Cat's in the Cradle...
Cats....everywhere..... I was making a break from work on Tuesday to attend the local SCA meeting (seeing as how I'm the Baron, it is kind of important that I show up....), and was taking the back route, as I am wont to do. Let's just say it takes me through a somewhat.... depressed... section of town. On the side of the road, sitting oh-so patiently, as if waiting for an unsuspecting ultra-superstitious person to drive by so that it may dart out in front, causing a rash of bad luck, was a rather large black cat. I was driving rather slowly, as it is a small road, filled with speed bumps, and as I neared I received the cocked head glare, as if it was thinking, 'naw, this one's not worth it'. As I passed, I noticed, perched throughout the vacant lot, were five other black cats. Six in all. A veritable smorgasbord for the folklore impaired...
After the meeting, on the way back to work, I stopped at a local BK Steakhouse (that would be Burger King, the tragically unhip) to pick up dinner. Waiting in line in the drive-thru, I noticed, lounging in the grassy knoll between the order menu and the building, a, you guessed it, black cat. Moving up through the queue, I noticed movement in the passenger side mirror. A black cat was stealthing it's way behind the truck. Same one? Nope, the other was still lounging in the grass.
Having received my bag o' delectables, I continued my journey back to the shop. A couple of miles down the road, I noticed a, say it with me, black cat hauling arse down the sidewalk, as though the devil was on its tail. Was it the devil giving chase? No. Care to surmise? A black cat.
That's nine! I may not hold much truth to old wive's tales, but this did give me some pause. (Paws?) Is nine significant? As far as cats go, anyway? Ah, well, I'll just chalk it up to Halloween being so close, and all..... ::shudder::
On a bit of sadder cat news, my friend and squire, Michael, had a little cat named Whiskey. Whiskey was, to me, tiny, but then again, most cats appear so, compared to my behemoths. This cat was too cool. I was helping carry groceries up stairs to their apartment, and Whiskey met me at the top. She had one little kitty arm raised and was pawing at the air. I put my hand down to her level, saying "Give me five". She did. I freaked. Too cool. Well, poor little Whiskey apparently had a hidden case of feline leukemia. It flared up suddenly, and she was taken away. I didn't really get to know her that well, but she will still be missed. I wonder if I can teach my mammoth mousers to give me some paw? Probably not. My brobdingnagian pets are wonderful companions, but they don't peg real far on the brightness scale.
Speaking of my children, they are just fine. Gray Kitty has taken to sitting in the hallway after bedtime, whining at the top of his substantial lungs. I suppose he is just confused and can't find anyone, so he hollers until someone hollers back. It's usually "Shut the hell up!", but it is a response.... Oliver is still Oliver. He still delivers the unsettling tap on the shoulder from behind, when I am playing on the computer. Man, that's creepy.... He still delivers the "silent meow". And, since we've now a child in the house, has discovered his true passion. Balls. Not the kind he no longer has... Little plastic and rubber ones. He absolutely delights in batting them around the house. It's kind of cute, actually. I like seeing the kitten in him come out and play. GK will even give it a stab. As long as one of the balls comes close enough to where he's laying.... Heaven forbid he should get up to play...
Speaking of Gray Kitty, it is late, and time to give his vocal chords a workout....
After the meeting, on the way back to work, I stopped at a local BK Steakhouse (that would be Burger King, the tragically unhip) to pick up dinner. Waiting in line in the drive-thru, I noticed, lounging in the grassy knoll between the order menu and the building, a, you guessed it, black cat. Moving up through the queue, I noticed movement in the passenger side mirror. A black cat was stealthing it's way behind the truck. Same one? Nope, the other was still lounging in the grass.
Having received my bag o' delectables, I continued my journey back to the shop. A couple of miles down the road, I noticed a, say it with me, black cat hauling arse down the sidewalk, as though the devil was on its tail. Was it the devil giving chase? No. Care to surmise? A black cat.
That's nine! I may not hold much truth to old wive's tales, but this did give me some pause. (Paws?) Is nine significant? As far as cats go, anyway? Ah, well, I'll just chalk it up to Halloween being so close, and all..... ::shudder::
On a bit of sadder cat news, my friend and squire, Michael, had a little cat named Whiskey. Whiskey was, to me, tiny, but then again, most cats appear so, compared to my behemoths. This cat was too cool. I was helping carry groceries up stairs to their apartment, and Whiskey met me at the top. She had one little kitty arm raised and was pawing at the air. I put my hand down to her level, saying "Give me five". She did. I freaked. Too cool. Well, poor little Whiskey apparently had a hidden case of feline leukemia. It flared up suddenly, and she was taken away. I didn't really get to know her that well, but she will still be missed. I wonder if I can teach my mammoth mousers to give me some paw? Probably not. My brobdingnagian pets are wonderful companions, but they don't peg real far on the brightness scale.
Speaking of my children, they are just fine. Gray Kitty has taken to sitting in the hallway after bedtime, whining at the top of his substantial lungs. I suppose he is just confused and can't find anyone, so he hollers until someone hollers back. It's usually "Shut the hell up!", but it is a response.... Oliver is still Oliver. He still delivers the unsettling tap on the shoulder from behind, when I am playing on the computer. Man, that's creepy.... He still delivers the "silent meow". And, since we've now a child in the house, has discovered his true passion. Balls. Not the kind he no longer has... Little plastic and rubber ones. He absolutely delights in batting them around the house. It's kind of cute, actually. I like seeing the kitten in him come out and play. GK will even give it a stab. As long as one of the balls comes close enough to where he's laying.... Heaven forbid he should get up to play...
Speaking of Gray Kitty, it is late, and time to give his vocal chords a workout....
posted by Turtle at 11:25 PM
4 Comments:
You're on to us, Neo. The Agents will be coming for you soon. ;-)
Well, there's always the cat has nine lives thing...maybe you were seeing all the incarnations of the one cat's life simultaneously?
I finally added a photo. I think it looks a lot like me. =) Cute, huh?
In the Dictionary of Superstitions (Oxford Univ Press, 1989), there are seven pages worth of entries just covering cats.
As you can imagine, there are a good number of entries relating to black cats. I found only one entry that touched upon the circumstance of seeing more than one black cat at a time. It is from the manuscript of a diary dated 1797:
"Saw three black cats last night so did not go to market today fearing some evil."
However, I did find additional entries that indicated it was good luck if a cat walked toward you but bad luck if it walked away from you.
Oh, it is also good luck to own a black cat, to touch one, or to receive a visit from one.
Well, no one every said that superstitions had to be consistent in their logic.
Bela
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