Admittedly, I am not a huge fan of urban areas, but I have a soft spot for Berkeley; an energetic, forward-thinking college town with great food and art to boot. What’s not to love?

I was fortunate enough to be asked to housesit for a lovely couple who live in a one-bedroom apartment in a charming 1940s colonial-style building near Berkeley’s famous Gourmet Ghetto district.

They own a sweet toothless cat who looks like he used to be white but was once held by his four paws and half haphazardly dipped into black paint, missing his belly and some of his face – so cute! He was so adorable I decided to make a watercolor of him as gift to his owners.

Duties:

– Care for 1 cat
– Keep home tidy

Unexpected Benefits and/or Realizations:

– The owners had the coolest litter box! It was a cube with a lid on top that had a large hole for the cat to enter (from the top!) and smaller holes around the larger hole (so litter attached to his feet upon exiting can fall back into the box).
– Having the ability to walk to so many wonderful restaurants and shops was a huge perk!!

Unexpected Events and/or Challenges:

– I tend to forget how difficult parking in the city can be. The owners generously gave me parking passes allowing me to park on the street while I was there, but I wasn’t able to find a spot close to the apartment. This led me to worry a bit about the security of my car and made unloading and loading a bit of a pain. But in the end, all was well!

That first morning I sat under a twisted oak and sipped my coffee while gazing at Mount Diablo in the distance. The evening before, when I took the dog for a walk, I watched as the “devil mountain” began to glow orange from the setting sun; quite fitting as Halloween was just a few days prior.

Happily, many front yards were still decorated with jack-o-lanterns and fake cobwebs. Better still, as I walked the dog through the neighborhood each evening, I swore I could smell the familiar Harvest scents of pumpkin spice and vanilla wafting through the air.

It was a quaint typical American neighborhood; the type one would see featured in iconic movies from the 1990s. It’s exactly the type of neighborhood I wished I lived in as a child, especially during Halloween. Living in the sticks, my mom had to drive my brother and I to a “real” neighborhood so we could Trick-or-Treat.

Needless to say, I considered my time here a real treat (pun intended) and I hope I get to sit here again very soon.

Duties:

– Care for 1 cat
– Care for 1 dog (provide daily walks)
– Gather mail
– Water indoor and outdoor plants (if needed)
– Keep house tidy
– Take out trash

Unexpected Benefits and/or Realizations:

– I loved living in a home on top of a hill because the house is filled with so much warmth and light (great for those dreary winter months)

Unexpected Events and/or Challenges:

– Owners were vacationing somewhere with poor cell reception so initial communications regarding health concerns for one of the animals weren’t going through. Good reminder to obtain email addresses or a backup landline phone number just in case.