31 Cats plus one

Thirty-one cats is a lot of cats. But before I get to those cats, let me first celebrate my #1 cat: Racecar. She just had a birthday on September 22, like Frodo and Bilbo. Racecar is 18 years old now and thin and wobbly and her sleek black coat is now salt-and-peppered. Cat age calculators online estimate her age equivalent in human years at around 88. She gets a little more frail and a little more sick each week, but refuses to let go of her amazing life.

The other 31 cats are part of a promotion for a re-release of Coraline, the 2009 film created by Portland-based stop-motion animation studio LAIKA and based on the story of the same name by one of my all-time favourite authors, Neil Gaiman. The setting of the film is inspired by Ashland and the Shakespeare Festival. The 2024 version of the film is again made by LAIKA, and this time in 3D.

But it’s not just advertisement.

The display of cats from August 2 – October 13 is a collaboration between Downtown Portland Clean & Safe, LAIKA Studios, and Wild in Art. They created an app for people to use while hunting for cats, that tells the name of the piece, the artist, and keeps track of your steps walked. In that way it reminds me of the app Pokemon Go that aims to get kids outside and walking. Collecting cats in the app gets you prizes like jokes and raffle entries. Another aspect of this free public art display is that each cat is displayed in an iconic part of Portland, enticing people out of their Covid-induced fugue states to emerge from their homes and walk the city streets once again, and remember how fabulous this city is. It really is. ❤

I think the choice of this wonky feline from a slightly creepy children’s movie is absolutely perfect for Keeping Portland Weird. The artists have covered the cats in beautiful and weird and hopeful ways that’s hard to describe without seeing it.

So. I went out there and took photos of every single one so if you still can’t bring yourself to leave the security of your home base, or if you live somewhere else, you can share the experience with me.

The whole thing ends this weekend, so you haven’t lost your chance yet. However! All the cats have been collected and will be together at Director Park, 815 S.W. Park Ave., on Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 12-13. Each piece of art will be auctioned off, and the proceeds will go to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital.

Taking this photo, I noticed the young accordion player busking in front of Powell’s. I asked if I could get a selfie with him and I handed over what cash I had on me. He rewarded me with a smile and a new song.

I have to say, the cats were great, but I had SO MUCH FUN walking up and down the streets of Portland. I love Portland so much. I just can’t help myself.

And that was all I could fit into my first day of cat-hunting. I had to meet a fellow Cherokee to do an interview for the newsletter, Talking Leaves. It took me weeks to get back to my quest. But one day was so sunny and perfect that I could not sit at my desk another moment, and I told Pedro I would be gone for hours. The very next cat I found was the one with the BEST view:

It was so many more cats, and I was thrilled. I never had the intent to find them all, just some of them, because I liked the idea so much. Again, I could not resist taking photos of beautiful Portland.

That silly cat hunt on a warm Autumn day put me into such a good mood that I was buoyed for a couple of days. I could not resist heading out once more on the next stunning weather day.

I thought I was done actually. It had been a good run. I was delighted. Then, I had a date coming up to take my girlfriend out for a birthday dinner and show to see Black Violin live at the Schnitz. And would you believe it…Mother Nature dished up another phenomenal weather day. I tipped my hat and told Pedro I would leave early to go cat-hunting, then go directly to dinner. “You’re gonna eat the cats?” he asked.

At this point, I began talking with two ladies who were also giddily cat-hunting. They told me the next one on my journey was up at the gas station, where they had come from. They asked how many I had found. I pulled up the map on the Coraline app on my phone and realized I had nearly found them all! Could I do it and still make it to dinner on time?

At the gas station, a random person began walking with me and talking. When I headed for the cat, he asked if he could be in a selfie with me. “Sure!” I said with a smile, because – as I told Pedro later – it’s sometimes better to go along with sketchy strangers on the street, as long as it’s daylight and in view of others. Sometimes treating them like a normal person will diffuse any potential danger. It worked and he took a different direction after this.

Time was short and the next two cats were not close: one near the hospital tram and one across the river at OMSI, the science museum. I took a chance and parked at the tram and got that one, then in my Birks, walked as fast as I could to Tillikum Crossing.

It was a long walk for someone in a hurry. The sun was slanting and it was getting a little cooler. I marveled at the packs of cyclists zipping in all directions, heading home after work on a Thursday evening. The app map isn’t super accurate, so while I knew the cat would be at OMSI, I didn’t know where on the property. I wasted so much time by choosing wrong and heading for the waterfront past the submarine first.

I found the extraordinary Made of Hug and she was worth the effort since I found her in a dreamy setting with wings as a backdrop at the entrance of the museum. I had just heard an interview with the creator of Exquisite Creatures on the City Cast Portland podcast, so it was fun to know a little about what I saw.

I hoofed it back to Tillicum Crossing, found two shortcuts that I did not use when I headed out. I hopped in the Jeep and had free-flowing traffic into downtown again, since everyone else was heading out of town. I made it to Higgins exactly on time, met my friend, and told her all about the cats. Then we saw the always-amazing performance of Black Violin. You really must catch them next time they’re in Portland.

The next day I found out that Thursday the 10th had been the last day possible to hunt cats in the above settings, before they were moved to the park, where they are today. I got so lucky!

Sorry this is so very long, but I thought it only made sense to put them all into a single post. And remember, they are being auctioned October 30, so if you haven’t decided what to get us for Christmas this year, my two favourites are Sakura Pond and Golden Hour for Portland, and Pedro’s two favourites are She Flies With Her Own Wings and Burnished.

** Update! November 13, 2024, a note in OregonLive this morning reports that money was raised for OHSU Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, in the amount of $324,500.