Alone in the Dome!!?!

I just got back to the dome, so I thought I'd blog about it. I was worried for what I might find after the dome being empty for ~2 weeks. I had been preparing myself to find mice, just so I wouldn't freak out if I actually saw one, or even just evidence of one. Luckily, my mom lovingly pointed out that usually by this time of year the mice have already found their home, so if we kept them out already, they aren't going to be running through the snow to get into our Roton-free dome. So, basically what it comes down to is that I've come home to a dark, quiet, and cold dome, very very cold. But at least it is a mouse-free cold dome. The only disturbing thing I've found is a patch of the wall, which has an uncanny resemblance to coral. How did this happen?!?!!?!?!!!!





I can't even tell which one of these is the dome and which one is coral.

The Dome is an Igloo!

The snow and the cold have finally arrived in VT, and The Dome is looking quite attractive with its shingles all covered in snow. And with the arrival of winter-time adventures comes a new blog post!

So, here is the dome.


And here is Roton in the snow.

He has been bulking up for the cold weather. You can't tell from this photo, but he is quite round.

Here is a picture of Laura having a really splendid time on the snow run we constructed between the dome and the barn.

It was a pretty big project. We even have a ramp at the top for extra speed (read: to make it to the bottom without stopping on the middle section which is mostly flat).

Dome Blog Bonus: video!
(sorry videos take forever to upload, check back tomorrow maybe)
We really love our sled run. Roton does too.
:)

BIG

I got back from Texas this evening and was really looking forward to seeing Roton. He met me at the door, and waited patiently while I put my bags in my room. Then I sat on our large white couch and he jumped into my lap, where I petted and he purred. I was admiring his handsome furry forehead when I noticed a funny spot. Closer inspection revealed a huge white tick butt. UGH! After consulting the barn girls about tick removal protocol, I persuaded Meghan to holding Roton while I extracted the tick with tweezers. It was BIG. And gross. So we put it in a tupperware container and sent it down the river.

Lamp Shades!

The dome is sooo elegant. Today, the dome got LAMPSHADES. We picked up some fabulous floor lamps from the WRJ Listen about, oh, three months ago. $5 each. Fabulous. They've stood tall and naked these past months, though we had lovely large lampshades waiting in the cupboard. The problem was that the lamps didn't have harps to support the shades, and they are apparently so old that the harps you can buy at Walmart or Home Depot don't fit on the base of the lamps. Finally, after discussion #38 about our need to put lampshades on the lamps, Meghan suggested duct tape. Of course! Why in the world should Meghan try to fashion an appropriate harp in the machine shop when we can just duct tape a store-bought harp to the base of the lamp!?



The lamps look great, and add a feeling of elegance to the dome. However, elegance doesn't really suit the dome, so in order to counter this stab at civility we used masking tape to adhere the black cord of another lamp to our wall. Ahh, much better.

Roton: Lost and Found

Last Tuesday I (Laura) got home around 4 and spent some time with Roton before I walked down to the barn for Bible study. He followed me outside, but didn't accompany me all the way to the barn. When I got home I called his name and waited a few minutes, but he didn't show up so I shut the door and went to bed. That was Tuesday night.

Wednesday morning Meghan and I got up early and hit the road, eager to get some studying in before our 10 o'clock qual-prep session. Meghan and I will be taking the qual Sept. 20th and 21st, so these days we spend most of our time studying. When we got home I called for Roton but he didn't show up. I started to get worried, and thus decided to wake up early the next morning and do a thorough search. That was Wednesday.

At 6:30AM on Thursday I took the trash down to the barn, then walked all around the Harjitshire peninsula, calling Roton's name. No sign. By this time I was officially worried. Meghan and I left for work, Meghan vowing to make an even more thorough search of the neighborhood with me when we got home. Unfortunately, we got home around 7:30, and had to make our search by headlamp. I was exhausted and stressed, and Meghan was exhausted and stressed and hungry, so we were a great team. I knocked on the door of the house across the street. A bunch of people appeared to be gathering for a meal.

L: Knock, knock, knock!
Guy who opens door: *Confused stare*
L: "Hi! We're your neighbors, we live in the dome. I'm Laura." *sticks out hand*
G: "Chili" *looking confused, shakes hands with Laura*
M: "Meghan" *shakes hands with Chili"
L: "We're missing our cat. He's small with grey stripes."
G: "Uh, I haven't seen him, but I'll let everyone who lives here know about him."
L: "Thanks."
G: "Um, where do you guys live again?"
L: "Across the street, in The Dome on the Right."
G: *still looking confused* "Uh, right. Ok. Goodnight!"

