Before Christmas it occurred to me, as my special promotion with my cable company expired, out of the 155-plus channels I had I watched maybe four of them. So I called my cable company and we renegotiated the number of channels and price. I now receive 15 ‘premium’ channels —not movie channels— plus local and knocked over $50 off the bill.

I watched a documentary on the Webb telescope, primarily made famous because it discovered the expansion of the universe, influenced by ‘redshift’. I will use Gracie as an example to explain.

Gracie has determined her yard will expand to the neighbor’s yards when necessary, that is when a neighbor’s cat ventures into her yard, or she *thinks* a cat/ raccoon/ squirrel is or has been there she rockets out the driveway in hot pursuit. I call. She comes into view. I call again. She either abandons her search or I come after her, which is the less-optimal choice. She looks mildly abashed for a moment, then happily trots back to her yard. But I am trying to help her understand the neighbors’ yards are not an extension of her world, nor is it incumbent upon her to rid the area of these nuisance creatures.

Besides, I have learned cat persons are not quite as understanding or forgiving as dog persons, though there are exceptions on both sides. Precious FiFi, whether dog or cat, must be protected even to the exclusion of friendliness. So I try to make clear to my neighbors that reeling in Gracie’s idea of her area is important.

Yes I did spend a (relatively) large (for me) sum on an ‘invisible’ fence last spring, as well as dedicated time for several weeks training Gracie with it. The collar is cumbersome, not to mention the shock is scary. I tested the levels (there are 7) on myself before adjusting it for Gracie. We started at 1, moved up to 4, are back now at 3. So if my efforts at keeping her in her yard aren’t as effective as the fence we go back to the collar.

Gracie disagrees but fortunately what I think and want is beginning to matter.