Here's a funny, TRUE story...

Okay...Here's a funny story. (Pictures are coming! Curt is going to help convert them off of my camcorder!) But picture this if you will...

Four days ago (early at night), we heard meowing on our property. Not too unusual, I mean, this is Boring, and well, we have an acre of property and there are many farms, nurseries and neighbors around us...but we couldn't figure out where it was coming from....the next morning....Stann hears it again, and tries to find the cat, thinking he could be stuck in the fence or he's just meowing to egg on the dogs....but nope, he's not. Stann finally pinpoints the spot where the meowing is coming from and its in one of our Pine trees! A BIG PINE TREE! At LEAST 50-60' tall. And the meowing is getting louder and louder and more persistant. (Also have to note here...the weather has been high 90's-100's the past few days). He looked up and couldn't see it. So, Stann waited until Jimmy and John got here for work and then Jimmy and John watched while Stann climbed the tree looking for the cat. He made it about 30' and called it quits - the brush was thick and he just couldn't see.

We called the Boring Fire Dept. (non-emergency line), and asked if they could get the cat down. They said "No", told us that the cat would get himself down and that to date, they've yet to find a cat skeleton in a tree. I told Stann this and he said "No $#!^, they fall out first!". (I bleeped). So that day passed, into the next morning. Stann got ready for work, and we still heard meowing, although very faint. Stann came home from work early that day and things were quiet. We figured the cat had got himself down. Next day...no meowing at first, but then as we came back from an errand, we heard the meowing again, although much more faint and we got worried. I mean, this is by now, at least THREE DAYS up top in a tree, during a blistering, humid Oregon heat wave! Our options were: let it stay there - see if it did come down, get it down ourselves or shoot the darn thing and put it out of its misery! We couldn't in good conscience let the poor thing die....let alone - I just didn't want to come across the skeleton of a cat at the base of a tree OR come across one of my dogs eating said skeleton...'cuz that's just gross!

So Thursday afternoon (July 12) Stann called the Sandy Fire Dept., and asked if they could come get the cat down. They said because of insurance reasons, they weren't able to do so, but he was more than welcome to try getting the cat himself. Stann got a little frustrated and said "What happens if I get stuck in the tree?" to which they replied, "Well, we'll come get you!" So Stann got dressed in a long sleeve shirt, work jeans, orange Nike hat, and Nike shoes, put a pair of leather work gloves in his back pocket, tied a rope around his waist and climbed 50' up the tree. He STILL couldn't see the cat! He was up there about 15 minutes (at that height), and had me tie the end of the rope down on the ground to the small pet carrier's handle and he hoisted it up 50' in the tree, till he got ahold of it. (Just in case he got it!) He FINALLY was able to locate the cat. He reached for it - and it was frightened and moved even further up the tree - like 2 branches from the top.

At this point, Stann said to me..."All right...just for clarification, I COULD get down if I wanted too...but Lizzy, I think I'm gonna have to take one for the team." He made sure to clarify that to me before he'd let me call...(he also said later - at that point, his legs were a little tired, so he didn't feel quite so bad about calling in the calvary to help him rescue that cat!) So I got the okay to call the non-emergency number of the Fire Dept. I called Sandy first, since they were who Stann had talked to last. She told me to call the Boring Fire Dept., I asked her for the number there, she said "911". I didn't want to tie up the 911 line - I mean Stann really wasn't in any real danger after all - and he wasn't hurt....so why use that line? So I called Boring Fire Dept., talked to the lady who'd told me originally that they'd never seen a skeleton in a tree - and she put the call in - but also had me call 911.

So I called 911. The dispatcher was a lady and she couldn't believe she'd heard me correctly. She asked me to state my emergency and I told her "My husband's stuck in a tree". She said "Excuse me?! Is he hurt?" I told her, "Nope, he's not hurt - but he's stuck about 40-50' up in a tree, trying to rescue a cat that's been up there for 3 days." She told us the Fire Dept. would be there shortly.

Jimmy had come over to help "spot" Stann while in the tree, and I had him stand in the driveway so they'd know where to turn off at....a rescue truck and fire engine came. It took 12 firemen to assess the situation and say "We need to call Gresham Fire Dept., we don't have a ladder truck". Twenty minutes later....

Gresham Fire Department shows up - pulls up behind our house - because the tree in question that Stann is in, is on the smaller side of our yard and the phone and electrical lines run through it. So they used the nursery roads behind our house to position their truck.

Meanwhile....we've created quite a stir in our neighborhood. Neighbors are coming out to see if they can lend a hand....Stann's yelling from the tree "Lizzy - tell the neighbors I'm not an Idiot!" To which, I'd then explain HOW he'd gotten in the tree in the first place....the overwhelming consensus from the neighbors was "What a sweet man!" for going up there to rescue a cat, that's not even ours.

So it took about 25 minutes to position the truck, cut away interfering branches, position the ladder and get Stann onto the ladder. I had the camcorder out, because when I got the OK to call 911, I told him I was gonna get the camcorder - 'cuz this was his first (and hopefully LAST!) ride on a fire truck ladder. When they were lowering him down from the tree on the ladder, the neighbors gave a big cheer, that they'd gotten him unstuck. (Wow. Is our town really that Boring that this is cause of celebration?).

On his way down, he told Bob (the ladder operator), "You guys are gonna get that cat down aren't you?" To which, 10 minutes later, they pulled a very gaunt, tiny, white and gray kitten from the tree. He's a feisty little booger too! I told Stann we ought to give it to the Animal Shelter, but Stann's become attached. He's even named him/her Bob. Bobby if it ends up being a girl. We don't know yet, because she's ferrel, and we've not been able to get close to her yet. But tomorrow's her vet appointment and we'll see if she's okay - if she is, she's tameable, and Stann's been wanting a mouser. Pathetic, aren't we? We've seriously got a farm on our hands...3 goats, 2 dogs and 1 cat.

We'll keep everyone updated on this saga as necessary. But pretty cool story, huh?! And every word is true!