As we're walking away, Meghan says "You know, I don't think he even lives there." Bummer.

The next stop was the Rakhra house. They were also eating, but welcomed us in when they heard that we were searching for a missing Roton. The whole family offered their condolences and even volunteered to help us search. Both of Harjit's daughters talked about how much they loved our kitten. They hadn't seen him since Tuesday night.

After Harjit's house we walked to the barn. No one was home, and there was no sign of Roton. Not willing to give up yet, I switched on my headlamp and dragged Meghan toward the dimly-lit neighborhood on the other side of Route 5. We called for Roton and knocked on a few doors, but found nothing. Just as we were about to turn around, a van drove up behind us and pulled into a driveway on our left. Three girls and a mom piled out, and we stopped them on their way inside.

L: "Hi, we're missing a grey kitten. Any chance you've seen a grey striped kitten?"
Mom: "Oh, no! No, I don't think we've seen one. I'm so sorry! We'll keep an eye out for him. Where do you guys live?"
L: "We live in the domes across the street."
Mom: "The domes..."
Daughters: "The OTHER dome!"
Mom: "Oh! Of course! The other dome! We know Erin." (Erin is our neighbor in The Dome on the Left)
L: "Oh, yeah, cool."
Mom: "So, I guess you've looked all over for your cat? Have you looked up that big hill on the other side of Route 132? You should look up there. There's a pit and a barn with a lot of cats in it. It'd be a good place for a cat to hide. Especially since there are coyotes up there."
L: *surge of adrenaline* "Ok, thanks, we'll do that." *turns to rescue her kitten from coyote peril*
Mom: "But I wouldn't go there at night. The man up there is kind of crazy."
Daughters: "He'll shoot you!"
That was Thursday.

I came home early from work on Friday. I was so worried about Roton that I knew studying would be hopeless, so right after our 10 o'clock qual-prep session I drove home and changed into jeans and boots. Christi-Lynn of the barn agreed to head up the hill with me, putting her life on the line (she confessed that curiosity, as well as love of Roton, was calling her hill-ward). We crossed 132 and cautiously stepped onto the gravel road that disappeared over the top of the hill. There was a barn at street level, so we decided to check that out first. There were a number of deserted cars parked around the barn, and a half-dozen more cars were parked inside it. After shouting Roton's name a number of times, C-L declared that the barn was not a place where she would want to stay if she were a cat, so we decided to press on. As we retraced our steps toward the hill, we watched a large dump truck come barreling down the hill, and another ascend shortly after that.

C-L: "What in the world do they do here!?"
L: "No clue. The woman last night said something about a pit. They must be mining something. Do you think it's legal? And do you think they'll mind us being here if it's not?"
C-L: "Don't worry, they can't shoot us for trespassing in broad daylight."
L: "They can't?"

As we crested the hill two crude buildings and countless construction vehicles came into view. It was a 4-yr-old boy's dream. Careful stay our of the way of the yellow tractors and red dump trucks, C-L and I looked around. Across the road we saw a big sign. "All personnel must report to the office before entering mine." Aight, sounds like a plan. Where's the office?

C-L and I walked toward the building nearest to us. Suddenly, a HUGE rottweiler jumped up and lunged toward us, barking madly. The front door of the building opened and a man stepped out to yell at the dog. I waved, hoping he wouldn't shoot. Surprised, he beckoned to us.

L: "Hi. We're looking..."
Dog: "WOOFWOOFWOOFWOOF!!!"
Man: "SHUT UP!" *turning to us* "Jealous [female dog]... How can I help you ladies?"

So that's how we met Bogey, who apparently the barn girls pay to plow their driveway. Bogey led us over to his barn, where he kicked at two small pigs and told them they'd better run, because they were getting to be the right size for the grill. After Bogey left us we continued to poke around the barn, calling for Roton. As C-L walked toward the far end of the building, a bath-tub size pig leapt (seriously) up with its forehooves on the fence enclosing its pen. C-L jumped back, declaring it an Attack Pig. All the animals (dozens of pigs and a few chickens) oinked and squealed and brayed, and we once again decided that this barn wasn't the place for a cat.

As I made my way back to the dome, I knew my search of the area had ended. I walked into my room and sat on my bed, tired and dazed. My phone beeped signaling that I had a message.

Message: "Hi Laura, this is Mary from the Upper Valley Animal Clinic. A couple just came in and they found your cat. We have him here, so if you could call then we can arrange for you to pick him up."

