We often said, "We don't have a cat, a cat has us." The first January we lived in our house, this gray kitty showed up and took residence in the breezeway. We fed and watered him, and Emily named him Cadenza. He never came inside (too many allergies) and he wasn't always a friendly cat (he could pretend to be and then his true nature would come out with a swipe or a scratch) but he was interesting.
2003 - first Christmas with a cat
He loved to sleep in odd places, like the roof of the truck or wrapped around one of the tires. (I even wrote a post on his ability to sleep anywhere - here)
Cadenza with Em in 2006.
In the beginning, he ruled his territory with an iron fist. No other cats were allowed in the yard. In fact, he'd go next door and beat up their cat, just for the sake of it. As he got older, he softened and soon other cats were allowed in the yard and even to sleep in the garage and breezeway. This fall he had really been slowing down, losing weight, sleeping a lot and missing meals. We hadn't seen him in about two weeks when a couple of neighborhood kids came to the door on Friday to ask if we were missing a cat. His body was in the creek. We figured we wouldn't see him again, that he'd gone off to the woods to die; the rain must have washed him back to us. Friday afternoon we gave him a proper burial in the side yard. Farewell, kitty friend.
