Spot

After Spot was no longer a kitten, we continued to wrestle together. Sometimes I would jump on him and then we’d be all over the room. My girl would watch us and laugh. She thought it was a show we were giving her. I suppose in a way we were. At other times, he attacked me. But the results were always the same.

Once when we were in a wrestling mode, we faced each other from opposite ends of the room. My girl was in the middle and watched us. He and I wiggled our tails and butts at the same time. All that was missing was Ding! We leaped at each other at the same time right in front of her. Those were the days.

After we were done, there would be silence and we’d cuddle and sleep together. My girl never stopped us from fighting. She didn’t care. I think she understands that we just had disagreements and this was how we dealt with them. I suppose if we were going to harm or even kill each other, she would have stepped in. But it was better that she stayed out and let us do what we needed to do.

We cats do need to establish our own order. No human or anyone else can do it for us. We just have to have order and then we can get along after that. Although, it’s better when the newer cats are just kittens. Then they will just accept any older adult cats as the ones in charge and they won’t challenge the order. Kittens can be accepting like that.

So, I’m glad he was just a kitten when he showed up. I was happy I was the one in charge and he grew up. Kittens are truly annoying until they mature. Then it’s a another cat buddy you have around you day and night. You never have to be alone.

Even though he was no longer a kitten, he never grew out of being adorable. He continued to pose for my girl. She was able to catch him in all sorts of poses and attitudes. He truly was a model. She went through different kinds of cameras. You could say we cats outlived her cameras.

I don’t even know how many different kinds of cameras she had over her life. I certainly remember her using a Polaroid as the first one. The square pictures give that one away. The film developed right in front of us. She no longer has those pictures as hard copies. She scanned them all in at some point.

After that, she had a digital camera her dad had given her. She used it, but not as much as he would have. I don’t know why that was. She even used a camera that came with her cellphone. That wasn’t always so great for a camera. I don’t know if she will ever use a camera that comes with a cellphone again.

Spot wasn’t just adorable, he had some real cattitude, as they call it on Twitter. He knew how to pose and show it off. My girl could catch him and capture the moment digitally. I know she went to school and studied graphic design. While doing that, she stopped getting pictures printed out as she used to.

Instead, she would play with some of the pictures she took of us and sometimes she’d print them out herself. We were featured in her projects for school. It’s quite an honor to be immortalized by humans. My girl is also a writer. Most of her work is done on computers. She could do it all by hand, but it would take much longer and she could risk hurting her hands and wrists.

As you can see from some of these picture collages, Spot had a tendency to pose with a computer. Whether behind it, or to the side of it on a printer or even on top of a computer, he knew how to get her attention. He was brave enough to tell her she wasn’t allowed on the computer all day. I never would have said anything.

I knew she was working on them. I know her well enough to know she could keep herself occupied whether she worked for someone else or not. She had plenty of satisfying work she could do right in our home. I loved it when she worked at home because then she was there whenever I needed her throughout the day. She was also quiet for long periods of time so I could meditate and sleep as much as I wanted to.

By the time Spot had grown up, he had completely won me over. He didn’t grow out out of wanting to play or wrestle. He was still adorable. He was my best friend. I’m glad my girl brought him home. She must have known and understood how much I needed another cat. Even when I didn’t think I wanted a new cat around me.

He certainly has kept me on my toes. I never knew when he wanted to play or simply wrestle. At other times, I was the one who went after him. He didn’t mind. He was ready for me when I wanted to wrestle. I could also teach him more about being a cat. He was a good student. He had picked up some habits from my girl and I still don’t know what to think about that.

But what can you do when a kitten is raised by a human? Of course they will imitate the human. It was a good thing I was there or else he wouldn’t have acted like a cat too. Even though he was an adult cat, he was a real mama’s boy. He loved to be picked up and carried by my girl. I can’t say I understand. I never thought I was that bad with my mama. But Spot certainly was.

My girl and Spot were both so full of love and kindness. I’m glad I am able to share my life with the two of them. They could also play together and leave me to my sleep or meditation.

February 1, 2020 0

Our First Christmas

The blind guy didn’t celebrate Christmas, so when my girl decided to decorate, I didn’t even care. But of course Spot did. He just had to attack the tree. He was such a kitten! Honestly. I just didn’t care. It was such a little tree. It wasn’t worth my time. There wasn’t anything to sharpen my claws on. It was much too small to climb on.

