A Lot Like Life

My one remaining black cat - all 16 or 17 pounds of him, bright eyed and long haired, remarkably graceful and light on his feet - jumps onto the loveseat with surprising little effort and curls up next to me, form fitting his body to the L shaped space between my knees and chest. Despite his size and bulk, he's very polite and when he speaks it's with a tiny voice, more mouse than cat-like, delicate and almost tentative. He tucks his paws beneath him, his perfectly heart shaped face just a couple of inches from my own. I tell him what a very good boy he is and he seems to smile. He's an elegant animal, full of mystery, shyness and easy charm. I wouldn't want him to know it but he had me at the first soft meow. It's likely he will be my last black cat and that makes him all the more precious to me.

I grew up in a dog household. Our only cat, an embattled and tough old tom, named Rusty, spent most of his time out of doors and judging from his constant wounds, I'm sure he was a womanizer and an aggressor. During the worst of the New England winters, he would come inside and sleep in front of the fire but he was never lovable or particularly friendly. Still, once I left home, it was a kitten and not a puppy I longed for and since then there have been so many of both that I've lost count. I would give my life for my dogs but there's a certain symmetry about beginning and ending life with a cat, particularly a black cat.

A squirrel darting through the crepe myrtles outside catches his attention and with a squeak of protest, my passive, sleepy and stretched out cat turns into an instant predator. He rushes the windows, all teeth and claws, chattering like an anxious monkey and startling the dogs into a surprised and over loud panic. Noise and all, the squirrel is unimpressed. He sits calmly, watching all this sound and fury and swishing his tail vigorously though whether from bordom or defiance I can't be sure.

After a time, the squirrel moves on, the dogs quiet down, and the cat loses interest. It's a lot like life.