Wanna go on a car ride? Wanna go buh-byes?

I have a cat named Red.

His name is Red because he is red. He's actually orange but Orange is not a good name for a cat.

A while ago, I was moving my truck out of my driveway and I left the door open and Red started nosing around the door. I scooped him up and put him in passenger's seat and drove down the street and back.

It was really funny because Red was on "high alert" the whole time, and if you have a cat you'll know what I mean, he was in "slink-dash" mode the whole time.

You know "slink-dash" mode, right? It's when a cat is in a new, unfamiliar, or slightly threatening place, and they get really low to the ground and seem to sniff each spot before they put a foot down. I don't know if dogs do it because dogs suck and are not nearly as cool as cats.

So, fast forward to this morning.

I left my house and Red was on the deck. He wanted to go inside but it is so nice out that I told him that he should stay outside today. (Yes, I told him this. Yes, I talk to my cat.)

But I could tell that he really wanted to go in because he followed me to my truck. He only follows you around when he wants something.

So, what did I do? That's right. I scooped up Red and put him in my truck and we went for a ride around town. We went through downtown Newmarket, past the Town Hall, turned right on to Packers Falls Road, and right on Elm Street, up and over the hill by L&M, and then left on to my street.

There is a "but" in this story.

When we were on Packers Falls Road, Red let out a forlorn little, "oooowwwwwWW" cry. His voice is really cute because: one, he rarely talks so when he does it's a treat; two, he only says "ow"; and three, "ow" always goes up at the end like he's asking a question.

But today, the way he said "ow" and the look in his eyes told me that he was not having fun.

When we got on to my street, he did something he never does voluntarily -- he laid down on my lap. Then he did something he does all the time when he's stressed out -- lots of fur came off of him.

At this point, another funny thing happened. I saw my friend Angus walking up my street. It turns out that Angus was going to work on a project with classmate who happens to live on my street, but he was very surprised to see a cat on my lap.

"You have a cat!"

"Yeah, I'm just taking Red for a car ride."

{That should sum up the stupidity of the situation.}

So, the bottom line is... I don't think Red likes car rides as much as I like taking Red on car rides. This is a particular shame because Red is such a little adventurer. He wanders the neighborhood, kills things --recently he devour all but the head, left leg and tail of a chipmunk -- and gets in fights all the time.

It's a shame that we can't -- well, shouldn't -- take him on car rides.