We’re pretty lucky here in Colorado.  Sure, we get our dumpings of snow but unlike some of you poor souls in the eastern part of the country, our snow usually melts quickly.  Sometimes even the next day or two.  Combine that with the fact that we’re closer to the sun than most and that adds up to me having to only shovel a few times a year.  We can just let good ol’ Mother Nature handle it.

We have a pretty good sized deck off the back of our house.  When we first bought the house a few years ago, the tiny one that was there was on our list of things that had to be fixed.  We tore it down and replaced it with something larger and wider and with Trex to keep little toes from getting splinters.  

The cats love it.  They’re closer to the birds and it’s great to spread out on and take a nap.  When we had it built, we designed it specifically with the cats in mind.  There’s no gaps for the cats to get out from, the bars are spaced enough so they can’t get through, the height of the railing is just high enough to look unattractive to elderly cats and there’s a gate at the top of the stairs that leads down to the backyard.

And it does look good too.  Better than the chicken wire we had wrapped around the railing of the old deck.  

The deck does belong to the cats.  Sure, the barbeque is out there, and there are a few seats to sit on and enjoy a drink in the summertime, but it’s really theirs.  Like everything else, they’re just letting us borrow it.  Even though we paid for it.

They are not, however, crazy about having to share it with the seasons.  Snow is not a deterrent, even though they really don’t like it.

Of all my three cats, the one that just doesn’t seem to understand this is Beeker.  When I gear up to fill up the bird feeder and the snow is 8 inches thick, who’s the first cat to throw themselves outside?  Beeker.  He’s gotten himself stuck a few times and required a rescue mission.

Sometimes he’s smart enough to keep close to the house where the overhang of the roof can keep the deck a little drier, but when the snow is just too much, it doesn’t help.

But the best thing about all that snow on the deck?  Beeker gets someone to play with.