A Cat Tale For Christmas

I decided to tell a little story today.  It is inspired by current events and the infamous saying, "Lost kitten down by the grain bins."  My husband spouts this go to phrase all the time.  Well, the lost kitten all started with this soft looking kitten pile in the first photo.  We used to visit my Dad once a month on the farm.  And he had a little surprise for us on this visit.  The farm Momma kitty had birthed a secret batch in one of our old campers.  Our farm was one of those farms that look like a lost island of misfit toys.  Except the toys were cars, campers and farm equipment.  Do you see the black kitten in the mix?  We could tell right away that he was the big man on campus.

Well, we went back to Minneapolis and another month passes by.  It was time to visit the farm once again.  But Dad had warned us that another farmer had volunteered to take on the whole litter.  Even Momma kitty.  So there would be no kittens to play with on this visit.  What?????  

But "Blackie" had other plans. Shortly after the whole family was adopted and taken away my Dad heard some quiet mewing down by the grain bins.  Sure enough Blackie turned out to be an escape artist.  He just left Mom and all his siblings and struck out on his own.  I guess Dad had a new pet whether he wanted one or not.  And we had a kitten to play with!

Ida did not like this new whirlwind.  He was like a wild cat.  He had a spirit that could barely be tamed.  Except at nap time.

I love this old photo of Blackie and Dad.  Sadly Blackie was hit by a car shortly after this photo was taken.  He was a wild and crazy lovable little guy.  And he created the saying that rings in my ears to this day.  Lost kitten down by the grain bins.  My husband even says it to me if I don't understand what he is saying.  Or I'm not listening...

So what does this have to do with current events?  Well, my husband seems to be in a lost cat phase.  He tried to chase one down that he "thought" was lost at Lake Harriet this Summer.  And then the other night there was Oliver.

We were walking at Lake Nokomis after dark when an orange cat comes running out from under a weeping willow tree.  He runs right up to us for some attention.  Of course the first thought that crosses my husband's head is we have a "lost" cat on our hands.  He had a collar, but it was too dark for us to read.  So we carried him a block.    (Yes, a whole block and he didn't squirm at all)  And held him under a street light to read his tag.  Oliver just happened to live right on the street we were on.  Imagine that.  Well, we'd carried him this far.  So we decided to finish the job.  We took him just a few houses down to his home.  One cat saved....a million to go.

Lost kitten down by the grain bins.

For more cats visit www.gattinamycats.blogspot.com