In the last few days (hours?) before life changes at my daughter's house, there needed to be a quick equipment upgrade. The original screen door had been rudely abused by her cats, and it's possible that it was already past its useful life due to the renters who lived there before my kids bought the house a few years ago. The hydraulic arm no longer pulled it closed in reasonable time and it didn't latch well. The cats launched themselves at the screen frequently, and tiny little Carmen discovered she had torn the screen just enough to escape in the last week. It was time for a new one, before a small person came along.
We went over to help install it. Well, I admit, the extent of my help was to sit on the couch and try to distract the cats while everyone else worked on swapping out the door. The kids got one that was full glass, all the way to the ground, with an upper window that lowers to reveal a screen. Way better than the cheap aluminum one that was there. Less private, to be sure.
My daughter had intended on getting a less spendy one that had a solid panel up to knee height. But this one had a foot control to hold it open, which will be handy while holding a squirming infant. She also recognized that these cats would be able to recreate our favorite memory of our New Mexico home: the Toad Show. When summer rolled around and June bugs emerged, toads always showed up on our porch to feast. They weren't particularly active. They just sat there, barely moving, while we and the cats watched. If you were looking for explosions and car chases, this was not your show. But if seeing cats staring intently deep into the eyes of Hypnotoad makes you giggle, this was an instant summer hit. The new pride of cats may be more in line for a snake show (there was a garden snake on the porch there Tuesday), or more likely the Sam the Neighbor Cat show.
Me, I'm mostly happy that they have a safe front door that can't be pushed open by tiny hands. If only those hands would decide to make an appearance!
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