Buffy's rough 4th of July

Both cats have been showing an increase in going outside lately, so while Matt and I were home alone for a while on the 4th of July, we decided to read outside on the front lawn and let the cats run around outside with us. Nite has become a master escape artist and has ended up spending a few nights outside, so we're really not concerned with her at all. In fact, she pretty much just sat by us the whole time. Buffy, on the other hand, has just recently shown an interest in the outdoors and went off exploring. Again, I wasn't too concerned because I figured she'd find her way back if she went too far. Indeed, when she would lose eyesight, we'd hear her start to yell, and it wouldn't be long before she'd be back in our yard.

It appeared she was having a good time running around until everyone else arrived home. She doesn't do too well with other people. I could tell that she just wanted to get inside, but there were strange people in her way. I tried to clear a path for her, but I guess they were still too close to the door. Matt's niece and nephew tried to chase her inside, but she ended up running into the neighbor's yard, into a fence, and then she was no where to be found. At this point, I still wasn't very concerned because I figured she'd find her way home after everyone went inside.

Then we saw the wall of black clouds approaching. Everyone headed indoors, so I set out to find my scared kitty. I had to think like her, and I figured that she would probably stay close to a house, and that's exactly where I found her - next to the neighbor's house. Fortunately, when I yelled for her, she yelled back. I picked her up and headed home. All was good until she saw Matt's sister-in-law and nephew at the door. She freaked out, scratched me up pretty good (tore my shirt, in fact) and headed for the backyard. I was started to get frustrated at this point.

Fortunately, there is a sliding door heading into the basement, so Matt opened that and I eventually got her to run in before the rain really started to come down. I'm not sure she's going to want to go outside for a while.