She had a tendency to give each of us a can of tuna for our Christmas dinner. Delicious. It made me love her so much. She never ate it, so we didn’t have to share with her. In fact, my girl refuses to eat animals. Yet, she had no problem giving any to us. She must have known what we needed to eat.

I do know she didn’t like our food. She didn’t care for the smell. I’m not even sure she knew how to prepare it. Whatever she gave us was already prepared and portioned. She knows how to cook, but I guess she doesn’t know how to deal with animals in cooking. She seemed healthy to me for a non-cat person.

With that first Christmas, we had a few presents near the tree. She even had some. She opened them for us. Not too exciting. They were toys. Spot loved them. I didn’t care. Eventually, she stopped celebrating Christmas with presents or even special meals. She just lost interest. I do know she prefers calm, quiet days to the craziness of the ever popular holiday of Christmas.

I can’t say I blame her. I don’t like too much excitement either. Let me sleep and meditate. Then I’ll be a happy cat. As I said, I don’t care for any part of Christmas, except for the tuna treats and catnip. Other things just aren’t as exciting or even interesting. Yet, as you can see from the pictures that Spot thought it was playtime when my girl was decorating a little tree.

Can you believe that kitten? Having to grab the garland as she is trying to decorate such a little tree. Then after she has it completely decorated and the lights plugged in, he had to knock it down. I hear there are humans who don’t put up Christmas trees because they live with cats. There are other cats like me who don’t care. But I suppose for the more playful cats, such as Spot, it’s a wonderful toy to have in the house.

Perhaps it’s a great toy for those cats stuck inside all day. Those forbidden from going outside at any time. Well, okay, perhaps a real Christmas tree is a wonderful to have. You can climb it. You can hide in it. But this tree my girl had was too small for either of those things. That’s why I wasn’t interested.

I can’t say I blame my girl for not liking the popular Christmas holiday. It can be too much. Spot and I once saw a family gathering she had to go to. We watched from the loft. It was much too much. Too much food we weren’t allowed to have. Too many presents. None were for us. There was a huge mess below us that the humans had to clean up.

And why? What was the point? If they were cats, they wouldn’t have cared about the lack. I still had my girl and Spot. That was all that mattered to me. I don’t need such things as all those presents or a huge dinner. Tuna and catnip are good. I like to have a safe, stable, permanent home with those I love. What more could I ever want or need?

January 1, 2020 0

Running Away

It’s time for a confession from me. As you know from the previous chapter, I didn’t like the kitten when I had first met him. He drove me absolutely crazy. Eventually, I got used to him as I had gotten used to my girl and the fairies. But it wasn’t a gradual thing. In fact, I did something which hurt my girl very much. I ran off. I left our home and went to live outside for a little while.

I was that mad about the kitten. I couldn’t stand to be there anymore. And, well, it was time for the kitten to grow up and be on his own. I was that fed up. So, I went outside and decided I didn’t want to go back and live with my girl or the kitten anymore. I didn’t care how cold it was. I didn’t care if it would snow. Not that snow was very likely where we were. There wasn’t even grass growing in the area. Mostly just dirt.

It was easy to get out. By then, there were times when my girl would let us out or even take us out for walks. We were never outside for long. But it was good to go out. I think my girl understood that. She just wouldn’t let me out until I had learned this was my home now.

I wasn’t that far away from our apartment. My girl came out to beg and plead with me to come home. I refused at first. But there was something in her voice that touched me. She kept begging and telling me how much she missed me. I realized then how much she loved me. I began to see how much it hurt her for me to refuse to live with her.

*Sigh.* She is a whirlwind, but she is a kind and loving person. She’s as devoted to me as I am to her. She is the one I knew I wanted to be with. She had proven it to me that she was the right caregiver and caretaker for me. I just had to accept her silliness and playfulness. She is exactly what I need in my life. Even when she’s driving me crazy.

So, I went back home with her. I also didn’t tend to go outside much after that. I knew how good I had it with her as an indoor cat. I decided to stay in spite of the kitten and her silliness.

So, why did I leave in the first place? I needed a break. Raising a kitten is hard work. I was beginning to understand why my mother had left us when she did. Perhaps we had become too much for her? The kitten could take care of himself at that point. So, it wasn’t as if I needed to stick around anymore.

