A Mascot Passes

If you have one of those cars with the bumper sticker that reads "This Car Climbed Mt. Washington," chances are you met Nin, the mascot at the top, especially if you visited the Observatory. Word comes that Nin has passed away at the age of approximately 19. "He wa a very special cat," said Diane Holmes, a Mt. Washington State Park ranger who took him home after he "retired" from his "park" duties in 2007. "We will miss him a lot."

The cat, who was a stray claimed by an employee of the Observatory, spent about twelve years in the facility. He "brought a little piece of home" to those who worked there, remembered executive director Scot Henley.

He patroled the picnic areas occupied by summer tourists, preferring to feast off their scraps than to catch mice. And recently he served as the inspiration for a cat in the children's book, Cat in the Clouds, by Eric Pinder, a former weather observer at Mt. Washington. When he got too old to jump, he would still figure out ways to climb to the highest surface to claim food, often intended for Holmes' other cats.

Nin's Fan Club reminds us that there is a place for animals in even the most scientific of environments, if only to remind all of us that there is more to life than calculations. Nin is buried in a site that overlooks the Presidential range of mountains.