The Ricker story of the day.

Yesterday, I talked with the Ricker. He brought up all the usual topics - progress on the house in Cabo (none), progress on the development in the Springs (next to none), what he had for dinner last night (appetizers, since he's anorexic and cheap), and the weather. Then he slipped in this nugget: "So, did you hear about Kubla and the deer?"

Kubla, remember, is one of his cats, the quiet one. The cats are also indoor cats. Yet somehow, in the middle of winter, one of the cats slipped outside and had a run-in with a deer.

Since I'm usually on autopilot for Ricker conversations - "yeah," "uh huh," "wow" - I only caught part of the story, and there were so many details that I didn't want to ask questions. Below, I attempt to recreate the story based on the tidbits I heard:

Did you hear about Kubla and the deer? . . . out in the yard . . . face to face . . . under 20 feet . . . stalking like a panther . . . started to run . . . Kubla jumped on the deer's back . . . 20 or 30 feet . . . into the meadow . . . finally jumped off . . .

Wait, did the Ricker just tell me that his cat (okay, Tibetan mountain cat, but still, a cat) jumped on the back of a deer and rode it for 20 or 30 feet? Seriously? The Ricker sent photographic evidence of the meeting, but unfortunately he wasn't quick enough to snap a picture of the cat riding the deer (or maybe he was too concerned about his cat so he ran after the deer). Now that's something I want a picture of: The Ricker chasing his cat on a deer.