I had taught him all I knew for five weeks. There wasn’t more I could teach him after that. Perhaps some fine tuning or tell him more about my brother Spitter or the little bits I remembered about Inky and Paintbrush. There wasn’t much point in me talking about my girl. Spot already knew her fairly well.

But then again, I didn’t have to act like my mother. I could go back to someone who loved me and took good care of me. I could also go back to someone who looked up to me. So, in the end I went home. I was loved, adored, and admired for once in my life. I didn’t have to be like my mother. I could do what she didn’t do for me for this kitten.

I’m glad I went back even though they are both too silly for me. At least we all loved each other and were willing to get along. That’s what it means to have a real family. We love each other unconditionally no matter how much we drive each other crazy. We have each other’s backs in tough times. We aren’t willing to give up on each other. We help each other, even if all we can do if to give moral support.

There were times when we would take turns hitting each other. Not hard. Just hard enough to get the point across. The easy and simple way to tell someone else, “You are annoying me.” It wasn’t to hurt each other. We were just venting. It was how we are able to get along for as long as we are together.

I don’t regret having a family. They mean the world to me. Having a family of my own after I had lost my biological relatives wasn’t something I ever expected to find again. And it’s all thanks to the whirlwind known as my girl. It’s all her fault and she knows it.

December 1, 2019 0

The Kitten

Ugh. My girl and I hadn’t lived together very long before she bought home a young kitten. I don’t know what she was thinking. She is a whirlwind. I had just gotten used to living with her when she brought in another cat. A young cat. He was just a little thing. He adored me from the start. And he is every bit a whirlwind as she is…

He was tiny when he had arrived. Just a furball, as my girl had called him. Just a baby. And way too playful. As soon as I had met him, I smacked him on the top of his head to show him I was in charge. He just shook his little head and didn’t protest. He just kept looking up at me.

But I couldn’t stand him. He annoyed me. He wanted to play and cuddle with me. Cuddle? He was a strange little cat. I don’t know where my girl found him. She just brought him home without warning me. He wouldn’t leave me alone no matter what I did. I asserted my dominance and still he kept bothering me. I told him to leave me alone, but as you can see from the pictures, he insisted on cuddling up to me.

Not only did he like to cuddle up to me, he liked to pose. My girl would then take lots of pictures of him. I guess you could call him a model. He loved the attention of course. My girl did catch him in all sorts of shenanigans he would get into all by himself. He never needed me to do all the things he did that she had caught on camera.

He wanted to play all the time. I don’t tend to play. Very rarely will I play with toys. But I do like to wrestle and run around crazily whenever the fairies visit me. I have to keep in shape. It’s the healthy thing for a cat to do. But he was so annoying that I just didn’t want to have anything to do with him at first. I found him more annoying than the fairies. And I’m used to fairies visiting me without any warning.

But he wouldn’t go away. He kept playing and cuddling with me. I tried to hide from him, but no, he’d find me. He thought it was just a game. He just wouldn’t leave me alone no matter what I did. To make matters worse, my girl would encourage him to go after me!

Then, I don’t know what happened. I discovered one day that I liked him. I liked him a lot. I didn’t want to be without him. I didn’t care how much he bothered me. I had someone to wrestle with. Someone closer to my own size. And the little guy looked up to me.

To me! I never had anyone like this in my life before. I had three brothers, but we were equals who were beneath our mother in the order. But for once someone looked up to me for guidance. I could teach someone young and impressible how to be a good upstanding cat like me.

Wait, this sounds just like when I had met my girl and what she did to me… Or even the fairies… She’s proven to me that she’s worthy of my devotion and loyalty. She is a whirlwind. She makes things happen. I’m not lonely anymore with her or this kitten. It does help to have another cat when my girl has to go out and do whatever it is that she does outside our home. But I still miss her when she’s gone too much.

This kitten understood about missing her too. He didn’t like her to be gone any more than I did. Perhaps not exactly in the same way, but he at least understood. We could comfort each other when she was gone for hours most everyday. We could play sometimes. We could wrestle. We could meditate together. We could cuddle to keep from getting too lonely without my girl. It was becoming a good arrangement.

So, I taught the kitten how to be a good, upstanding cat. My girl was bottle feeding him and he learned some unusual habits from her, but he learned all the best cat things from me. I taught him to how to jump and wrestle. I taught him how to hunt. I taught him how to meditate. I didn’t stop with the lessons after he grew up.

