The Smartest Kitties in the World

Posted on January 18, 2012January 18, 2012 by Dusty Roads

Everyone thinks they have the smartest pets in the world and I will admit that my cats don’t jump though fiery hoops or anything like that. Still my babies are pretty smart.

You’ve all met Rocky, our editor in chief.

Editor in Chief

In addition to “editing” he also types and points where the cursor should go on the screen. He opens doors and cupboards and linen closets. He even figured out how to open the “trifold” doors on the closets. He also likes to watch TV, especially sci-fi and nature programs. He comes when called and will play “fetch” when he feels like it.

He even helps me pack for my trips!

All in all he’s pretty entertaining.

Smokey is a bit more laid back but I don’t think he should be short-changed in the smarts department. Smokey knows his name and comes when called. He is a natural alarm clock and starts poking me in the face with his paw about 5 minutes before the alarm goes off.

Smokey will play a little but would much rather cuddle up on the couch. He’s not as interested in watching the computer screen or the TV but he’ll sit and try to type all day if I let him. Those little keys really fascinate him.

Now I want to take a trip back in time to when Rocky was a kitten and Smokey was a newcomer to my household. I lived in an apartment in Randolph and the fire alarm was always going off. We even had fires. When that alarm would go off the cats would disappear to parts unknown and my fear was that if we really had to escape, I’d never find them. I did not want Smokey living up to his name or Rocky turning into a “crispy critter”.

So I practiced (with lots of chicken and turkey bits) to get them to run to their carriers when the alarm went off. Rocky, being a kitten, learned the quickest.

Smokey , in his rebellious teenage cat years, still preferred the far corner under the bed but sometimes he’d cooperate. They got pretty good at it too. Then I moved to Taunton and life went on but I never got back into the “fire drill” mode.

So we’ve been living in Taunton now for around 6 years and I’ve never once practiced those old skills. In fact, as long as I’ve lived in this condo the building fire alarm has never gone off …at least not when I’ve been around…until Saturday night!

The alarm went off about 11:30 pm. The cats jumped and I jumped and then both cats just looked at me. I said “Fire” and pointed toward the bedroom where I keep their carriers. They started in that way with me right on their heels. I put both carriers on the bed and they hopped right in.

I zipped them up, pulled on my shoes and jacket and we were out of the place in less than 5 minutes. When the fire department gave the all clear and we were back inside, I gave them some treats because I was so impressed!

Well it wasn’t over. About 1:30 am the alarm went off again. Once again as soon as I put the carriers down, pointed and said fire they were in them! Once again we bundled up and headed out into the cold. Once again the fire department declared a false alarm and once again we returned to the warmth of our little beds. But I can’t get over how, amid all the noise of the alarm bells and the sirens, my little kitty cats followed my instructions and hopped right into those carriers. They didn’t bolt for a closet or under the bed even though they looked scared enough.

They say cats have the memory of a 3 year old and sometimes I think it’s even shorter but in this case when the chips were down they not only remembered that long ago training, they responded right away. I am so proud of them 🙂 ( Can’t you tell?)

Oh the night wasn’t over. About 3-3:30 am the alarm went off one last time. I stuck my nose out the door. No smoke so went back to bed. The cats looked at me as if to say “What? No carriers?” then they curled up and went back to sleep too. I heard the Firemen come in and give the a”all clear”. So glad we didn’t pack up and go out again.

Around the Gristmill Pond, Plymouth MA

Posted on January 17, 2012January 17, 2012 by Dusty Roads

All Aboard!

Posted on January 12, 2012January 12, 2012 by Dusty Roads

The White Flags on the Engine indicate this is a “special train”.

Final Thoughts on Steam in the Snow

Posted on January 11, 2012January 11, 2012 by Dusty Roads

This was a great experience and now that I’ve done it once and learned what it’s about, I am putting it on my calendar for next year too. Maybe then I’ll get my “Money Shot”.

Some people choose to follow the train in their own cars. These folks are called “chasers”. With the mild weather we had there were a lot of them.

The Snow Train crossing a vintage trestle bridge.

North Conway is a pretty town. We headed to dinner at sunset. Although with the heavy cloud cover there was no “sunset” the lighted ski trails on the mountain made up for it.

Steam in the Snow 2012

Posted on January 10, 2012January 10, 2012 by Dusty Roads

The “Steam in the Snow” is a special Charter by the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts (Mass Bay RRE). This special train is chartered from the Conway Scenic Railroad. According to the handouts this continues a tradition that was begun in 1934! This is called a Fantrip which is a trip made just to observe and photograph the railroad operations.

The route for this trip was from North Conway to Notchland by diesel and back to North Conway pulled by the steam engine. The return trip includes the photo stops, the main reason I was on this trip.

At a photo stop the passengers who are interested in taking pictures get off the train. A photo line is set up that we aren’t supposed to cross. Then the train is backed up out of sight so that it can be run back by us for photos. After the “run by” everyone climbs back onto the train until the next stop.

There were 300 passengers on this trip which according to the “Car host” was a lot. The photo stops were crowded because a photo club brough 35 members for a class of which photographing the train was the subject. You could spot the class members. Most of them were using tripods. I had been warned not to take a tripod as it would be too crowded.

The organizers tried to split the photographers into 2 groups and do 2 run-bys each stop but it was taking too long to get everyone on and off the train. I was getting a lot of heads in the pictures until about the third stop when I decided to get aggressive. I started asking people to let me get in the front row and then I got on my knees so they could “Shoot” over my head.

My “picture of the day” was actually taken after the train left a tunnel. Everyone was crowded right at the tunnel entrance. I gave up trying to get a position in that mob so I went on down the tracks and knelt down on the berm that sloped down from the tracks. I was pretty close to the tracks but no one yelled at me to move so I stayed. What an adrenaline rush! I could feel the ground shake and the wind as the train rushed by almost knocked me over…but I got the shot! I think If I’d have been standing it would have been instinctive to back away as the train approached. But by being on my knees I was committed! No time to move.

Although I got that picture and few others, none reached the standard I was trying for. That just means that I will have to go back again next year.

We had dinner at Rafferty’s in North Conway before we all piled back into the bus for the ride home. A long but satisfying day was wrapping up. The sun hadn’t cooperated but it had been pretty warm for January. The overcast made for nice even lighting for the pictures.