Late Night Post

[H2O Man]

Today -- Saturday -- is my birthday. My younger son took me out artifact hunting in the afternoon. We found a dozen good pieces. Perhaps the most interesting is the base of a Clovis fluted point he found.

Later in the evening, after we had returned here, my wife noted a tiny "meow" coming from our kitchen wall. Because the pine boards are not kittens, we were quickly able to identify the source of the "meows." A cat had climbed through our garage attic, which has a "crawl space" just large enough for a cat, and had kittens in the attic over some storeage rooms. One had fallen between walls.

If a kitten searched for a century, it could not find a less convenient set of walls to fall between. My sons had to do quite a bit of work, taking a wall apart.

They rescued the kitten, which is now playing happily on the kitchen floor.

[eleny]

1. Happy Birthday, dear H2O!

[EFerrari]

2. Happy Birthday, my friend. We're lucky to have your company.

:toast:

[emilyg]

3. Happy Birthday

What a present!!!!

[countingbluecars]

4. Happy Birthday to you H2O Man!

[RandomThoughts]

5. Great story ! Glad the kitten is ok :)

Saw a rescue on animal channel where that happened, they had fire department come in and save the kitten.

[H2O Man]

9. We had a laugh

about that. When he was a youngster, I could get my son to do any work, no matter how hard, by saying, "Yep. Carmen Basilio (or Jack Dempsey) used to love to do this. Said it was the best training possible for boxing."

When he was taking the wall apart tonight, my son was saying, "I don't care if Carmen Basilio knocked walls down! I want to be a fireman, and save kittens!"

Strange family humor.

[dweller]

15. we're all strange family here, waterman

thanks for the smile in the story, we need some positive vibes wherever we can find them.

peace
dp

[EFerrari]

17. My sons like to tell stories about me tearing walls down on a whim

and warn their girlfriends about my sledgehammer. That is always good for a sidelong look.

lol

[RandomThoughts]

31. LOL That is so funny.

Wanting, and doing things to be that person you want to be, nothing is better then that in the journey.

Again kudos on the good birthday. :)

[shanti]

6. happy birthday, h20man!

to one of my favorite du'ers! :hi: :party:

[JimGinPA]

7. Happy Birthday - Too Bad About The Wall...

But I guess it's worth it if you got a little pussy(cat) out of it.

K&R

[Blue_In_AK]

8. Happy birthday!

And many more to you. It sounds like you're having a great time -- it's the little things that make life worth living. :)

[puebloknot]

10. You trying to make us shed a tear, or what????

Happy Birthday, and many happy returns of a cat to your crawl space! Dogs and cats: They're the *best* people!

[BrklynLiberal]

11. Happy Birthday H2O Man!!! What a great way to celebrate..by saving a life.

:bounce: :toast: :party: :hi: :thumbsup: :hug: :fistbump: :yourock: :applause:

[Forkboy]

12. Happy birthday!!

I had a cat in the wall episode myself, and we had to cut a hole in it to get the little guy out. That cat is still a trouble seeker. :)

Hope the rest of your day is a great one. :toast:

[NV Whino]

13. And you're naming the kitten Wall-e

right?

Happy birthday!

[H2O Man]

32. Right.

That name came up last night!

[merh]

14. Happy Birthday to you

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear H2O Man
Happy Birthday to you!

:party: :beer:

And Happy Freedom to the kitty - did you name it yet?

I'd say Waldo is a good name for it. As in, where's Waldo.

Thank you for being so much a part of DU. :hug:

[drmeow]

16. I want kitten pictures!

Happy Birthday.

[Gregorian]

18. Yay! Kitten stories are good.

I dearly miss both of my beautiful forest cats. So this story is more than welcomed. I have resorted to feeding the crows. Now every twenty minutes or so, my crow friend come swooping by to see if I have anything for him. It's joyous to be out working and to see the black crow circling above, knowing that I know who he is.

Some day I will again have a kitten.

Until then, it's just old memories of the crazy cats.

[omega minimo]

19. Happy B, H2O Man. I nominate el nombre "Koi"

:yourock:

[starroute]

20. Kittens like to do that sort of thing

On a farms where we once rented a carriage house, one of the barn cat's kittens found its way into a drainage hole between two rooms in the barn and from there up inside the cinder block wall. Eventually, the kitten reached a place where the holes in a lower and upper cinder block were slightly offset and got stuck.

It took a lot of vigorous meowing for the kitten to make its location known. A lot of futile groping from the loft to determine that the kitten couldn't simply be pulled up and out. And a lot of careful hammer and chisel work by the farmer to make a hole through the cinder block just above the kitten without making a hole through the kitten.

The kitten, I'm sorry to say, was only emboldened by the experience. Within an hour, it had ventured out of the barn for the first time and was wandering around the yard, picking fights with the geese and having to be rescued by its mother. (Did you ever see a cat box a goose's ear? It's impressive.)