But I suppose he was going to grow up someday. It wasn’t such a bad thing. In fact, I’m glad he grew up. Eventually, my girl stopped giving him a bottle and he was able to eat all he needed to without her. But by then, he was absolutely convinced she was his mama. And that was that. As for me, she remained my girl. But there was nothing any of us could do. The kitten Spot believed my girl was his mama.

And she did act like his mama. So, let’s be fair. They were mama and son. I know other humans tried to tell her it wasn’t possible, but they were wrong. Even I wouldn’t question the relationship they have. I don’t think I was ever jealous. I still had what I needed and wanted with both of them. I wasn’t alone. I had a family and they put up with my curmudgeonly ways.

Yep, I was always a curmudgeon. I’m not ashamed of it. I just am particular about everything. My girl seemed to understand and did what she could when I asked or just as soon as I asked. She is so silly, but she loves me and I love her. That’s all that matters.

November 1, 2019 0

The Training of My Girl

Well, it took some time to train my girl. I know I was the first cat she had ever lived with and she didn’t know much about how to take care of cats in general. At first I had to reminder her to clean out my litter box, fill up my food bowl, and to pet me. My goodness. But at least she listened to me. She did give me what I needed when I asked for it.

But she didn’t always understand what I said to her. I tried by repeating the same word for her until she got it. I don’t know why she has that problem. She’s not stupid or slow. She usually is quite smart and understood when something was wrong. She would then do her best to solve the problem.

She once told me to call her “Ali.” I am quite good with language. I am quite a vocal cat. I talk more than the average cat. This talking thing does work. You just might have to do a lot of it before the humans get your meaning. Well, I listened carefully to her. She knew I could understand what she said to me. She is one of the few who will sit down and actually talk to me as the person I am.

I’m glad she understands I’m a person and not an object. So, when she told me her name, I listened carefully. I memorized the sounds. As a cat, I don’t have the same vocal organs as humans have, so I can’t speak any human language as well as humans can. But I was able to learn her name. Yes, I could call her “Al-lee.” She understood me and got excited when she heard me say her name to her. She was talking on the phone to someone at the time and it stopped her talking to whoever it was.

She was quite impressed by it. It was hard for me to say “Ali” all the time I needed something. So, eventually I just called her “Al.” It was much easier for me. She still understood me without any trouble. She is the one person who defended me to others who claimed I was too stupid to know how to talk. She asserted because she knew me well enough that indeed I knew her name and understood her as well as understanding how I had to talk to her so she could understand me as well.

The language barrier we started out with was the hardest part of my training of her. Once we got past that, we were fine. We were able to live with each other and communicate effectively. Never mind how much we fought at times. At others, we were very happy with each other.

However, even after getting past the language barrier, I couldn’t tell her how to do everything. She had learn on her own. I watched her carefully, and she did quite well. That’s how I know she’s smart. She can figure lots of things out. She was able to give me what I needed. I never had anyone like this in my life before. Others just wouldn’t understand or even try to make things better for me. They would just leave. They would complain that I was just too whiny.

I’m glad she learned how to take care of me and kept listening to me. I did have valid complaints that she took care of. She got be to so good at taking care of me that I became quiet. For once in my life, someone understood what it was like to be me. I wasn’t complaining just to complain, or because I was whiny, but because I had valid complaints.

My girl also has an excellent memory. Once she learned what I needed, she was able to remember when to take care of what she needed to take care of for me. I no longer had to remind her of what she needed to do. She just remembered and I could be quiet knowing she would take care of everything.

Her mother couldn’t believe how quiet I had become. But my girl knew the reason. She knew she had learned how to take such good care of me. That’s all that mattered in the end. It was the main reason I was able to become an indoor cat without any complaints. I knew she’d take care of me. I no longer had to fight other cats. I was happy living with her.

Besides, I was getting older and I was having trouble with my teeth and claws. Not a good thing as a cat who wants to live outside. Not when you have to fight off other cats or even defend yourself from dogs. I didn’t have to deal with those things anymore. I no longer had to hunt. I have regular meals and plenty of love and attention whenever I ask for them.

So, I stopped going outside and became solely an indoor cat. I have never regretted my decision even though I have lost some amount of freedom I once had. Now I could stay at home in a safe place all day. I had someone who understood my needs and just took care of them without any complaints.

I was very blessed. I just had to teach her what she needed to know. She was willing and able to learn. That’s all mattered. She had earned my trust so completely, that I never want to be separated from her ever again.

