Thursday, December 27, 2007

Feeling like a Schmuck

I let a friend down today. Luckily he is a very forgiving friend.


My neighborhood has a lot of stray cats in it. My last indoor cat was one of these strays that somehow convinced me to"adopt" him. I think in reality he adopted me but that is besides the point. Unfortunately my last indoor cat got sick and died a couple of years ago. Since then I have been putting out food and trying my best to tame another one of the local strays. This stray is a solid grey kitty. He is an older cat since some of his grey fur is turning white. This grey cat is very scared of humans and at first would run away if he say me. For some reason this stray cat drew my attention.

I started out by putting out food for this cat. Unfortunately there are several other strays that also come by for the free food. When ever I say this one grey kitty though I'd put on a big show of putting out food for him. After several months every once in a while Id catch this grey cat sitting in my backyard waiting if I didn't already have food out for him. After several more month it got to the point where this wild cat would let me pet him, if I moved very slowly and softly spoke reassuring words.

During the summer I normally don't see my grey friend much but I see him almost every day in the winter when it gets cold and it gets harder for him to find food on his own. On cold days like today I try to always to get the cat food out early since I know the cats will need some extra food to help them get by. The problem is I got distracted this morning. I got busy doing things and had things on my mind. I completely forgot about my old grey friend. I didn't even realize my oversight until I went out to start fixing my dinner. When I wen to the kitchen I looked out the sliding glass door and there was my grey little friend. He was sitting up on the work bench of the BBQ tucked up into a tight grey furry ball. He was just sitting there waiting for me put some food out. As soon as I saw him I felt like a schmuck. I let my self get distracted and let my friend down. I quickly went out and put his food out for him. He let me pet him a few times before he started eating his dinner. I know he was extra hungry tonight since he ate longer than I have ever seen him eat in the past. After he had eaten his fill he walked off into the upper part of our back year. I don't know where he goes to spend most of his days and nights. I know sometimes he sleeps in out shed in our backyard. I have some nice warm blankets up on a table top in the shed and I know he sleeps on those blankets some times during the day. Where ever he was going tonight I hope he has a dry warm place to be on a cold wet night like tonight.

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