Cats are mysterious creatures.
Some of us love them and some of us don't.
They are independent, willful and often refuse to be
told how to behave. Unlike dogs, they will not come
just because we call their name. They will come only when
they chose to do so and in my experience, usually it will
have something to do with food.
But here's the thing with cats in my view, they can be interesting,
fascinating, playful, and although quite unpredictable,
also great at comforting.
Linus, my first cat, shared an apartment with me
when I lived in Stockholm studying music at the Conservatorium.
Having little experience with cats I had no expectations of how
a kitten was supposed to behave, I was just enjoying his company.
Only when I had a friend over was it pointed out to me that my
kitten was behaving un-cat-like. Kittens, apparently, don't usually
play the piano, have showers, drink milk from a glass, welcome its
owner at the front door, or scare the owner half to death by
jumping up and down on the piano's bass keys
in the middle of the night.
I think Linus liked scaring me.
(He would often hide behind things and then
suddenly lunge himself at me as if he enjoyed me being scared.)
He also seemed to know
when I needed a bit of affection. On more than one
occasion he would jump up in my lap, stretch his body
until he could gently stroke my face with his paw.
He was amazing and loved.
Eventually however, years later, I decided to go to Australia
and so had to have Linus ''adopted'' by my older sister.
(Who also loves cats)
Now, to the cat in the image above.
(Her name is Lovecraft and she belongs to my son
although we both love her.)
My son is a sort of cat whisperer so when he suggested
we add a cat to our household, I agreed.
We decided to go to an animal shelter and after looking
around for an hour or so, we decided we would buy a cat
named Thomas. Unfortunately, before we got to the
cashier, somebody else had bought him.
We had to keep looking. My son stepped in to one
of the enclosures and as out of nowhere a little tortoiseshell
kitten jumped on to his back and would not let go.
Obviously, we bought her.
She has now been with us for almost ten years and she
is just as enigmatic and entertaining as Linus was.
She ''talks'', she knows how to open doors, she loves
porridge, ice-cream, custard and MacDonald's.
She runs ''interference'' if my son and I are having a heated
discussion.
As in; she will push things of tables, demand attention by
using a very eerie meowing sound, or just by placing herself
between us in a very demonstrative way.
She ''bangs'' on the door to be let in (not sure how she does it)
and when only the screen door is closed, she slides it open
and lets herself out.
She will not sit in anyone's lap but she will sit on the
top of the back of the sofa and demand to be patted on her butt.
She is very friendly and ''talks'' to everyone including
total strangers.
She does not kill birds, only the odd field mouse.
She loves to chase water dragons, even one's twice her size,
but she never hurts them. (However, when she let's them loose
inside our living room, especially the big ones, havoc ensues.)
Lovecraft, this fury little creature with amazing green eyes and
a quirky personality is more than a ''mere'' cat, she is
a comforting and loving friend.
There is nothing ''mere'' with a cat in my view,
unlike us humans they do not hide their emotions, they
do not pretend, they do not fake affection, and they
always keep themselves "clean''.
''I have lived with several Zen masters - - all of them cats.''
(Eckhart Tolle)
''Feed a dog and he will think you are a God,
feed a cat and he will think he is a God.''
(Don't know who said this...)
''Cat's will amusingly tolerate humans only until
someone comes up with a tin opener that can be
operated by a paw.''
(Terry Pratchett)
''The cat is cryptic, and close to strange things men
cannot see.''
(H. P. Lovecraft)
about the image: photo, some editing in Photoshop
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