Hence, gents.... We have a New Fence!

That is exactly what I told my cats this evening when Guillermo, a man of his word, finished building the new fence and gate for the backyard. My cats gazed at me with that look that says: "She gets excited over the craziest things!"

Gone is the black wrought iron fence that made the back half of our driveway look like Alcatraz. Gone is the short iron fence that one of my cats could jump over or squeeze himself through, depending on his preference for the day. And gone, gone, gone are the days when I had to open that wrought iron driveway gate to get my car from the garage to the street, then close the gate to keep the cats in the safety of our yard and away from the street. Then the process had to be repeated in reverse when I got home.

The cats now have to get used to the new fence and gate. Two of them go out into the yard from time to time, the youngest cat stays inside. The two older ones were used to being able to stroll around half of the driveway while safely looking out at what was happening in the street. Now they're not only cut off from the driveway, but they're cut off from seeing what's going on out there on the other side of the road.

My oldest cat won't mind. He's not that adventurous anymore. As long as there is food in his dish and he has a cozy spot to sleep, nothing else seems to matter to him. The middle cat.... he's the one who will have to re-adjust. He hates change. He dislikes any alteration in his routine. At all. For any reason. "What do you mean I can't go in the driveway? How will I see that white cat that sits across the street every morning? You're killing my social life"! I can hear him now.

The big test will be tomorrow morning. Not with the cats, but with the birds that fly into the yard for their breakfast every day. Sparrows and blue jays and cardinals-- they all fly into our yard from the driveway side of the house. They used to have a clear flight-path. Now they have an obstacle course--- two feet of wood lattice on top of four feet of slatted fence. I can see it now--- dozens of little hungry birds caught in the lattice, chirping away helplessly while composing letters to the local animal authorities asking that I be charged with reckless fencing.

Cats who don't like changes in their personal environment. Birds who might fly into the lattice as the sun comes up tomorrow. All I wanted was a new fence.