Today while I was finishing up the wash, Charlie darted outside. I tried to catch him, but he ducked out the window on the porch and vanished under the house.

I looked for him in vain during the day and it wasn’t until later tonight that I discovered he is up in the pine tree about 30 feet up. This tree is home to a nasty male coon and Mike and I tried with the extension ladder and bribes to get Charlie to come down lower. I tried to climb the ladder to the very top but it was perched precariously against the tree and I couldn’t overcome my fear of heights to rescue my golden boy. We used canned food, the laser light and gentle calling but he is stressed out and tired and up there for the night. I left the ladder against the tree and a bowl of food at the bottom and although it isn’t going to be bitter cold tonight, it is going to be foggy and 40. God please bring him down because I cannot.