October 1, 2019 0

My Girl Much Too Lovey Dovey

Uh, I didn’t expect this. The blind guy was never this affectionate. Why would I think she would ever want to kiss me? She likes to kiss me on my head. I love the petting, but the kissing is too much. She even likes to pick me up and hold as if I’m a human baby. It’s just too much. I hate to be picked up. I do like to sit on her lap, but not when she wants to hold on to me. No, that’s just too much.

I like to sleep cuddled up to her, but not when she wants to hold on me too. I am not a stuffed animal. I’m a real animal. I’m alive. Spot, the kitten she bottle fed, liked to be held by her a lot. But I never did. I just don’t understand her need to be so affectionate. I kept asking her to stop and she would every time. But still I never knew when she would do it again.

Would a child of her have own been better for her than me? I don’t know. I know the kitten helped. He loved it more than I ever did. I guess she just wanted to treat us fairly. I know she loves me, but that kind of affection was just going way too far.

I don’t know if my girl wants a child of her own. As far as I understand she could still have one. I don’t know if she will. She doesn’t act like she likes to have human guys around for more than friendship. She certainly didn’t bring anyone home either. Not that we typically had many visitors as we did at my first home.

However, I did see a glimpse that some guys found her attractive. She didn’t respond well to them. I don’t know what it was. Perhaps she just didn’t like those sorts of guys? I don’t know what she goes for. I do know she’s a crazy cat lady and has no problem with being around cats.

I do know her fairly well now. I think she prefers cats over guys. She is certainly happy with at least one cat around. She can be too isolated and alone too much of the time. She keeps to herself and does what she can to take care of herself and any cats she lives with.

I do love my girl. I just never thought it would mean that I would have to put up with kisses on occasion. Ugh. What was also bad was that she tended to pet other cats when she was out. It used to make me so mad and jealous! I couldn’t understand why she would go and pet other cats. Then I learned she just loves cats in general very much. I learned to live with it as long as she pets me too.

At least she loves me. If she didn’t, I’m not sure I could have put up with her behavior. She does give me plenty of attention and affection. She even takes some time everyday, no matter how busy she is, to pet me and shower me with lots of love, attention, and affection. She even compliments me. I love those times. Sitting or lounging on her lap as she pets me gently and tells me how much she loves me and why she loves me.

I loved it when my whirlwind of a girl was calm and gentle. It was better than when she was hyper and chasing me around our place. Or picking me up and cuddling with me. I suppose if she didn’t love as much as she does, I would be much too lonely.

Sometimes when I was way too curmudgeonly, she would get out a damp washcloth and rub me down with it. As soon as the washcloth was on me, I was completely quiet and relaxed. She knew how to massage me! I never even told her about that. Well, I didn’t even know about it myself. I had no idea about massage and how we cats needed it done.

I doubt I could have been as lucky with others who couldn’t stand how whiny I was. But my girl took care of me and loved me truly. Even if she tended to take it too far. I suppose I have gotten used to it now.

September 1, 2019 0

My Girl Much Too Silly

picture taken in Second Life by Ali Noel Vyain of her avatar

A picture my girl took while in Second Life as her alter ego and a giant me…

What did I do to deserve someone as silly as she is? She likes to tease and play. This is not my ideal companion. How did this happen? Oh, she drives me crazy when she’s acting so silly! *Sigh* At least she calms down and does her work for hours on end. Otherwise, I wouldn’t get enough sleep or meditation done.

Why does she laugh so much? Why does like to play so much? She is an adult. I thought adults didn’t play as much as she does. We’re more serious and we have work to do. But yet, she likes to play with me. I’d walk around our place and without any warning, she’d tug on my tail. I’d ask her why she did it and she replied, she couldn’t resist.

Sometimes she’s just as bad as a kitten. Kittens of course like to play a lot. They wrestle each other every chance they get. They will tug on each other’s tails. They even play with their mother. She might play with them. But a human doing the same exact thing? I had no idea one would do that to me as much as my girl does.

She was one who would get out stuffed animals and make them play with me! I didn’t understand at first. That is until she finally told me and showed me that those kinds of animals couldn’t move on their own. She held one that was very much like a black cat. She held it up in the air while we stood on the floor. Then she let go and the black cat fell straight down to the floor and just laid there. I watched the cat closely as it fell. This was the same cat that I had smacked on its forehead and there was no response from the cat.

