Had a really nice day yesterday with my dad. He thinks nothing of a 3-hour drive up here, only to stay 3 or 4 hours and then head back. He says he doesn't mind. Years ago, when he was teaching, he worked at least one summer as a tour guide on tour buses going to Nova Scotia. He likes being on the road.

But anyway, back to our day yesterday. He brought up some grape tomato plants, which he grew from seed, as well as a seafood recipe book which is a fundraiser for a group he's involved with in New Jersey, called "Re-Clam the Sound."

I did a bit of a garden tour with him, something he always has an interest in. Then we hung out on my porch and talked for a bit.

I often learn something new from these talks that i never knew before about family members. This time, I was surprised to hear that my grandfather used to go mushroom picking with his drinking buddies, and they ate them with no ill effect. My grandfather died when i was 16, so while i cared about him very much, he was mostly "Grandpa" to me and i never really had the chance to get to know him as a person.

Anyway, we went to lunch at a very good Italian place in town and despite being the only ones in there (it was after 2 pm) the service was very slow...perfect! We talked a lot about stuff, then headed back to the house to move an old-fashioned glider I'm giving him into his pickup. The glider is fine, but it's heavy enough that the metal legs sort of dig into my wood floor on the porch when you rock back and forth on it. He's goign to put it under his new pergola.

So I sent dad off with the glider and two plants I dug up for him (a blue milkweed and an easy growing ground cover) but totally forgot to give him the dog leashes, his belt, some fish hooks (!) i found in my washer after washing his clothes last time (for tick control) as well as a bunch of magazines i wanted to give him.

After he left, i called K. to let her know when she could expect him home. I think she appreciates that. Then I planted those tomato plants and mowed part of the front lawn.

I had my delicious leftover risotto and grilled tilapia for dinner.

Because Waldo still only feels safe eating in the dark, i don't put his meal out for him until 8 pm. (I'm getting awful carpenter ants in the house, as i do every year, but leaving cat food out only makes it worse.) Although I know he likes the company (he's been confined to my office now for 3 weeks and 2 days), I can't always put Luther in there with him overnight because if waldo hasn't eaten his food by my bedtime at 10 pm, then Luther can't go in there as Waldo's food has meds in it and Luther eats everything.

Last night, however, waldo did eat his food by about 10:30 pm so I put Luther in there. (Waldo still cries most every night; I have to use a sound machine so i can sleep.) Around 4 am, Luther started carrying on at the door to be let out so I got up, groggy, to open the door. Still sleepy, I just sat down on the floor. As i often do, I left the door wide open as Waldo's been too scared to try to walk out. (Don't forget, he's feral.)

I was talking out loud to Waldo, directing my conversation in the general direction of the small wood cabinet that waldo stays under. It was still quite dark at that hour. Then i saw a shadowy figure alongside my computer desk. My heart leapt at first. I would LIKE to say he was moving toward me, but his real intent, i could then see, was to walk out the door and explore, but he decided against it cus he'd have to walk too close past me. He walked over by my computer desk twice. Anyway, this is actually big progress cus it's the first time he's felt comfortable emerging from under the cabinet in 3 weeks time.

He also sniffed at a snack I held out toward him last night. That, too, i consider a big sign of progress.

You may think it a little unkind not to let waldo have the run of the house after all this time, if you didn't know his history. Living in just 1 room is all he's ever known, so it's not a hardship for him. I would love to let him explore (which he did just once, accidentally, early on) but I'm afraid if I did so, it would just lengthen an already lengthy socialization process, as giving him full access to the rest of the house would just give him more hiding places so he wouldn't really have to deal with me if he didn't want to.

Once I can get him to let me touch him, pet him, he's got the whole house!