis versa. I believe Chris was adopted and returned because of his bad behavior after this photo was taken and before we adopted him on November 14.
Here is the last photo I have of Chris. It’s not great but it is the most recent. I took this last Sunday after I took Frankie for a walk. I always take Frankie out first and then Chris goes out after Frankie comes home. I mean after I pick up Frankie and carry him home.
Well, that’s all I have for today. I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I also hope to continue for many more years. Thank you so much. I appreciate all of you.
I know I just celebrated my 500th post two days ago but today is my fourth blogiversary. According to WordPress, the anniversary of this blog was Wednesday, the same day as my 500th blog post, but they are using the date that I registered for the blog from WordPress.com. I go by the date of my first blog post, which was June 3, 2012, Since then I have met a lot of great people, and pets, along the way, and I have had a lot of fun.
Here are some stats about the blog you might be interested in:
The most popular day for this blog is Thursday.
The most popular hour is 1:00 p.m. Hmm… maybe I should schedule posts for just before 1:00.
My most viewed post this year was Are Ginger Cats Friendlier? which was posted in 2013. The second most viewed post was Feral Cat Ear Notching, posted in 2014.
Readers this year come from 86 countries. The U.S. is first followed by The U.K., France, Australia, Finland, Canada, South Africa, Brazil, New Zealand and Switzerland.
Since this post is interrupting my regular Photo Friday post, I thought I would end with a picture taken on the day this blog started. That’s what I thought but I didn’t take any pictures that day so here is one I found from almost two weeks later.
I used this picture on Chris’s Twitter page but I don’t think I ever posted it here. I like it because it is related to my last post and shows that Chris has always been a good lizard catcher. I actually found another picture of Chris with a lizard from a day or two earlier than this but the quality was not good.
In closing, I just want to thank you all for reading this blog and being so nice in your comments. I hope blog here for many more years.
Three years ago today, we adopted Puck. He was rescued and bottle-fed by my sister-in-law, Felice, and was in need of a home when Abbey passed away. Here are some pictures and videos of Puck from oldest to newest.
I can’t believe it has been three years since I started this blog. It seems time really does fly when you’re having fun. When I started blogging, I remember reading that many bloggers quit after a short time because, among other reasons, they set their expectations about readership and the ability to make money far too high. Fortunately, I set my money-making expectations very low. My goal is to make more than zero dollars on this blog during the first five years and if everything goes as planned, I may just do that.
To be perfectly honest, I have accumulated $24 in ad revenue and, at this rate, I should reach the $100 needed to get paid by 2024. Obviously, I am not doing this for the money, which may be why I haven’t given up on it. I see this more as a hobby that I enjoy.
I enjoy it for two reasons. The first is because I like to write. I wish I had known this about myself when I was younger, I might have chosen a different career path. The second reason is because I have met so many wonderful people who share my passion for writing and for animals. While I have not yet met any of them in person, I feel like we would be instant friends.
There is a third reason that I like to blog. I enjoy photography and this blog not only gives me a place to post some of my pictures, it motivates me to take more pictures too. With that in mind, here is a picture of Chris on our new cat perch.
Finally, I want to thank all of you for reading and following this blog. My biggest hope is that the value you get from it, whether it be entertainment or information, will be worth your time. I encourage you to let me know if there is anything that I can do different to make this a more enjoyable read.
Five years ago today, we brought home a little ball of terror that would eventually steal our hearts while driving us crazy at the same time.
Here is a video of Chris exploring our home after we brought him home from the Sav-R-Cats shelter when we lived in Myrtle Beach. He did not hide under the bed like most cats, but instead, took over the house right away.
First photo of Chris at home.
Chris can be a difficult cat at times but I am so glad that circumstances brought us together and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world.
Bad Cat Chris 