It's a one hour drive along a high desert highway to get to the nearest major town where we do our big shopping - you know, Costco, Target, Old Navy. What isn't desert is farmland and ranches and just a handful of homes along the way. Coming down from a rise in the road, I could see a little black spot on one of the yellow stripes running down the middle of the highway. As I got closer I could see it moving but still thought it was some sort of trash or debris fallen from one of the many trucks that travel through. As suddenly as I was on top of it I realized that it was a little black kitten standing on the yellow stripe mewing as loud as he could to the wind! I pulled over as fast as I could and ran back down the highway to get him, panicing that he would be hit by a car right before my eyes. His voice sounded dry and hoarse but determined too - somebody help me! I scooped him up and ran sobbing back to the car so thankful that I had gotten him but worried that he wouldn't last long too. I handed him off to my daughter and he immediately fell asleep in her lap. We weren't far from town now so we got him food and water which he took to right away but then I noticed that his whiskers were singed and the tip of his ear looked almost melted. The vet thought that maybe he had gotten up into someone's car engine to keep warm but burned himself in the process and then fell out on the highway. He still had his baby blue eyes and wasn't much bigger than the palm of my hand but had a strong will to survive. We named him Chou Chou (shoo-shoo) - it's a French expression of endearment meaning "my little cabbage" - like we might say, "my little pumpkin." (Anyone that speaks French correct me if I'm wrong :) ) We've had him for five years now and he's grown into such a handsome boy with beautiful pale green eyes. He doesn't like to be held but he's extremely affectionate. Recently, he got in a fight with one of the other cats (I think I know who but I'm not naming names) and he got a nasty bite on his neck that became infected. We've been doctoring him up and it's healing well but one thing that really helped was snipping off the end of a felted sweater sleeve and slipping it on like a big thick collar. It's so dense that he can't scratch at it but comfortable for him too - not like those goofy plastic Elizabethan collars that make your pet act like a drunken sailor. So that's the story of Chou Chou *and* another use for felted sweaters ;)