So, that was it. My girl just likes to play with stuffed animals. They aren’t alive as I am. I’m glad she told me the truth. Otherwise, I’d would have freaked out too much and far too often…

My girl is just as bad as the fairies who keep visiting me. She has seen me running around crazily when they visited me. I don’t know if she saw the little fairies on my back. But I suppose that’s another story…

At least she is gentle. She likes it when I want to play the red paw game. It makes her laugh. There were times when she wanted to get up out of bed when I was laying on her. She’d ask me to get off of her, and I refused to move. She deserved it. She was my girl and at my service when I needed her. She should have known that by then.

Then when she didn’t stop, we played a game of red paws. Eventually, I let her get up. Sometimes she would complain that she would lose her head if it wasn’t attached. What silliness is that? She’d say it whenever she would leave our place to go out and run errands or whatever it is that she does when she’s out and then come right back inside because she had forgotten something.

There were times that she liked to move me around on the floor. I would try to extend my claws to keep me anchored, but there is flooring on which that doesn’t work. And that happens to be the kind of flooring she’d push me around on. I just never understood why she liked to do that to me. She never did it long, but it was still annoying.

Yes, she was and is this silly. I’m not making this up. She was too silly for me and my tastes. But I know she loves me and takes good care of me. So, I just have to look the other way when she’s acting too silly. It was as much as I could ever do with her.

Lucky for me, she doesn’t play with me for too long. If she had insisted on doing it for quite a while longer, I would have had to call it quits on our relationship. So, she knows not to take it too far.

Oh, and my name wasn’t originally Sir Socks. It was just Socks. My girl decided one day to knight me. I have no idea why. It was completely silly. She said she knighted me and touched me lightly on both shoulders, one at a time. She has called me Sir Socks ever since. She even has gone as far as to compliment me on how much braver I am since being knighted. Especially around stuffed animals.

They no longer bother me. In fact, I don’t mind loafing among them because they all smell like my girl. My silly girl who plays like the whirlwind that she is.

me, the only live animal in this picture

August 1, 2019 0

My Girl the Klutz

My girl was and still is quite the klutz. I swear the first month we lived together, she kept dropping things for no reason at all. *Sigh.* She even walked into me in the dark! It startled me so much. She apologized and said she couldn’t see me once she had turned out the lights. It was her eyes. She told me she can’t see as well in the dark as I can. So, after that whenever it was dark, I told her when she was stepping too close to me. At least she has good hearing. Otherwise, I don’t think we could have gotten along as well as we do.

Oh, it was annoying to hear her dropping things on the floor. I’d be sleeping or meditating and bam! Ugh, it was too much at times. I wasn’t used to this kind of noise unless someone was about to cause some serious harm. I honestly believed her when she told me she was just a klutz. She really didn’t spill my food or water on purpose. I could tell. She typically would get down on the floor and clean up her mess. If it had been deliberate, she wouldn’t have bothered to clean up after herself. Or had bothered to apologize.

She always cleaned up her messes. That was something new and different. The place we shared was much cleaner and neater than my first home. It was amazing, but also scary whenever she cleaned. It was loud and she would move things around. I wondered if moving everything around was actually worth it. I wasn’t kidding when I call her a whirlwind… She is one in more ways than just one…

With her cleaning so much, I bathed myself until I was clean enough to be there too. I know she appreciated it. Perhaps she didn’t need to clean every week, but she seemed to think so. I don’t know why, she believed that, but I did like living in a clean place.

The blind guy wasn’t klutzy. He had never walked into me in the dark. I don’t understand why she had so much trouble. But at least she could tell me and we worked together to prevent her from stepping on me in the dark. I am glad she listened and was willing to work with me. If she had ignored me, we wouldn’t have stayed together as we have.

After that first month, I no longer woke up from a nap whenever she had dropped something. She is still a klutz, but I’m just used to her now. I am glad she’s not deliberately dropping things to scare me or to torment me. She is kind and considerate. She is what I need in a caregiver and caretaker.

I am glad she’s a part of my life even though she’s not as coordinated as I am. And there is the matter of her violin playing…

*Sigh.* The whirlwind played a violin. When I had first heard it, I cringed. I protested. I hid. I don’t know what the problem was with the violin. I didn’t know if it was her playing. I liked it whenever she played the piano as long as it’s not too loud. Her electric piano was never too loud for me. It was always pleasant, unless she got carried away with too much force. Perhaps she was just hyper?

