garage miracle

long ride home for Lexus

My wife and I, like many residents of Colorado mountain communities, treat our animals like our children without the dating issues and orthodontist bills. Stray cats and dogs wander into our lives.

Recently, we witnessed a mountain pet miracle. I drove my wife’s truck to a local garage for brake repairs. Sitting in the waiting room leafing through celebrity bios in old copies of People Magazine brought me to a comatose state, when I heard boisterous shouting from the garage. Two mechanics opened the hood of a fancy new Lexus only to be greeted with a pathetic mewing sound.

Apparently, the owner of the Lexus drove 60 miles on the freeway, unaware that a tiny black kitten hitched a ride in the engine compartment.

The two mechanics wore the unshaven grimaces of hardened working men, but the dilemma of the trapped kitten brought out their heart and compassion. They behaved like young boys welcoming home their first pet. The chief mechanic raised the car on the rack, removed the tires and somehow extricated the kitten from the back of the radiator.

She was oily, greasy and traumatized, but otherwise appeared miraculously unhurt. They gently wrapped her in a green blanket and brought her into the waiting room.

One guy advised taking her to The Dumb Friends League. “I’ll take her home,” I offered.
“Just like that?” a mechanic asked skeptically.

“The Dumb Friends League is a wonderful organization,” I agreed. “However, I don’t want to take a chance because this little girl has been through enough. I promise to provide her a warm, loving home, and she will want for nothing.”

“Will you please name her ‘Lexus’?” asked a mechanic. “Sure.”

I arrived at the garage with nothing in mind but my credit card balance and departed for home with the kitten of everyone’s dreams.
Sometimes the universe purrs. Fortunately, I’m married to a woman who could never turn away a kitten in distress. She composed a poem without thinking. “Some women wish for diamonds and gold,” Barbara spoke whimsically. “Just bring me a kitten to hold.”

Lexus is a vibrant, beautiful young cat with long, lustrous black hair. She’s a teenager now and bosses our other cats and dog. Naturally, she bosses the human residents as well.

That’s one of the major joys of mountain life. We share with animals and never pretend ignorance of the truth…cats and dogs represent the zenith of animal evolution. Humans would be lucky to make the top 10. What would mountain life be like without animals? I have no interest in investigating such a lonely lifestyle.

John Walsh teaches deaf and hard-of-hearing children for Aurora Public Schools. He shares his home in Conifer with four cats, one dog, two horses and a lovely, highly tolerant spouse. Email John with any comments, questions or stories to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .