A tangerine half moon was ablaze in the sky the night I began my hunt. Winding along a quiet stretch of San Pablo Dam Road into Richmond, my thoughts were focused on a little flame-point Siamese that had just been rescued from the wild. If she proved tame enough, I would take her home to be part of our family.

She wasn’t. The little white and orange kitty cowered in the corner of her cage as the gentle foster mom approached her. “This one needs a little more work,” said the lady from the Feral Cat Foundation. “But I know a woman with Hopalong Animal Rescue who just got a gorgeous little Tonganese kitty.”

We climbed in the car and drove to a place where animals roamed in several rooms of a house. There I found the perfect pet, with a sable coat, Siamese mask and emerald eyes. If Tonka had been abused or abandoned, you wouldn’t know it. She purrs like a finely tuned engine. And if most cats seem arrogant and aloof, rescued cats are grateful, almost indebted to you for your act of kindness.

So it’s Tonka, me and the rest of the family now. Each with our own personality and story to tell. And because she’s Siamese, believe me, she’ll be talking.

See Spot run

See Spot jump. See Spot hump your friend’s leg and keep your neighbors up all night with his barking. This is what many folks face as they try to train the family hound. Because they’re such social animals, dogs do naughty things when they’re left alone for too many hours each day.

That’s where the Oakland SPCA comes in, sending a dog trainer to your house to work with your pooch. At $75 dollars an hour, a goldfish is looking better and better.

‘Round and ’round

If life seems like one big merry go ’round, you might as well flaunt it. On the auction block this weekend at Harvey Clar Auction Gallery on Telegraph Avenue is a 107-year-old carousel. The company’s Jane Alexiadis says the bidding will probably start around $20,000. “That’s $1,000 per horse, and it doesn’t even take into account that there’s a whole carousel attached to it,” she says.

What do you do with a merry go ’round? The last owner, the guy who fully restored it, took it to county fairs and shopping malls — making a pretty penny. And if you really want to penny pinch, it has a hand crank so you don’t even have to run the motor.

Mailbag

N. Davis has a beef with the Jack London Theaters, which are being renovated right now. He says he and his wife got burned when they checked the Sunday paper and made plans around the advertised movie schedule. “Much to our surprise, we arrived to find they were only showing four films, not the published nine,” he writes, adding there were a lot of disappointed patrons. It might be a good idea to call before heading over there.

Steppin’ out

A couple of things are coming up that readers want me to point out: one is the Rita Coolidge concert at the Paramount Theatre on Friday, Sept. 27. I’ve always liked her, and this is a benefit for the Native American Health Center in Oakland. You can call 510-535-4487 for more information on the Strong Medicine Concert. Then on Sunday, Sept. 29, the Oakland Fund for the Arts has its big garden party. There’ll be live jazz and fine wines at the home of Jaleh and George Bisharat, a Piedmont couple with a garden that’s to die for. Log on to http://www.oaklandfundforthearts.org for more on this event.

Village rip-off

Who stole three banners advertising last weekend’s Family Flea Market in Montclair — and why would they do it? Lions Club member Richard Jue says the banners disappeared shortly after they went up along Moraga Avenue, leaving just one of the expensive vinyl signs to advertise the big annual event at Montclair Park. Still, they had a good turnout — making about $2,000 for Oakland Blind Center.

Speech, speech!

Once again, Gary Wong is the toast of the town. The Movie Express owner, who does so much for Montclair, has started a toastmasters group at the Oakland Blind Center.

How is it going over? Reader Rita Schnaidt says there are over 40 members in the group already, and they take turns with public speaking each Friday during lunch.

Shopping secret

Hills hairstylist Tommy Kohl has an eye for fashion and an unusual knack for finding bargains. His secret? He shops at the Goodwill Store in San Leandro. It’s not for every taste, but Tommy finds some incredible deals there, like the top he was wearing last week. A living memorial to the Sept. 11 anniversary, his silky blue shirt had the skyline of New York emblazoned across the front — Twin Towers and all.