But the violin was different. There was a horrible and hideous sound coming from it that I couldn’t stand. I don’t know why she couldn’t hear it. Something just didn’t sound right with her violin playing. I’m not entirely sure it was her. But she didn’t stop playing and eventually that horrible and hideous sound went away.

At that point, her violin playing was quite beautiful and I could sleep and meditate in peace. She had learned how to make the violin sing. But then she stopped playing it for a long time. When she picked it up again to resume her studies, the horrible and hideous sound had come back too.

So, when she was playing it everyday she had gotten the horrible and hideous sound to go away. But after she hadn’t played it often, the horrible and hideous sound was back. I have to draw the conclusion that it wasn’t her. I would have to say there must have been something wrong with that particular violin.

I don’t think she was trying to hurt my ears. She was genuinely shocked that it bothered me so much when she played the violin. I do hope if she takes up the instrument again, that she finds a better violin that won’t ever make that horrible and hideous sound.

July 1, 2019 0

Moving for the First Time

I have to admit that I didn’t want to have anything to do with my girl when we had first met. The moment I saw her, I knew she was a whirlwind. So, I kept running away from her. She kept coming back and talking to the blind guy. Before I realized what was happening, she was cleaning up our water and food bowls and filling them up! I knew it was her. I could smell her.

Then my brother told me how kind and gentle she was. He was lonely once when she had walked past him. He had begged her to pet him. I wasn’t so brave as to ask someone I didn’t know to pet me. She petted him and he loved her for it. He couldn’t stop talking about her and telling me how wonderful she was.

I do have manners. I know I’m a curmudgeon, but I still have manners. So, I thanked her for taking care of our food and water bowls. I had no idea then how important she would become to me. It was simply a matter of time. Things were set. But tragedy stuck. First my brother died. The blind guy suspected someone had given my brother poison.

He was much too young. I miss him so much. He was my constant companion from birth. It just wasn’t fair. He shouldn’t have died then. But he did.

But that wasn’t the end of the tragedies. The blind guy went and fell in love with my girl’s mother and then he went away. I found myself all alone at the house. But my girl came and looked after me. I was hoping she would just move in with me and we could live happily ever after. I was thinking and dreaming about how it would be with her. It was at that point that I knew she would take good care of me and would be the best caregiver and caretaker I could ever ask for.

But that’s not how it went. I remember she had asked me if I wanted to live with her. I had told her of course. But I thought she was going to move in with me. I didn’t find out my error until a few days later. She and some guy friend of hers came. I refused to leave my only home. Really, it wasn’t fair at all. They should have understood that.

Before I had realized what had happened, I was trapped in a room with no way out. The guy talked to me and had me cornered. I didn’t know what to do. My girl was in the room too, but she was distant and quiet. The guy stuffed me into a box and he carried me out. He put me into a car and both of them came along. Then we went for a ride.

I hate to travel unless I’m the one moving. No cars for me. No putting me into boxes. I absolutely hate it. I had been tricked! It was one of the worst moments of my life. No one seemed to care how upsetting this was for me. I really had thought she was going to move in with me. But no.

They both had a hard time catching me. I had lived there my entire life. I was born in the backyard. Didn’t they care about that? Probably not. They were just trying to catch me!

I was tricked. How dare they! I am a cat and this was an injustice. So, I complained the whole trip. I only got quiet after I had found myself in a strange place. As soon as I was released from the cage, I quickly found a place to hide. That was the only thing I could do. I hid in the closet surrounded by her clothes. They smelled of her.

So, for a long time I was quiet. I didn’t know what else was going to happen. I don’t even know how long I hid in the closet. I just knew that they both had left me alone in a strange place. She was the only one who came back later. She called me.

I slowly and cautiously came out and looked around at the new place. I didn’t know what to think. She was kind and encouraging to me. She showed me the litter box. She picked me up and set me down quickly and gently in it. I didn’t need to use it then, so I stepped out of it. She had picked me up— I hate to be picked up! She pointed out my food and water bowls.

She was gentle with me. But I hate to be picked up! She did learn that eventually, but she still did it. *Sigh.* Don’t get me wrong. I love my girl unconditionally, but sometimes she does things I don’t like. And that was just one of them.

