these are really Red Eyed Greebs but we believe they are Hilo checking in on us from time to time


Raven seemed cleaner when Hilo was around. Hilo needed all the horizontal surfaces to nap on so they had to be free of clothes and tools and stuff. Then there was his litter box, cage, food and bowls we had in certain places. Mostly miss waking up to his warm butt up against my back. And his fuzzy little face.

Hilo Kaladas-Carr
8/29/00 - 12/8/07

"Want to walk
walk about

Want to talk
talk about

Tell the whole world about you

You're so fine & your so sweet

Gave us a love that can't be beat"

- Ray Charles

Hilo melting in the heat

PAW IN MY EAR

The other morning Hilo jumped into bed with me, after Scott had got up, and proceeded to walk on my head to find a comfy spot to lie down. Well I had to draw the line at him standing in my ear then trying to use my check as a step up. I have this theory that they get close to your face just because they want to lay on your soft pillow, Scott thinks they like having your warm breath on their backs.


HILO THE THERMEMTER

Hilo has a regular routine that varies with the temperature. If it is a nice day he'll want to go out starting at 4:30 AM, he'll run around on the deck for an hour then come back in for a cuddle or breakfast (he will come in to say hi to each of us as we get up). Then he'll curl up inside the dodger where it is the warmest until about 4:30 pm, then he'll get up and hang out on the boomkin and watch the bats flying around until we keep him in at 9 PM.
If it is cooler out he won't ask to go out until 7 ish then he'll be back in the boat for his morning nap around 10. The rest is the same. If it is hotter out he's out at his usual 5 am but won't come back in until 10:30 to nap up in the v-berth where it is the hottest. After his mid afternoon sack he'll sleep on the dinette table or floor and won't want to get up for his evening activity until 6 pm. He seems to really like the heat, though he just sleeps all day, so I guess I can't worry about him being in Mexico in July when it gets really hot.


Deception

One morning Hilo jumped into bed with us and started meowing to go out. I figured it was his usual time, 4:37 am, to go out so I opted not to check the clock and just let him out. Usually after he goes out I manage to 'listen' for him running up and down the deck after a bird or for the big 'thump' after he has jumped back from the boat next door, if I don't hear him in a while I get up and check on him. But I crashed and didn't wake up until I heard him meowing at the companionway. SO when I got up to let him in and feed him I checked the clock because it seemed darker than it should be and it was only 3:30 am! Which means the little Bugger got me to let him out at around 2 am thinking it was his usual 4:37 am! From now on I'm checking the clock

The Roll-Over

The other morning as I was in our v-berth (bed) lying on my side facing the side of the boat when Hilo jumped into the v-berth with us and stood at my back. I tried to get him to climb over me and cuddled up against me like he likes to too but he just sat there for a bit before pawing at the blanket on my shoulders. When he stopped I tried to coax him over again but he just started pawing the blanket again. He had never done this before so I rolled over to see what was up with him and the minute I did he cuddled up 'under my chin' (1/3 of him on my pillow, 1/3 on my arm, 1/3 on my boob). I guess he was pawing at me to get me to turn over so he could cuddle in his favorite spot.



'Bimini Pounce':

Hilo likes to hang out on top of the bimini (I figure it is like a huge hammock for him) so when you come out or go down below and bump your head into the top of the bimini, Hilo pounces on your head (through the fabric). He doesn't use his claws so it is fun. Then there's a missing grommet so there is a hole where the bimini and dodger meet and he likes to stick his paw through and try to get you, again when you're going in and out (and without using his claws).

