All Things Great And Small....

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The day was very cold. It had snowed in the night, but in the morning the temperature rose to just above freezing. And so the snow melted. But although the snow had gone away, it was still chillingly cold outside. A good knitting day....

And then I saw the neighbor cat at the window.

I felt sorry for the cat because it was so dang cold outside. It was cold enough so that, even with our thermostat set at 70 degrees F., there were still icy drafts in the house which made me shiver and put on an extra pair of thick house socks.

As the little cat sat on the window ledge, looking at me through the window, my heart was disturbed because I knew the little thing was probably very cold. And I simply couldn't understand why the cat's owners would leave it ouside in that weather. So I went out on the front porch to comfort it, and it looked at me so sweetly--- and so forlornly. When I went back inside the poor thing tried to get into the front door with me. And that convinced me that the cat wanted to come out of the cold and into the warmth of the house.... any house.

And the little cat looked hungry....

And let me tell you---I cannot bear to see any animal in distress or suffering. I can't abide it. It hurts my heart. And so I really couldn't stand the fact that this pretty, sad looking little cat was cold and hungry, and was clinging to the ledge of our window in order to stare, pitiously, at myself, Little Baby, and Leonard--- inside our warm house.

Suddenly I decided to remedy the hunger situation. So I got the container of tuna fish out of the refrigerator---the container which holds Leonard's and Little Baby's tuna fish. And I gave a big plate of it to this neighbor cat. And he (or she) was so hungry that he practically inhaled it---and then licked the plate over and over to get every last little drop!

I know, I know, you're not supposed to feed somebody else's cat because then it will keep coming back. But look at him---he's too thin! I don't think he has been fed enough...

And so I fed him. Shoot me.

Then I had to tell Leonard and Little Baby that I had less tuna to give them when it came time for their meal. Needless to say, they weren't exactly thrilled, as you can see on their accusatory faces when they saw the smaller-than-usual portions of tuna....

But I simply smiled and told them:

"It won't kill you to share. Remember---not every cat is as fortunate as you spoiled idgits!"

(I don't give a rat's patooty if they're mad at me.)

(Hell, they're always mad at me for something anyway, so fooey on them.)

(And although Little Baby has perfected her scathing "disgusted at Bo" expression to a fine art, I'm immune to it.)

I decided not to tell Blaine that I had fed the little waif-cat our own cats' good, brand-name tuna fish since he is so ultra cost-conscious and is constantly lecturing me about saving money. I certainly didn't want to have to suffer through another one of his lectures about how I continually "throw good money out the window". And I also didn't want to hear him harp about how you're not supposed to feed stray cats "because they'll keep coming back". But I couldn't help mentioning the plight of the little cat when Blaine came home from work that day.

"I saw a poor little neighbor cat hanging around," I told Blaine, trying to instill some pity for God's precious little animals into his head. "A pretty little orange tabby. The poor thing was freezing--- and was staring into the window at us. I think his owners are cruel for leaving him outside on a cold day like this. And he looked thin.... and hungry."

"Yeah, I've seen him around..." Blaine replied, a sad look coming over his face.

And then, after a slight hesitation, he added: "You fed him some tuna fish, didn't you?"

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