So she had at least thought that far ahead to provide me with a litter box. It didn’t take me long to learn that she wasn’t going to let me outside. I asked her often, but she refused to open the door for me. I was trapped inside with her! This new place was still strange and much smaller than my first home.

At least the guy who had caught me wasn’t here. And if he came by to visit, I always hid from him. I never wanted to have anything more to do with him. So, you can imagine my shock when I learned he funded my online magazine. Ugh… I still don’t like him, but I thank him for the support. My girl tells me he likes cats. Perhaps he does. But I still don’t like him because he had tricked me.

June 1, 2019 0

Losing Part of My Right Ear

It seemed to take forever to become an adult. But it was worth it. I was quite the cat before I had met my girl. I could come and go as I pleased. In an out of a house. I didn’t have a litter box. Whenever I needed to relieve myself, I went outside and buried it all. It was better than having a litter box. I didn’t have to worry if someone was going to clean up after me. I had already taken care of that part.

Life was good as far as I was concerned. My brother Spitter was still alive and we would get into a few fights here and there. It’s what brothers and cats do. We never hurt each other. We just had arguments and disagreements. But we always made up afterwards. It wasn’t a bad house. The backyard with the woodpile was even better unless another cat came along who shouldn’t have been there.

Then, well, there’d be a fight for the territory. Spitter and I were here before the strange cats were. So, we defended our turf. Sometimes the fights got bad. This was the way it was where I’m from. Sometimes I ran into dogs when I was out and about. I don’t like dogs. Some are just plain mean. And the ones who aren’t mean, well, I still don’t want to have anything to do with them. My girl thinks I’m a bit prejudice against dogs, but she never blamed me for it. I think she understood why I feel the way I do about dogs.
I never thought anything of the fighting when it was happening. It was the way life was for me. Why question it? As long as the status quo wasn’t getting challenged, I had no reason to think about anything changing. Well, people still came and went out of the house, that didn’t change. The blind guy was the only constant human.

I’m sure if you look at my pictures, you’ll see it’s obvious that I’ve been in a few bad fights. Not with my brother, but other cats. We fought over territory. One fight was so bad, I lost part of my right ear. Look closely and you’ll see it’s notched. It was whole when I was a kitten.

But I didn’t stay a kitten for long. I grew up fast and became quite the cat. I didn’t approach strange humans. Who knew if they all could be trusted. Some were plain mean and had no qualms about torturing cats. Best to avoid all unknown humans altogether and just stick with the few who can be trusted. It’s been my way and it works for me.

So, there’s the story of my ear. I never grew it back. I never told my girl how it happened. But I remember what happened to my ear…

Of course it was a territorial dispute. These things happen where I’m from and when cats are allowed to go outside. If you’re an indoor cat, you don’t need to worry about it as much. Unless the human who’s taking care of you decides to bring home another cat or even more. Then you have to establish order pretty quickly. I was lucky with my girl. She was smart enough to stay out of it. She let us figure it out on our own when she had brought home another cat.

Not that we would have given her much of a choice about the matter. She would have to live with us and the order we established. She is a smart one. Even when she had caught me arguing with another cat she didn’t know, she knew to stay out of it. It’s just one of the many reasons why I love her so much.

So, it was a territorial dispute. We argued and couldn’t reach any kind of agreement. Things escalated. I wasn’t about to back down. This was my home. It was the only home I had ever known. This newcomer had to understand that. But he didn’t care. He wanted to be the alpha cat.

So we duked it out. We screamed. We wrestled. Tousled and raved. We threw punches. We used our claws. We used our teeth. Still the fight went on. Perhaps I don’t remember all the details clearly now. I am an old cat, what did you expect from me? A perfect and clear memory of every little event in my life? That cat did bite my ear. I didn’t realize how bad it was until long after he had gone.

I don’t even know now who won that fight. But I can tell you it was that fight that cost me a piece of my right ear. It’s obvious in the pictures my girl took of me. It just took that one time. It wasn’t the only fight I had been in. But it certainly was the most memorable one.

She never mentioned the loss of part of my right ear to me. She just loved me and took care of me. For that, I can’t complain. She was a good learner. I had to tell her everything. She had never taken care of a cat before me. It was much more than filling up my water and food bowls. If she wasn’t so willing to learn, I think I would have died from embarrassment.

But she was great. She has improved over time. She was good for me in more ways than I have been willing to admit. She was such a whirlwind that assured me I never had to fight like that after we lived together.

May 1, 2019 0