There’s a lot of tweaking when a band of three Inter-species Road Ramblers load into a Tour bus for an extended adventure, especially when one of them has never toured before.
Needs are assessed and reassessed daily as personal spaces are classified, assigned and reassigned as preferences emerge. Decisions need to take into account both predictable factors (innate, species-specific habits} as well as less predictable things such as weather, moods, impulses and missed hunger cues. For all three of us. What I’m trying to say is that you have to be ready for just about anything and once you are sure you have everything ready, you have to be prepared to adjust immediately. Then, with any triad, there are personalities. Whims. Clandestine motivations and intentions. I sometimes wonder if there are undisclosed missions at play as well.
Despite both four-legged Ramblers turning ten10 years old this summer, Pippa retains a certain teenage sensibility that Cornelius and I roll our eyes about, but both know we quietly benefit from. Pips gives us permission to sleep till noon, especially on Saturdays, and orders her Latte Grande with low fat milk and extra whip. Which makes no sense and she knows it. It does mean we get treats more often then we should. At the farm, she instigates movie nights all together on the couch. She’s a rom-com girly, which I don’t care much for, but Corny and I are in it for the popcorn.
Anyway, we used to say Corny was a bit of potato. In a loving way. It’s just that being a mostly naked cat (he has fluff on is nose and little else) he needs to be wrapped in special blankets (that must never be given to Pippa) called ‘Hot Pockets’ that are moved through a series of locations in the house during winter and the shoulder seasons. So, essentially he’s a jacket potato if the temp in the house falls below 23 degrees. And I’m responsible for keeping his jackets in good order.
Once summer is firmly arrived, he moves his tuberous body to the greenhouse for unapologetic, day-long napping. He’s actually better at predicting the last frost date than the Farmer’s Almanac. Where’s Corny? He’s in his hot pocket on his chair. Where is Corny now? He in in his hot pocket on this end of the couch. Where is Corny? He’s roasting in the greenhouse. On his bathmat. Ah, summer has finally arrived.
We love our little potato.
I have also, more than once, referred to him as a boneless chicken breast. Because, well, sometimes when you pick him up he is the exact temperature of a deli chicken in the foil bag, fresh from the rotisserie. And this gets weirdly paired with a his unusual lack of muscle tone, causing him to go a little limp in your arms at that temperature. Think Dali’s melting wrist watches.
Because he has no hair on his feet, he tiptoes outdoors with a slow, cheetah-adjacent gait. Imagine an anxious cheetah. He prefers smooth terrain to gravel, lush grass to pine needles. He refuses to step on an outdoor welcome mat. He has no claws, which I had nothing to do with. Having no whiskers to assist with locomotion and balance, he occasionally misses his mark when he jumps, which can be hard to witness. Usually I pretend not to notice, but Pippa has less scruples. I have learned to give him the extra three minutes to do some sort of calculation before ever going airborne. It makes a difference if he has time to do the fancy math.
He drinks like a camel and pees like a racehorse. He requires daily ear cleans, a weekly bath and I need to monitor his exposure to direct sunlight to avoid sunburn. He is ticklish and fussy about touch.
I’m telling you all this, because something has fundamentally changed in his demeanor since we hit the road just over a week ago. It’s kind of reminding me of Pippa when she was initially trained as my service dog (I failed the training, installing me as Pippa’s Service Human with a Lifetime Achievement Award) But in those early days, when we were both giving it our best shot, I remember how she would change dramatically when her service vest was on. How she stood taller, and became more alert. It was the only time she wasn’t a 13 year old girl. That vest did something.
I never put clothing on Corny, and I certainly never had reason to use a leash before now. But now? Now he has T shirts to keep the sun off him, sweaters in case the morning is chilly, and a harness. Maybe it’s the harness?
Last night we had our first Band of Ramblers Member Meeting.
I want to make it clear that I totally did NOT know Cornelius liked meetings and certainly didn’t expect him to chair one or insist on being Secretary. In fairness, we don’t really hold meetings at home because Pippa essentially controls the details of everyday life and Cornelius and I enjoy using our mental energy for things like the String theory and Quantum Entanglement. But for the record, here is what transpired.
Memorandum of Understanding (Interspecies protocol activated for long distance travel)
DATE: July 11, 2026
PRESENT:
Cornelius (Alias: Corny, The Admiral/ Secretary)
Pippa (Pips, The Pipster, Pipperoni, Pipperette, The Lady Pippa of Mull River Territory/Logistics)
The Biped (Kit, Driver, Feeder, Human, The Initiate)
The following agreements were reached using species-specific strengths-based methods which shall not be confused with consensus.
- All bus seats previously designated as Pippa’s shall be reclassified as belonging to any member who fits in it.
- Pippa requests her feeding station never be placed beneath Corny’s station. For obvious safety reasons.
- All members agree that no extended eye contact that could be mistaken as glowering, is permissible inside the bus. The Driver agrees not to make fake eye contact, suggesting something exciting is about to happen, when it is not.
- Extensive grooming, especially by Cornelius, is to be undertaken after lights out. A request from Pippa that he take his cleaning to the front seat (we have a window to the front only he can access while parked) was denied given no such demand could be reasonably made of Pippa without assistance of the Human.
- Serious business, conducted by Cornelius in his specially-designed ultra-modern latrine/ Human writing bench, shall be done prior to leaving camp to allow for the hazmat team to attend prior to departure. Midnight deposits are strongly discouraged for all Members during lights out periods. Reasonable efforts are expected.
- Cornelius claims exclusive rights to the space harness and indicates he will not be loaning it out going forward. He notes to Pippa that it is clearly marked with the universal symbol for CAT on its label. He wishes to retire the red one permanently.
- Pippa indicates if Corny dares to leap from the back bed to the ground one more time, she will personally ensure it doesn’t happen again.
- Pippa prefers her water bowl gets a second rinse before refilling. Like at home. Feeder agrees not to use wet wipes of any kind on food dishes. Cornelius agrees.
- Cornelius indicates his umbilicus (his name, not mine) must be lengthy enough to allow for a full perimeter survey of the van after safely parking each evening. He is to be permitted to take the time required to do a thorough sweep.
- Cornelius wishes other members to know he requires daily alone time and is not to be disturbed during these periods. We may take it personally if we wish.
- Cornelius reminds the Human what happened the last time she cluttered his upper walkways with craft supplies, limiting access to his instinctually preferable environments. He hopes I pay as much attention to the upper walkways as the floor space of the Bus.
- The Human requests to know the process required to add items to the agenda for our next meeting. Cornelius indicates this will be addressed going forward as Pippa indicates we have gone overtime and it ‘s SUPPERS.
Adjourned
This Wholehearted Life 