[TahitiNut]

21. Happy Birthday, my friend!!

I'm glad you were born, sir! This ol' world is clearly better because of you.

:pals: :fistbump: :hi: :party:

[JanusAscending]

22. Amen to that!

Many happy returns of the day, and many more BD's to come!! :party: :toast: :party: JA

[FrenchieCat]

23. Happy Birthday, and wonderful story......

seems like you got yourself a Kitty for your B-day, and some wall work to boot!

It is my daughter's birthday tomorrow as well. The one in my sig line.

[LSK]

24. Happy Birthday H2O Man

:party:

[handmade34]

25. Happy Birthday!

nice story... I flashed to Edgar Allen Poe and glad yours is a good one

[nofurylike]

26. sweeet! Happy Birthday, H2O Man! eom

[Raksha]

27. In 2003 my son adopted two kittens that had fallen between walls in exactly the same way.

He found them in the building he was working in at the time. I don't remember how they got them out, but I don't think they had to tear the walls apart.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

[byronius]

28. Well, that's just perfect. Happy Day Of Birth. Many more, many lives.

You need to meet some aliens, I think. I vote you Emissary.

[Kaleko]

29. How about a freedom song

performed by Nora, the piano-playing cat?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ860P4iTaM

It's a special birthday, no?

[eridani]

30. You know the rules here, right?

No mentionioning kittens without pix! Happy BD anyway.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Me.]

34. You Beat Me To It

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5666081

[H2O Man]

35. Artifacts from yesterday ....

Inventory of artifacts collected on 5-15:

{1} Base of Clovis fluted point: These are the oldest type of projectiles found in North America, from the paleo era. I have a small group of points and tools from a local site that I found on 5-19-92. I’ve discussed doing an excavation there with a friend who, besides teaching at an area university, does some work for National Geographic. I will report this find to the local chapter of NYSAA and to NYS Archaeologist.

{2} Vestal corner-notched point: A very small javelin point, from a cultural phase with a limited range (centered in the NYS "Southern Tier"). William Ritchie’s book on the typology and nomenclature for NYS projectile points lists theradiocarbon date for the Castle Garden site as 2140 bc (+/- 100).

{3} Orient fishtail point: A perfect point, as crisp and sharp as the day it was made. These date between 1000 and 750 bc. Made of a high quality, non-local flint.

(4 & 5) Two Brewerton side-notched points. Brewerton points were used throughout the Late Archaic era. Local sites tend to have radiocarbon dates of approximately 2200 bc.

(6) Flint celt: A small (2 inch) thick (1 inch) celt. Possibly from Brewerton phase.

{7} Genesee knife: A broken Genesee point that, judging from the base and blade (compared to others found on the site) would have been 4.5 to 5 inches. Now 2.5 inches. The base was re-chipped to include a graver & possible shaft-straightener.

{9 & 10} Broken knife and point; unidentified.

{11} Pestle: Approxinately 6 inches, with one pit. Both ends show extensive use.

{12} Bipitted hammer stone.

{13} Bipitted hammer/nutting stone. Very deep pits, with extensive wear on all sides.

{14} Anvil stone: Approximately 14 inches, 1.5 inch thick, plate-shaped anvil stone. One side has large "cup," probably used as nutting stone. The other side has an 8-inch area showing heavy use as anvil in center, with approximate 3-inch border.

[scarletwoman]

36. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to wish you a joyful sun return.

All is not lost, so long as there are people like you in the world.

:loveya:
sw

[Spazito]

37. Happy Birthday to you, H2O Man and Happy Freedom Day to your...

newest companion!

[Time for change]

38. Happy Birthday H2O Man

[Sparkly]

39. Any pictures??!!

Happy Birthday!! :party:

[Patsy Stone]

40. Happy Birthday, H2O Man!

Sounds like it's off to a wonderful start. Here's to many more! :toast:

[lonestarnot]

41. HAPPY BIRTHDAY H20 MAN!

:hug: :loveya: :hi:

[robertpaulsen]

42. Happy birthday H2O Man!

:party:

[laststeamtrain]

43. Happy B'Day. Many happy returns. n/t.

[bleever]

44. Happy Birthday!

Family, artifacts, and a kitty. That's what I call a wealthy man.

:toast:

[riderinthestorm]

45. Happy Birthday!!

:party: My daughter wants to see pictures of your new kitty!!!

(and we both vote for Wall-E for the name).

[blm]

46. Happy Day to you and yours.

.

[G_j]

47. Happy Birthday!!

:hug:

[JeffR]

48. Happy birthday!

:toast:

[WilliamPitt]

49. Wow! You just have to be a happy man! Happy B'day may they all be as good!

[H2O Man]

50. There's a heck of a good

boxing match on Showtime tonight, also. Can't ask for more.