A Cat's Eye View

My thirteen year old cat has been outside probably four times in her life except that she was possibly born outside; I've no way of knowing how her, her siblings, and her mother ended up at the pound where we adopted her from. She was outside once when we brought her home from the pound, twice when she's been to the vet (maybe a few more times than that but not many) and once when we moved to the home we're living in now. I ask you to not feel badly for her though. She has less than zero desire to go outside. She enjoys sitting on the window sill in the kitchen occasionally but she's never once attempted to get out of the house or even stand next to an open door.

I have a VERY skiddish kitty that is tremendously fond of routine, safety, and familiarity. In her old age she's also becoming fond of snuggles and curling up on my lap. She doesn't get snuggles as often as she would like or as often as she deserves since a three year old boy happens to inhabit the same house as her and she happens to be rather fearful of (or in the least, dislikes) him. Two days ago during the three year old's nap time I decided quite on a whim that I would take the cat in the back yard with me to snuggle for a short bit. It was the most beautiful of summer days, bright hot sun shining directly over head, fabulous deep greens everywhere to be seen from a wonderful amount of rainfall we've had this year, a gentle cooling breeze blowing through the air, and birds singing all around.

I carried her out to the lawn chair I had set up and sat her on my lap. At first she was frightened (although she has always found tremendous safety in my arms). My poor kitty noticed nothing except that she'd been brought to a horrifying new world, a place she'd never been with sounds she didn't like and smells she didn't know. She pressed her head onto my shoulder and gave out a few timid scared meows. I spoke calmly to her and pet her head and back while holding her close to me gently. She meowed a few more times before she began to feel the hot sun on her back and notice the gentle breeze on her whiskers. If you've ever seen an indoor cat sunning themselves on the warm light spot that's beaming in from a window then you realize how much she enjoyed feeling the hot sun on her fur. Before long she picked her head up off my shoulder and placed her two front feet on my leg so that she could look around and watch the birds flying around. She began to purr deeply and happily and looked every which way with wonder. She settled down on my lap, her very favorite thing to do while she continued to purr, watch the splendid sights in this new world, and rest quite peacefully.

My son and I have spent hours each day since spring time this year in the very same backyard doing yard work, watching and listening to the birds, playing with mud and water, collecting bugs and playing sports yet I can honestly say the back yard has never been so beautiful as it was in those few moments when it was a brand new world and my delighted little fur ball took in all the newness of it for the first time. Every day goes by and there's so much normal, generally, about each and every one that passes. Yet something so simple as a cat bird watching in the hot sun for the first time or a child eating a certain treat they've never eaten before or seeing a flower you've never noticed can make a moment so new, so worthwhile, so alive. I seek out these changes of scenery now a days; to be in the same spot I've spent countless hours in but to look at the world around me in a new way, I relish that.