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Sleeping w/Cats

When it does cool off at night Hilo will jump into bed with us. I woke up the other night with him wedged in between Scott and I, which of course is normal but Scott & I think we humans are just big, heated mattresses for cats but we like it when he snuggles. The v-berth on our boat is about 4 feet off the ground with a 2 foot wide opening to get in, even we have a hard time getting into it sometimes. Hilo seems to have varying confidence regarding making the big jump into bed with us so mostly he'll give some meows before he jumps. We like to think he is warning us incase our head is in the way but we think he is really trying to syke himself up. The first couple of times he tried to jump up he didn't quite make it. I would look over to see him hanging on by his claws so I took to just grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and pulling him up. Other times he clears it with no problem. When we had to quarantine off the v-berth while we were varnishing a bulkhead there Scott and I slept in the main saloon for a week. It was a slumber party but it drove Hilo crazy that he couldn't get into the v-berth and jump out through the forward hatch. When we finally got to move back in Hilo took his mid morning nap in the v-berth then slept with us that night. It wasn't even cool so he didn't snuggle but slept on top of a folded up fleece blanket, his favorite.

Hilo and one of the clean fans

Sooted and Furred

The fans we figured we liked the best and got were the kind without a safety grating: they consist of 2 'soft' blades that have 'lattice' type edges. I think this must be what makes them 'soft'. They are the 12V type and we hard wired them into the ceilings. Sure it still hurts alittle to even accidentally hit your wrist against the blades while they are spinning but they don't even draw blood so they are pretty safe.

The funny thing about the 'lattice' type edges is that when the blades get some soot on them (from a smoky kerosene stove mishap) Hilo's cat fur sticks on too. So you now have dirty, sticky fans with cat hair sticking out around the holes of the 'lattice' type edges. I figured I should clean them off once in a while at least but the cat hair looked kind of funny, just one of those things that people without cats and boats don't get to see.


The Escapee

Since it is so hot we have taken to leaving the boat with the wind scoop up. Which means that the forward hatch is wide open. I figure that since we leave the screen in the companionway hatch, if someone really wanted to get in they could just cut open the screen anyway. So I opt to feel better knowing Hilo is getting a nice cool breeze while we are gone with the windscoop. The other day we left the boat around 5 to go to a beach party and left the windscoop up and the screen in the other hatch as usual. Though Hilo can jump up through the forward hatch I thought maybe he couldn't with out the 'v' part of the v berth in. well when we came back to the boat after our party at about 9 pm Hilo was up on deck! He had escaped thorough the forward hatch! I guess he can jump up without the 'v' in. I figured he figured it out because nighttime is his time to prowl around. I just wonder if he was meowing for us like he is known to do and how soon after we left he got out - he wouldn't tell me.

Our Boat Has A Doorbell

We have a screen over our hatch/companion way that Hilo can get out of but hasn't figured out how to get back in. So some times when we are down below he'll come over and sit by the companion way and just look into the boat through the screen- at us and stare. Some times he actually wants to come down, sometimes not; so I started telling him that if he wants to come down he has to say 'meow'. This way we don't have to get up and see if he wants to come down or not. Well, we've been on the boat 2 months now and it seems that he is figuring it out - he'll come over and sit and meow, then we get up and let him in. We have a doorbell that sounds like; 'MEOW'.

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Mexican Cat Story
I was walking back to the boat the other day when our friend Lorena pulled up in her car to chat. So we were chatting for a little bit and she kept on looking at a 5-gallon bucket (with lid on) that was on her passenger side floor. She finally confessed that Susanetta, the hotel cat, was in the 5-gallon bucket and they were on their way back from the vet! The lid wasn't completely on. I was thinking well at least she brought her in to the vet in some kind of carrier instead of having her get all freaked out-an issue at my old job. Then I started thinking about Hilo's fancy carrier that I brought him to the vet in, oh well.

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BELLY BOUNCE

Yesterday a bunch of us were sitting in the cockpit to discuss the electrical project and it was cool and overcast so I put on a fleece jacket. About 1 minute after I sat down Hilo came out of the boat and was standing on the cabin top (about 2 feet from me and up) looking at my fleece covered lap like a Thanksgiving dinner so I moved my notebook and braced myself for a belly bounce from him jumping over. Sure enough he launched over and landed square in my lap then settled in for a little warm cuddle while we all discussed batteries and solar panels. Maybe he was educating himself on our electrical system.