Category Archives: animals

2024 Rewind Banner’s Big Adventure

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2024 Rewind Banner’s Big Adventure. Since Balboa starred in this morning’s post, it felt right to give Banner his moment too Please enjoy this flashback from July 13, 2024

Banner’s Big Adventure

Everyone has Big Adventures. Remember Pee Wee Herman’s Big Adventure? And there’s Thomas the Tank Engine. There’s a whole series of books about those adventures.  We mustn’t forget Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure . So why shouldn’t Banner have an adventure too?

Escape Artist

Everyone knows Banner is the World’s Greatest Escape Artist. Houdini had nothing on him. If the door is opened even a crack he’s out! Through your legs, through the door, Tail in the air he heads for Freedom.  Then he makes friends with anyone standing in the hall. All my neighbors know him. He even met Bella, one of the neighborhood dogs. A big dog.  That cured his escapes for about a month. 

Locked Outside

Anyway back to this BIG ADVENTURE. 

I was working. I have a part time job  as a Door Dasher. I try to put in a couple of hours every weekday. I save weekends for when the week has been slow and I need to make a little more. If I’ve met my self imposed quota for the week I get the weekend off. Anyway, I was “Dashing” and not at home when my longtime housekeeper came to save me from being overwhelmed by cat hair. Mainly Banner’s. With this over the top heat he’s been shedding like crazy even though I brush him everyday. She’s been helping me out for 4 years since I freely admit I’m not the best housekeeper in the world. 

So she was in my apartment on her own. She’s heard me say every time she comes by “Don’t let the Cat out.” ” Watch out for Banner He likes to escape.” But clearly she never “heard” me. Somehow She let Banner out. Not sure if he got out when she came in or when she left. All I know is that when I got home Balboa was there but no Banner.  I’d just finished searching the apartment when I heard a faint MEOW.

Welcome Back, Banner

I stood very still and listened. The meows were coming from the front door. So I opened it and there the little miscreate was. As soon as the door opened he shot inside. I don’t know where he was hiding because he wasn’t  in the hall when I came home. My upstairs neighbor was just coming in the outside door and said he was wondering if that was my cat.  I’ll have to ask him if he let Banner in from the great outdoors or if Banner was just in the hall when he came in. In any case I hope Banner has learned his lesson, at least for the next month or two.  

 

 

We hope you enjoyed this Blast From the Past

Those Silly Kitty Cats Are at It Again

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And a Four‑Year Mystery Is Finally Solved

Banner and Balboa, those silly kitties,  have a talent — not just for finding things, but for finding the exact things I don’t want them to find. Rubber bands, paper clips, bottle caps, the occasional bug… and yes, even my car keys. (If you missed Banner’s infamous key‑hiding caper, you can read the full story here: Tale of the Lost Keys — October 3, 2021.)

Their preferred playground is the middle of my tiny kitchen floor. Runner‑up: the bathtub. At least in the bathroom they’re out from underfoot.

Anyway, there has been a mystery in my house for more than four years. It only ever annoyed me when I wanted to use my food processor — and only when I wanted to grate carrots — so you can see why it wasn’t exactly top of mind.

The Food Processor Era Begins

I bought that food processor in a moment of weakness. A literal one. I had just shredded a five‑pound bag of carrots by hand for a carrot cake, and my arm was about to fall off. My thought was “There has to be an easier way.” I watch the Food Network. I watch the cooking shows. You drop ingredients in, press a button, and voilà — shreds, purées, grinds, blends. It was time to modernize.

I brought it home, plugged it in, dropped in a carrot or two, and it worked beautifully. Perfect shreds. Coleslaw here I come. I gave it a place of honor on the counter.

The Carrot Catastrophe

Now, I’m not always the most mechanical of people, and the next time I tried to shred carrots… mush. Tiny bits. Sand. What was going on?

I ran to my computer and watched YouTube videos. Looked simple. Tried again. Same result. Back to the old‑fashioned hand grater I went, but the food processor was still great for bread crumbs, crushing crackers, and grinding honey grahams for pie crusts.

Over the years I kept reviewing how‑to videos and giving carrots another try. No success.

Then one day, I had an epiphany. I Googled the parts of a food processor.

And there it was. The answer to my question. The missing part. The center shaft.

 

I only had the shaft with the blade. So when I put carrots in, they got shredded by the disc and then immediately chopped to bits by the blade underneath. I couldn’t remove the blade without having the center shaft to put in its place.

Head‑slap. Duh.

 

Enter: The Culprit

Okay all you culinary experts, stop laughing. I can explain.

Not long after I got Balboa, I found the little culprit in the kitchen playing with a plastic thing. I had no idea what it was — I thought it was something he found under the sink. He used to go in and out of there all the time, and I figured it was leftover from when the workers replaced the countertops.

Now that I realize what I’m missing, I recognize the thing as the shaft from the food processor.

