The Cat Is In The Bag!

Okay...when I signed on to be an educator almost 30 years ago nobody told me that my job description would include such a diverse range of responsibilities.  Don't get me wrong, I do spend a significant amount of time taking care of the more predictable responsibilities such as those associated with the title "Instruction Leader."  I have grown accustomed over the years, however, to roles less commonly associated with the job description of principal.  I probably know, for example, enough legal jargon to do fairly well on the state bar exam; while also boasting the ability to stop the constant running of water in the urinal of a boy's restroom.  From attorney to plumber and many tasks in between, I thought I pretty much had it covered.  Well...a particular cat chose a particular tree that just happened to be located on a particular plot of land on a particular campus that falls under the responsibility of a particular principal.  And so the fun begins...  Day one, I figure the cat will come down on his own and I try to forget that I ever saw him.  Day two, someone else saw him.  I reaasure her that cats must be able to get out of trees on their own.  I did contact some folks in nearby neighborhoods to get the word out that somone's pet was in a tree.  Day three, yep...the cat is still there.  Okay, by now more folks know about the cat, but no one is coming forward to claim responsibility.  There's that "R" word again.  Seems that the cat has now firmly become MY responsibility.  Folks are even saying to me, "YOUR cat is still up in that tree!"  Day four, you guessed it.  Still there.  The kids have now started getting on my case.  One more call to my neighborhood contacts yeilds the fruitless results I expected.  We had already tried calling the fire department (which understandably cannot offer this service), and a few other departments such as animal control.  No luck.  With a school building full of anxious cat lovers, and the impending threat of cold rainy weather on the horizon, I knew that it was time to call the experts.  Marietta Tree Experts to be exact.  After calling several tree services listed in the yellow pages, Marietta Tree Experts (770-425-2644) took an interest.  I think it would be safe to say that this is not a part of their business that they are trying to expand, they took the challenge none the less.  At 3:15pm on January 31, Bill Rhodes arrived on the scene.  By 3:30pm he had the cat in the bag, so to speak.  This company was good enough to cut the school a break in the interest of our kids and only charged us the cost of fuel to get to the school.  If you need tree service, give these guys a call.  Well...what now?  Not knowing what else to do I took the cat home with me for the night.  He actually got along very well with my Golden Retriever and two other cats.  Day five, happy ending!  After posting pictures of the cat on scrolling announcements (our school-wide TV announcement system) students recognized the cat to be none other than Carson who belongs to one of Dodgen's 7th students named Courtney.  And everyone lived happily ever after.