Nelson

So, you may or may not know this but we're thinking about expanding our little family, and adopting a cat. When we first moved into our house, we would hear strange sounds, like someone was moving around in our basement...only we don't have a basement. We do, however, have a crawl space, and it is inhabited by our downstairs neighbors, feral cats. You can see where the previous owners have tried to bar the cats from the cat-sized openings to the crawl space by hammering wire mesh over them. You can also see that the wire mesh has been efficiently peeled back, by determined cats. I happen to really enjoy cats and I have passed on that love to JT (or maybe, to be fair, perhaps it was Katie, The Best Cat Who Ever Lived who gave JT a love of cats, or at least a fond tolerance for them) and so we have a live and let live policy for the cats. We like to watch them hunt in our backyard or laze around in the sun. Sometimes one will take a nap in the flower bed/barrel that we never plant flowers in. They're pretty fun to have around, and in exchange for room and board, the cats make sure that we never have rodent problems, which after the mice problems in our last house (which developed after the departure of Katie, The Best Cat Who Ever Lived) is a HUGE boon to us. Thus far, we have left it to the cats to take care of themselves. We don't feed them, house them (other than letting them live in the crawl space), groom them or take them to the vet. I might have been tempted to try to take care of them, but they get a really wild look in their eyes and dash away into a hiding place when you get too close to them. Until now. We've seen a gray cat hanging around our house, but because of our past experience with our wild, furry, mangy friends, we didn't try to approach him. Yesterday Carolyn got really close to the gray cat and instead of acting anti-social, he butted his head against our (cautiously) outstretched hands and purred. Carolyn asked me what his name was, and I told her she could name him. While I was thinking of names like Smoky, Ghost, or Coal, she decided firmly on "Nelson". Nelson?? Yes, Nelson. Poor Nelson, he's such a nice cat and he is so skinny and malnourished looking. And it's bad luck for Nelson that he's coming into my life now, instead of when I was single and lavished my love, money and attention on my cat(s). Yes, I used to be a Cat Lady, and deep down, I probably still am. I used to buy "only the best" cat food for my cats ($25-$30+ a bag) and take them to the vet if they got even a tiny sniffle. I was so attached to my cats that when I had to put one to sleep because she had FIP, I was so distraught that the vet's office sent me flowers the next day. Quick side note--I feel the need to defend myself. Just so you know, I never owned more than 2 cats at a time, I NEVER decorated with cats in anyway (not even a cat calendar) and I never took their picture. I was a Cat Lady, yes, but I was a Cat Lady with clear boundaries. Just so you know. Anyway, I'm not ready to commit to Nelson in that way. We're going to take it slow, feed him once a day, maybe spend some time outside with Nelson and get to know him a little better. Sort of see if this is a good fit for all of us. With that in mind the girls and I bought Nelson some food this morning. Carolyn wanted to buy him some canned food, but instead we bought him a 3.5 lb bag for $2. Carolyn and I have agreed that it's her job to feed Nelson. Carolyn is extremely ecstatic about this. She keeps proclaiming that Nelson is "gorgeous!" and wants to go outside and be his constant companion and feed him again and again until he pops. I must admit that Nelson is a very tolerant cat, especially for a "wild" one. Carolyn keeps petting his fur backward, so that it stands up, and although you can tell he doesn't enjoy it, he is very stoic. Katie, The Best Cat Who Ever Lived would have swiped, claws out, at such an insult, or at the very least, ran away. Nelson, desperate for attention and love, just sits there, and accepts his lot in life. He could be our kind of cat. We'll see how this goes. Oh, by the way, those other pictures are random pictures of the girls, so that you can see how much they've grown in the last 2 months, since I have been remiss in updating this blog.

p.s. if you want a groovy tune, check this out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZUfsmwaNoA . We have been listening to this constantly in the car.