Needless to say, it’s long gone. It was tossed even before the Great Kitchen Declutter.

Balboa posing in the middle of the kitchen with the food‑processor shaft he ‘liberated,’ looking very satisfied with himself.

The Wallet‑Smacking Finale

The worst part? That tiny plastic thingy costs almost as much as a new food processor to replace. Can you believe that.

One small moment of stupidity… one big bang on the wallet. But at least I finally know why I couldn’t shred carrots with my food processor.

When that part gets here, I may have to make a carrot cake to celebrate.

 

From Sand Dunes to Shark Apps

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Old Cape Cod, just as Patti Page imagined it — dunes, salty air, and a quiet stretch of shoreline that still remembers how things used to be.

Old Cape Cod: From Sand Dunes to Shark Apps

If you’re fond of sand dunes and salty air,

Quaint little villages here and there…

You’re sure to fall in love with old Cape Cod.

Patti Page sang those words in 1957, and the song didn’t just become a hit — it reshaped the Cape’s identity. That gentle, dreamy portrait of a sleepy peninsula helped launch Cape Cod into the national imagination. Tourists followed, then developers, and before long those “quaint little villages” gave way to strip malls, big‑box stores, and summer traffic that can test the patience of a saint.

But one thing never changed: the beaches. Crowded or not, they’re still the Cape’s heartbeat. And if we take a little walk through time, we can see just how much this place has transformed since Patti Page made musical history.

A Peninsula Born of Ice

Cape Cod is a hooked, sandy arm stretching 65 miles into the Atlantic — the leftover handiwork of the last Ice Age. It’s narrow in some places, wide in others, bordered by Cape Cod Bay, Buzzards Bay, and the waters of Vineyard and Nantucket Sounds. For centuries, life here revolved around the sea.

Nantucket, in particular, was once the whaling capital of the world. From the late 1600s through the mid‑1800s, whaling was its lifeblood. But as regulations tightened and the industry declined, Nantucket reinvented itself as a quiet retreat for the wealthy — a transformation that still defines the island today.

Preserving the Cape

On the mainland, conservation took center stage. In 1961, the federal government created the Cape Cod National Seashore, protecting miles of shoreline from development. Monomoy National Wildlife Refuge followed, safeguarding critical habitat for birds and marine life.

Then came a turning point: In 1972, the Marine Mammal Protection Act granted federal protection to seals.

That’s when the Cape’s story took a dramatic turn.

The Return of the Great Whites

As the seal population exploded, so did interest from a very different kind of visitor. In 1975, the blockbuster Jaws gave the world a fictional taste of shark‑infused terror — but it also foreshadowed reality. Over the next few decades, great white sharks began returning to Cape waters in growing numbers, drawn by the booming seal colonies.

The shift became undeniable on September 15, 2018, when Arthur Medici, a 26‑year‑old from Revere, was fatally attacked while boogie boarding at Newcomb Hollow Beach. It was the first deadly shark attack in Massachusetts since 1936, and it marked the beginning of what many now call the new Cape Cod.

Today, great whites are summer regulars. We have:

  • Spotter planes and research boats
  • Electronic shark‑detection buoys
  • Beach warnings near seal haul‑outs
  • And yes — an app for that. The Sharktivity app lets you track shark sightings in real time.

Even whale‑watch boats report seeing sharks, and whenever a whale carcass washes ashore, you can bet the great whites will arrive shortly after.

And they’re not alone. In 2025, a fisherman off Mashpee reported the Cape’s first confirmed tiger shark sighting. Offshore charter captains share videos of sharks stealing fish right off the line. There’s even shark cage diving now — something once associated only with South Africa or Australia.

A Personal Note: The Cape’s Own Shark Celebrity

The Cape has its own celebrity in Dr. Greg Skomal, author, marine biologist, and the face of modern shark research in Massachusetts. He’s been a champion of the great white’s return and a pioneer in tagging and tracking them. You’ve probably seen him on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, leaning over the bow of a boat with a tagging pole in hand.

I’ve had the privilege of meeting him and hearing several of his presentations. He’s charming, funny, and completely approachable — the kind of scientist who makes you feel like you’re part of the adventure. The sharks couldn’t ask for a better advocate.

Is This Still “Old Cape Cod”?

Somehow, the Cape feels less like Patti Page’s quiet seaside escape and more like a place where nature has reclaimed its throne. The dunes and salty air are still here, but the cast of characters has changed. Tourists still flock to the beaches — but so do apex predators.

Cape Cod isn’t sleepy anymore. It’s wild, unpredictable, and very much alive.

And maybe that’s part of its magic.

 

The Bathroom Scale Chronicles

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Orange tabby cat lying on the floor with one paw resting on a digital bathroom scale.

Banner Expands His Territory

With the feline peace treaty in full effect, Banner has acquired new territory. He has always been the bathroom cat — you know the type. The cat who has to help you pee in the morning, supervise your tooth‑brushing, and guard you while you shower. He’s the cat who naps in the sink like it’s a spa treatment. He even has his own cat brush hanging on the hook by the sink. But with the Feline Accord in place, there’s been a new development.

The Bathroom Scale Takeover

Banner has apparently taken on a new identity: Bathroom Scale Cat. I don’t know what about that cold little square appeals to him, but he’s claimed it like it’s a premium memory‑foam pet bed. He curls up on it, loafs on it, supervises from it. It’s his throne now. I may need to start weighing myself in the kitchen.

And the way he lies on that scale makes getting on the toilet a challenge. He doesn’t budge an inch — maybe flicks his tail or moves his paw a quarter inch, just enough to acknowledge that yes, he sees me, but no, he will not be relocating. The scale is his territory now, and I am merely a visitor.

The Shower Inspection Committee

This morning, he added a twist to his new role.

I turned on the shower, expecting the usual reaction — Banner hears water, Banner vanishes. That’s been the rule for years. But today? He stretched up on his hind legs like a tiny orange meerkat, peeking over the edge of the tub to watch the water come down. Completely fascinated. Tail relaxed, ears forward, eyes wide. The little man was studying it like he’d been appointed Chair of the Shower Inspection Committee.

And of course — of course — this adorable new behavior happened at the exact moment I did not have my phone. Normally I’d grab it and snap a picture, but I was already in the shower, and there was no way I was sprinting naked through the living room with its giant porch sliders just to document Banner’s sudden interest in hydro‑engineering.

Meanwhile, Balboa…

Every household has that one cat who refuses to participate in the plot. In ours, that’s Balboa. While Banner was conducting his water‑flow analysis, Balboa was sound asleep in his kitty condo, completely ignoring the drama. Not a twitch, not a peep, not even a token supervisory glance. Banner was having his scientific breakthrough, and Balboa was deep in REM sleep, dreaming of snacks and absolutely uninterested in bathroom politics.

Proof of Life (Sans Cat)

Cats always pick the funniest moments to be cute — especially the ones you can’t photograph. But I did get pictures afterward: the famous bathroom scale (sans cat) and the porch sliders I was absolutely not streaking past. Proof of the scene, even if Banner’s cameo was unrecorded.

Some moments are meant to be lived, not captured — but I’ll take the ones I can get.

 

The Feline Geneva Convention: Peace Talks in the Kitty Jungle

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Two cats rest together on a carpeted floor near a window. A black cat is stretched out on its side, and an orange cat is curled up beside it. Soft natural light from the window creates a calm, cozy scene with a cat tree in the background.

Two cats sit together on a carpet near a glass door, the orange cat upright and the black cat lounging beside him, both looking like they’re deep in important “cat business.”

Go away hooman. we’re busy

The Great Truce of the Kitty Jungle

I don’t know what’s going on in the halls of cat chaos, but Banner and Balboa seem to have worked out a truce of sorts. Looks like they’ve held thier own Geneva Convention and come to terms of some sort.  Balboa is usually the temperamental one, yet lately he’s been right there beside Banner like they’re co‑captains of calm. Maybe there’s hope for World Peace after all.

Summer Sunbathers & Squirrel Watch

Maybe it’s just summer. These two love lounging in front of the slider on warm afternoons, soaking up the sun like tiny furry sunbathers. Mornings have them nose‑to‑screen, vibrating with excitement as squirrels race along the top of the fence like they’re running the Indy 500.

I had high hopes that adding a sock of birdseed to my flower basket would attract sparrows or finches to entertain the boys, but it’s been a couple of weeks and still no interest. We get a few birds on the fence, but none come to visit the hanging basket. We aren’t allowed to have feeders on our decks — the folks on the first floor complained — and honestly, I can’t blame them. Still, I was hoping for at least a few visitors.

Fireworks, Hideouts, and Evening Drama

Evenings are quiet in the condo, mostly because the neighbor is shooting off fireworks every night. As soon as the first bang goes off, Balboa vanishes like a magician’s assistant. I don’t even know where he hides. Banner, not so much. The noise doesn’t bother him — but then, not much does. He’s such a laid‑back kitty cat.

The Cat Grass Chronicles

Both boys are leaving my little AeroGarden alone now that they have their own cat grass. Balboa visits his garden every morning, and usually after dinner I’ll find him poking around in it. Thankfully he seems to have stopped chewing it. When the first garden sprouted, he plowed through it like a furry lawnmower and deposited a pile of cat‑grass straw right in the middle of the hallway. It looked like a slimy haystack. No repeat performances, thank goodness.

Closing Thought

For now, the Kitty Jungle is calm — no zoomies, no turf wars, no dramatic monologues from Balboa. Just two cats enjoying summer, sunshine, and the occasional squirrel show. Peace may be fragile, but I’ll take it while it lasts.

Squirrel in a tree