Eddy's Tale
I thought I would tell the tale of my tailed avatar and buddy, Eddy. The picture was taken the day after I brought him home--he was three months old. He's the second cat I've ever had. The senior cat in the house, Maggie, has lived with me for a decade now, but she was three to five when we met.
There is a ride in Brown County, Ohio, every year on Labor Day weekend called the BCBCBCBC. I don't quite recall what all the initials stand for. In 2004, it was the third time I did the ride. My plan was to do the metric century (previously, I did the metric in 2002, and a full century in 2003).
Actually, my plan wasn't to do the ride at all. This is my least favorite ride. It is an hour from my home. In and of itself, that's not a problem--I frequently drive a good distance to get to a good organized century ride. However, it is in the middle of nowhere--you will go miles without seeing, well, anything. The weather is usually bad--hot or rainy or both. Many folks in the area talk about what a beautiful ride it is. All I see are tobaco fields. As an added bonus, the route is selected to break momentum (or at least it seams that way). If there is a turn after a stop, one way has a climb, and the other doesn't, you will go uphill.
However, in 2004, my friend Stephanie talked me into it. We set out, it was foggy--we were lucky we could see a half mile ahead of us. Condensation was collecting on the hair of my arms. Stephanie, who had never done this ride before, kept apologizing. "No worries," I said.
We were ahead of our group by a bit. The fog had burned off, but it was still extra sticky. So, when we noticed some glass on the road as we crossed it, we stopped to check our tires and wait for them. Stephanie calls out, "Hey, Charles, look!"
This little kitten pops his head up. I lay my bike down, walk over, and sit down. The kitten crawls into my lap. Stephanie does Shih Tzu rescue, so she knows a bit more than I do about animals. She looks around. There isn't a structure for miles. We're pretty sure he's been dumped.
Stephanie knows the woman running the SAG service, and gives her a call to see if she could come pick up the kitten. Stephanie thought we would figure out what to do once we got back to the start, but she just couldn't leave the poor guy out here to be eaten by a coyote or something. Feeling vaugely pressured, I pull out my cell phone, and call my wife.
Did I mention she was six months pregnant at the time?
"Sure, bring him home!" I was floored. I didn't expect it. So, the kitten got a name on the spot. We decided he needed a bike-related name, given how he was found. The kitten was named Eddy, after Eddy Merckx, the all-time greatest professional bike racer. He now owns a bike company--Laura Martin posted some bike porn highlighting one of his frames.
SAG showed up to pick up Eddy, and we look for a short-cut back to base. I thank Stephanie for her help, and Eddy and I head home. My wife made arrangements for us to see the vet, so that's the first step--before I even get home. He purrs for the vet as he gets his shots. Then, we walk in the door. My wife proceeds to hold him for the next two hours.
Eddy becomes the practice baby. If he could get into something, we realize we need to childproof better. As I assemble the random kid stuff, Eddy is plopped in to ensure it will support a baby-like weight. Yes, I tested on animals...
My daughter was born two months later, and is also a small furry creature lover. I credit that to Eddy. He watched over her until she was big enough to really interact with her. His name was her first word--even today, saying his name makes her smile (unless they are in sibling rivalry mode). Naturally, they play games together, too. They play hide and seek games, or peek-a-boo, or stick-a-paw/finger-through-the-hole-in-the-box (and-the-other-bops-it).
So, that's the story of how Eddy became my family's cat.
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