Autumn

Autumn

Friday, February 28, 2014

The Cat

Is orange of color and usually sits atop the raised drain field behind the shop. It's a sunny location and I'm sure she likes its warmth and the proximity to game hidden under the sparse brush. She's a fine cat, regal.

I like her.

If I carefully step outside and am slow of movement and advance no further than the shop's doorstep she remains in place, still, alert. I feed her tidbits of this and that; often bits of my lunch. She likes egg salad, sardines. She'll stand and then stretch, forepaws extended, then step forward and sit and curl her tail forward around her front paws and wait with a very intense gaze....if, I move forward, even an inch, she'll scoot the roost and vanish as if by magic.

My offerings of meals must be placed at the shop's rear entrance, just so. She'll wait until I close the door before she slinks her way forward. At the edge of the drain field she'll pause and reconnoiter the grounds. From my vantage inside at the back window I'll watch as she takes her free meal, all tidy and neat and afterwards there to sit and clean. She refuses the dish of water I've placed just in case.

I'd like to be her friend. The shop needs a cat - a shop cat. She'd look nice on the window sill and fun to have underfoot and keep me company in the slow hours of the day. I like cats. They're independent and have little need for humans. They grace us with their company. They're badasses.

My last shop cat kept me company for twelve years. Her name was Lonesome. It's time for another and I intend, or better yet, shall try, and tame this orange bundle of fur.

Wish me luck.

Stephen 
  

20 comments:

  1. You want a cat? I will mail ya one.... or four... Believe me they will treat to a proper Regal attitude as well I promise :)

    Any color you want too.

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    1. Thanks, Bubba, but I need the challenge. Besides you need to keep those rats under control.

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  2. Stephen, you need to give her a name and say it to her every time you see her. She'll get tamer. When we bought the ol' homestead it came with a black cat... he hid the day we looked at the property but we knew he was here. Then when we were moving in, daughter saw him, said "A kitty!" and from then on he has let us live here ;-) Good luck and keep us posted!

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    1. Great idea. Now, what shall we call her. Killer, Spike, Death Head, Thorn, or perhaps - Hemingway? Not sure. Maybe just, Cat.

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  3. Sorry Rev. Paul . . .
    I was about to wish Stephen good luck . . . but contingent on a name we all get to vote on. Something a little more upbeat. Won't even insist on a girlie name . . . even "Second Ammendment ' . . . just not Lonesome :(

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    1. Ah, Second Amendment....nah. Too long. Vote away.

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  4. You could call her "Indy" for Independent, or "Patty" for Patriot. You could give her a gun name too. We have had cats over the 27 yrs we have been married. We have had females, but we have toms right now. Dogs are great for protection, but the cats are quite like a Ninja.

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  5. Good luck! A regal cat is a pleasure. I feed one I call Pretty Boy who has never let me touch him.

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    1. Very true. We have one at home that has never in its life allowed anyone other that my wife, me, and once, Little Bit touch her. Even Little Bit had to sit in my lap with my hand on our cat's back before she'd allow her a tiny, tiny, brief pet.

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  6. Good luck.

    I recently adopted a stray.

    I used to hate cats. I was/am a dog guy.

    This one was starving, but friendly. I started feeding it, and he has become my buddy.

    The biggest mistake people make with cats is to think they are like dogs.

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    Replies
    1. That is a fact. Cats grant permission. Dogs beg.

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  7. Good luck!

    I got my first cat that way, with a tuna sandwich, some sliced bratwurst, a warm place when it was cold, and patience.

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  8. Good luck. I picked up an abandoned cat at a GA rest stop, tiny but really thing that I hoped someone else would take from me. Didn't happen. Thought it was a girl so I named her Ristaria (get it? Rest Area). Anyway, turned out he was a boy so he became Rister, or as Greg likes to call him ... Ass Kitty. He is definitely his own boss.

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  9. She is teaching you survival skills.

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    1. Indeed. I bow to her wisdom and skill set. Thanks, my friend.

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