Well, the new cat (Cinder) is coming along nicely. For a feral cat, she's becoming quite used to a warm house with plenty of hiding spots, abundant food and water, and a pair of litter boxes. She now claims the entire house (which she shares well with Opie), and comes out to play in the evenings. She's come a long way from the frightened cat in the kennel when we brought her home. Opie has been a great playmate and role model -- Cinder wouldn't be quite as far along without Opie's help.

We had been visiting a cat at Lake Accotink Park over the past two weeks. The cat had been born in late April and had been trapped outside by park staff. We stopped by to see it every day (except Thanksgiving Day, because we couldn't get access to the office), to see if we could tame her. We picked her up this morning, and brought her home.