Harley's Page
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Harley Page 2
A little bit of kitty heaven-->
Perched on HIS bench.
Snuggled up to HIS stove.
HIS person offering a friendly scratch behind the ears,
and a patch of sunshine.
For the first several years of our marriage together, we were blessed by the company of Amaranth. At some point she was exposed to feline lukemia and we lost her in a heart rending battle. It was a tough lesson that has left scars on our hearts to this day.
After a year, we stumbled into a Wayside Waifs drive to find homes for cats. We wandered around, but no cats were reacting to us, let alone giving any indication that they were interested in choosing us (we don't choose an animal that doesn't choose us.). It was late in the day, the poor creatures had been handled so much they acted like they were drugged! We were just about to leave.
Then I heard this rucuss behind me.
I turn to see these bright, excited eyes staring at me, and a very wide open pink mouth, from a skinny form of black. It looked for all the world like the silhouette of a spider monkey! It was climbing the bars of the cage, pushing at the top and sticking its spindly legs out and waving at me. I swear, if he could have puckered his lips, he would have whistled!
I walked over to the cage and talked to him. "But I don't want a kitten!" I told him. I wanted a cat. He only got more excited. I sighed as I thought of house breaking and kitten hyjinx causing all sorts of havoc. He was very insistent though, and I knew I had at least been chosen.
A volunteer came around and asked me if I wished to look at any of the cats. In vain hopes that a couple other cats might liven up if I held them, I asked to see a couple of the adult cats. The general reception was "Aw Geez! Leave me alone!" So I went back over to look at this spindly shanked kitten.
Well, the volunteers were treated to an embarrassingly touching scene, this kitten leaped from the volunteer's hands into my arms, and started parading and purring loudly (you could hear the racket over the din of children and parents in a concrete building) on my chest, and rubbing his nose on my face. Spook joined me, and spindly shanks leaped over to him, and plied him with the same affections. At one point every volunteer in the place had surrounded us and cooed "Awe!" in unison. I looked at Spook and said, "I think we done been suckered." He raised his eyebrows and nodded in agreement.
The interview was funny. The lady wagged her finger at us and declared "You will pass this interview!" First question: "What are you going to name your cat?" Answer: "He'll name himself." Question: "Where will your cat sleep?" Answer: "Any where he wants to. Likely in bed with us." Question: "How will you train your cat?" Answer: *Snicker, gawfaw, chortle, hoot* "More than likely he'll train us!" At this point she looked at us with a squint, "You've had cats before." Answer: "We've been trained by the best." She looked back at the paper and appologized for the formality. "Some folks just don't know what they're getting in to, I guess."
Well, when we got him home, and after three days of almost constant purring, we decided his name was Harley, since he sounded like he'd swallowed a Flat Head with the engine still running.
Continued...
Please, if you are considering getting a pet, take a look at your local animal shelter,
and give some poor homeless critter a chance to choose you.