Cats

***I like this photo so much, I'm posting it again.***

I just had a smashing time. It's dusk, and I took a peek out Bernie's back door after the Capitals v. Penguins (great game), and there was my neighbor's cat, stalking a . . . rabbit. Both were in Bernie's backyard, about 20 feet apart. I assumed the rabbit was eyeing the cat as it slowly crept forward, but I was ready to save the rabbit if need be. I like rabbits more than kitty cats, though cats are more interesting to watch while they wander. Anyway, after a full minute, rabbit bolted, kitty didn't pursue. Little did the cat know, though, that it was being stalked. By me. I was about 20 feet behind it, door still closed. I opened it quietly, kitty didn't move. I started to get excited. I walked out the door, quietly. Kitty was still fixated on the rabbit, which was outside the fence now. I slowly took cat-like steps toward kitty. Then I took a big jump in the air, like I was a long jumper. I landed a few feet behind kitty and said, "Kitty cat!!!" I barely got it out of my mouth before I started laughing, kitty leaping in the air with a "Raaeeerrrr" cat sound. It hit its feet and bolted to the fence between Bernie and his yard. He jumped the fence, sat down, looked at me, and meowed. I laughed.

Kitty cats love me.

Bernie enjoyed cats, rather, she enjoyed "playing" with them. She lived with two, Hazil as a pup and then sister Cara's cat, Bear, a bit later in life. She really did love to watch them, chase them. She never hurt one. I may be repeating myself here and if so I'm sure it's not the first time, but there is a cat that lives two blocks north of us. Over the past couple years, that cat's block became part of Bernie and my walking route. Everyday, that cat would come out and greet us--no fear of Bernie at all. It would meow, and they'd smell each other like dogs, Bernie's tail erect and wagging, her movements deliberate. Bernie more than once was whacked in the face by a cat paw--other cat's paws, not this ones. Cats didn't dare come in her yard here, though, or they were chased.

Interestingly, squirrels became part of the acceptable landscape to Bernie. I've mentioned you can absolutely tell how much she loved laying outside listening to birds, feeling the breeze, watching squirrels. She let them be, even let them drink from her water bowl. Rabbits, though, were another story. She chased them like mad. In fact, after Bernie was essentially retired from running, she wouldn't hesitate to take off after a rabbit in her yard. They are all over the place here, and she'd sniff them out on walks, or they'd scatter as we passed a yard. I was grateful for rabbits when Bernie got older. They'd prompt her to run, full speed, and no dog was as beautiful as Bernie as she ran full speed. No dog.