I put up my Halloween decorations today. Something in the air told me it’s time. Maybe it was my neighbor’s Japanese maple, suddenly ablaze with color. Or the aspens at Lake Tahoe, throwing gold and silver casts from their shimmering leaves.

In Half Moon Bay and Brentwood, the pumpkins are getting round and ripe on their winding green vines, and you can smell the apple crisp in the local cafes. Fall is in the air, and I’m ready for the change. Break out the flannel jammies and bring on the comfort foods!

Park graffiti

Let’s scribble gang signs and graffiti all over Montclair Park. That’s the message we’re sending to taggers every day we wait to clean up the side of the restrooms near the park’s ballfield. It’s been several weeks since the building was vandalized with spray paint — covering what was left of the duck mural painted by local artist Dan Fontes.

Therein lies the problem. Fontes is suing the city over the last graffiti cleanup, a botched job where workers completely painted over his beloved mural. This time the offending scribble is much worse — and word is there’ll be no clean-up until the suit is settled.

Healing with music

Everyone has his or her own way of coping with the memories of last Sept. 11. At Corpus Christi School on Park Boulevard, there’ll be a special morning mass with school ending early at 12:30 p.m.

Another prominent East Bay church, the one with the big cross on the hill in Castro Valley, is hosting an evening of music. That’s where I’ll be — listening to songs that were written to lift the spirit and soothe the soul. The concert, “An American Requiem,” starts at 8 p.m. at the Neighborhood Church, 20600 John Drive. For directions and information, call 510-537-4690.

Grand gardens

Californians love a good garden, and eight exceptional gardens are being featured in Redwood Heights at the end of the month. Reader Jim Hodgkins says this neighborhood of interesting homes, built from the 1920s through the 50s, has the oldest voluntary homeowner’s association in Oakland. The proceeds from the garden tour go toward neighborhood improvements; for more information, call Jim at 510-637-0356.

Ah, the spa

This gives a whole new meaning to the term “getting stoned.” Hot and cold rock massages are the trendy new spa treatment these days, and you don’t have to travel far to get one.

The Lafayette Park Hotel opens its new spa this month with La Stone Therapy, one of just 100 resorts worldwide with this treatment. Not only do you get a deeper massage with stones, the hot and cold gives pure pleasure to your aching muscles. If you ask me, it beats the traditional massage — hands down!

Skin deep

Stranger than any science fiction film, the IMAX film “The Human Body” at Chabot Space and Science Center is simply amazing. For 43 minutes, you take one strange ride through your inner organs in stunning and graphic detail. See the sludge of a morning breakfast plop into a human stomach and go through digestion. Follow the 100-mile odyssey of a red blood cell through a tangled network of veins, arteries and capillaries. Every school kid should see this film. Even if the reaction is “Oooooh, that’s nasty!” (At least you know they’re paying attention.)

Strange sleepover

A parking lot pajama party didn’t have many takers at Montclair’s Albertsons last week. It was a radio station promotion offering a free Rolling Stones concert ticket to anyone who spent the night in the grocery store’s upper lot. The faithful few like Julie Miller and Rosalie Masada had a great time bedding down with some rather strange bedfellows, I’m sure. And a broken night’s sleep is a small price to pay for a Rolling Stones ticket. But the rest of us boomers? We were busy trying to get the kids to sleep, on the eve of the second day of school in Oakland.

Hot stuff

From the “Thanks for the Warning” file comes this tidbit: A sign warning walkers near the Chabot Space and Science Center that there are meadow muffins on the trail. Editor J. Levaux almost stepped in the pile of fresh horse manure marked only by a sign that said “hot.”

License plate sighting

D. Withers recently spotted these plates on a car in Montclair: QN MRY. No, the car was not one of those big “boats” that seniors sometimes drive but, rather, a lovely sea green Saturn — registered, he guesses, to a driver named Mary.