A Cat's Tale: as told to this human

It was a noisy chorus of cats punctuated by the yip of a dog or two. The Animal Clinic was busy with the goings and comings of us and our humans. None of the others looked particularly happy about being there either. Quite a waste of our time, so we each curled up in our kennels until we went off to some other room, got poked and prodded and then taken home again. 

Yes, I had a sore paw, and I was cranky but I could have stayed home. Just because I couldn’t walk very well, she decided that we had to join that noisy throng. I was quiet and refined. Now I’m home with a large bandage on my sore paw. I’ll admit it has made it feel better - until I try to walk on it. Then it feels in the way and hurts. I mean have you ever tried to climb in your litter box with one foot dragging behind! So I’ll just be off and under the bed where it’s quiet and dark. 

“A cat is above all things, a dramatist.”

~ Margaret Benson, English Author

(1865 - 1916)

Being the Boss

‘If I wasn’t afraid, I’d do it anyway.’ A piece of wisdom I heard from a wise woman, or a six year old, or maybe an ancient scribe ~ actually I read it in a book. Fear is a funny thing when it comes to voice. Vocal cords seize up, the pit of my stomach is lined with grit and gunk, and I want to freeze in place until a still small voice whispers to me ‘if you weren’t afraid, would you do it anyway?’ That question, like a cat that curls around my leg and purrs, is soft and in the way. So I get up, 

get it a treat and try to answer the question. 

Make a decision. Do I want the cat or not?

If I do want it ~ the cat, that is ~ am I willing 

to feed it? Gentle it and be the boss of my fear? 

“Never be afraid to sit a while and think.”

~ Lorraine Hansberry, American playwright, 

(May 1930- January 1965)

Saddened - A Rant

The gentleman was tall, well dressed in leather jacket, casual slacks and polished shoes. Thick, gorgeous white hair and a self confident demeanour. He was leaning casually on the sign that tells patrons to ‘line up here’.

The bank has been undergoing repairs since a rain storm in the fall left serious damage. It meant that there is only one entrance and exit through one fairly wide door. Security officers are posted in the foyer, one at a time. The line ups have always been orderly, respecting the sign that tells us where to line up. Today was different with a clot of people just inside the door. 

Another security officer arrived and I supposed it was shift change. The two officers came to the head of the line-up and politely asked the small group of people to move back behind the sign. The man I described became arrogant and rude - no gentleman. He confronted the officers and demanded to know why they wanted anyone to move. “What? Is it a security issue?” His tone of voice entitled and brash. When asked why he wouldn’t move: “I don’t like to be told what to do!”

Those words could have been someone being rude, so I ignored it. But when he said to the officers, both of another ethnicity: “This is a civilized country you know.” I felt embarrassed. Neither of the officers responded to his taunt. In fact, no one of the half dozen of us were drawn into his unpleasant behaviour. The little gathering was called to the tellers just then and the line moved on. We all got our business completed without further issues.

“Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.”

~ Winston S. Churchill