Joy! I dialed the number, and my voice cracked as I agreed to be put on hold.

Thirty minutes later I met John the Rescuer at the Go-Go Mart near the Dartmouth Medical Center. John was super-nice, and told me about how he had been getting ready to go fishing with a buddy at 5:30AM Wednesday morning when he heard loud meowing across the river. He looked across and saw a kitten, apparently trying to cross the river and very distressed that he couldn't. John drove his boat from the shore at the bottom of our driveway to the other side of the river, where he met a gratetful and very affectionate Roton. Not knowing what to do with him, he took Roton home, nick-naming him "Pomp" for the Ompompanoosuc River. He called a number of local vets to see if anyone had reported a missing kitten. Finally on Friday he took Roton in to have him scanned for a microchip. They found his microchip number and used it to find his contact info, and the vet called me immediately.

Roton and I came home and took a nap. He is now looking very handsome in a collar with his name and address on it.

Laura to the Rescue!

I got home around 11:30 last night after watching a movie with two of the barn girls. I was disappointed when Roton didn't meet me at the door, and confused when I didn't find him sleeping on my bed. Then I remembered that he had gone outside when I went down to the barn. Right.

I sat down at the kitchen table and had been typing for about 30 seconds when I heard a meow. Roton! I called his name out the screen door. Roton repeatedly responded to my calls, but didn't show up at the door. Wierd.

I stood up and got my headlamp. I continued to call him as I poked my head out the door, but his meows had faded. Was something preventing him from getting to the door? Or was he just distracted by a passing bug or bat or who-knows-what?

I sat back down and began to type. Then I heard something large rustling around upstairs in Meghan's room. Great. My valiant, bat-conquering cat is outside, and there's an animal in the house. Stay calm.

"Meow!" Roton sounded pretty emphatic this time. I jumped up, grabbed my headlamp, and headed out the door.

-"Roton!"
-"Meow!"
-"Roton, where are you?"
-"Meow!!!"

I turned around to find Roton standing on top of the awning above our front door, looking perplexed. "Oh, Roton!" I climbed onto the porch railing and was immediately blinded by the motion sensor light, which turned on in my face. Letting my eyes adjust, I reached up and pulled the scared kitten down to safety.

Suh-wing Batter!

10:00 PM - Laura goes to sleep, setting a record for 2007.

12:59 AM - Laura awakes to the sound of Meghan making a funny noise.

1:00 AM - Meghan again makes the funny noise.

1:02 AM - Laura decides Meghan can't possibly be making that noise, and decides to turn on a light.

1:02 AM - The kitchen comes into focus, with Roton staring intently at the kitchen sink. Trouble.

1:03 AM - Laura cautiously gets out of bed and creeps into the kitchen.

1:04 AM - Roton and Laura hear the noise again. Roton attempts to jump onto the kitchen counter (where he is NOT allowed) but doesn't quite make it, so Laura gives his bum a boost (desperate times).

1:04 AM - Roton disappears behind the curtain covering the kitchen window. All is quiet, then Laura hears the fluttering of a large bug. Relief!

1:05 AM - Laura checks to make sure it's just a bug, only to find a bat (!) in the window sill. The bat attempts an escape, diving towards Laura's head. Laura screams.

1:06 AM - "Meghan!" Silence... "MEGHAN!" "Huh?" "There's a bat in the dome!" "What?" "There's a bat in the dome!" Long pause... "Is it a nuisance?"

1:07 AM - Laura, not sure what to make of Meghan's reply, decides she and Roton are on their own.

1:07 AM - Laura and Roton follow the bat into Laura's room. Yes, Meghan, it is now a nuisance.

1:09 AM - Laura remembers that she has a tennis racket in her closet. She tries not to disturb the bat, now hanging upside-down from a nearby wooden beam lining her ceiling.

1:10 AM - Laura closes the door from her room to the kitchen and opens the back door, revealing a crisp, dark night. She nudges the bat with the racket, prompting another round of terrifying laps around her head.

1:11 AM - Laura wills the bat to leave her room. She pleads aloud "Mr. Bat, please leave." The bat does not budge.

1:12 AM - Laura again nudges the bat, but this time she's ready. As the bat swoops by she swings her racket, in the hope of launching the bat out the door. Instead, it falls to the ground. With Roton in her right hand and the racket in her left, Laura tries to usher the bat out the door.

1:12AM - With a last burst of energy, the bat leaves the floor and flies into the night, with Roton hot on his heals.

1:13AM - Laura shuts the door, wishing both bat and cat a good night.