In September of the year that I had the first observatory built at the Astro-Ranch, I was out there imaging, and was preparing to shut down when I saw a little black blur. I jumped back thinking that I was coming in contact with a skunk which was passing through. In reality, it was a kitten. I recalled that about 2 hours earlier, I had heard a car stop out at the road, and heard a door open and close on the car. I believe that it was Andy's former owner dropping him off "in the wild". That was a Thursday evening. I returned to the site on Friday night, and there was Andy, waiting for me, and during the evening, Andy kept me company in the observatory, walked across the table, slewing the telescope while I was taking a picture, climbing on my head with his nice needle-like kitten claws helping him to steady himself. On Saturday, when I returned again, there was Andy again. Well, I called my wife, Peg to come out and see Andy. She fell in love with him, so I took one of my observing boxes (fairly large), drilled holes in it, and got Andy in the box, and taped it shut so that Peg could drive him home. I warned her that we could get him in that box but once. It would not happen a second time. The Astro-Ranch is about 40 miles from our home. After about 5 miles, Andy was putting up such a fuss that Peg felt sorry for him, and decided to open the box, just a little bit, so he could see out. OOPS. He was now out, and enjoying his ride in her Honda. He settled down on her head for the drive home.
Andy became an "indoor cat" after having climbed every wall in the house and customizing our leather furnature.
The image above shows Andy lying in a crib that my father made to put my mothers baby doll in. The doll was hers when she was a child, about 95 years old. Andy being the master of all that he surveys (or can reach), decided to test it out. The doll was probably not as comfy as Andy would have liked, so he has abandoned the crib for the most comfortable chair in the house (his chair). That is really not a distinction, as it is "all" his stuff, he just lets us live there. My co-worker, when he saw this picture remarked that Andy was just practicing for when there might be an infant in the house!
Andy by the way may look small, but he is a LARGE cat of almost 20 pounds!
Andy passed away in 2016 at the young age of 12 from Lymphoma and he is still missed