Writing is like being able to put life into a snow globe. It takes the things that are too big and scary and reduces them into a form that I can put away when I want and look at from a distance. It also takes all that’s good in life and captures it into something I can take out when I want and look at close up and keep forever. It makes the bad things into something I can hold…and the good things into something I can hold onto. Both help so much that I need that little souvenir of life.

Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Raining Cats and…Cats


Is there magic in anniversaries? Sometimes I think so. Today marks a full year since some higher wisdom placed an abandoned and starving senior cat on our doorstep. Catsby is no longer starving by human standards—though his appetite begs to differ.

We’ve done a lot of speculating about where he’s come from, because this friendly, shiny-coated, declawed, neutered kitty was obviously loved and cared for at one time. But why his former owners didn’t answer our ads or check the information we recorded at the shelter is anyone’s guess. Did their circumstances change? Did they give up looking for him too soon? In the days before finding him, our area suffered damaging tornadoes and vicious thunderstorms. We’ve discussed the possibility that he was lost as a result of those storms, but weight loss like he’d suffered doesn’t take overnight. He had to have been homeless at least several weeks prior to that. 

What is certain is that he was exposed to the elements during those storms. At the first distant growl of thunder, his ears pivot like radar and he heads for shelter—shelter being under my bed, where he has spent the greater part of the rainy season. Even the softest, gentlest of rain sends him darting for his perceived cover. He has his own little nest set up under there.

Very early Mother’s Day morning, we got a doozy of a storm. The unmistakable clatter of hailstones on the roof in the middle of the night was almost deafening. The human members of the family met up in the family room as was our tradition since the kids were little. Some of my fondest memories occurred in the darkness of electricity loss, while the children and I snuggled together and laughed over the sound of thunder. So as we were discussing the luck of having our cars in the garage, Catsby came running out of the bedroom and into our waiting arms, but running in a sort of crouch, like SWAT teams do. He was dodging the hail. Indoors. It was both hysterically funny and desperately sad all at once. 

But here’s a coincidental little postscript. We had more storms this morning just as I was working on this…and Catsby ventured out for the first time. Maybe there’s magic in an anniversary, after all.  

And now for more well-timed news: I just found out my piece, “Super Timmy,” has officially been accepted in Not Your Mother’s Book…On Cats, due out September of 2014!


Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass.  It’s about learning to dance in the rain. ~Vivian Greene

16 comments:

  1. Tammy--Congratulations on both your anniversary with Catsby and your publishing news. "Super Timmy" doesn't sound familiar. Is that a story you kept from the WWWPs? ;)

    It sounds like Catsby is getting comfortable and feels quite safe in his new home. Sometimes it takes some time...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Sioux! I hope he's getting more comfortable. We didn't know he was afraid of storms for a while because he spent the first few months of his life under my daughter's bed. I don't think you've read "Super Timmy." I don't want to waste your time with stuff I don't have questions about or issues with, and this story is pretty straightforward.

    ReplyDelete
  3. We had a dog like that. Unfortunately for him, he was an outside dog. We got him from the pound as a pup, the runt of the litter, because he hung back when his multitude of brothers and sisters rushed to the gate to greet us. He looked like he needed somebody. We took him home and made him a little pen on the back porch by the laundry room door. There was a thunderstorm that night, and though he was warm and dry, he was a frighted little pooch due to the thunder. He was like that his whole life. To my husband's credit, he DID allow that old dog inside during a tornado warning.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Awww! I do know it's fairly common for dogs to be afraid of storms. Even indoor dogs. :(

      Delete
  4. Congratulations on your year with Catsby, AND your upcoming Timmy publication. Good work, Tammy, and congratulations to Catsby for lucking out.
    K

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Kay! He's a very good kitty, though. I feel like we're the lucky ones!

      Delete
  5. Congratulations on your story, Tammy! And congrats to you and Catsby (love that name). He's one lucky cat. Our cats don't care about storms, but we used to have a dog who was terrified. She destroyed bookshelves and cabinets and multiple other things at the first sound of thunder, not because she was trying to be destructive but because she wanted "IN" somewhere. She'd empty everything from the lower shelf of my husband's bookshelf in his office and climb in there (she didn't really fit very well), and one time while I was looking for something in the fridge a blast of thunder sent her INTO the refrigerator (again, not a very good fit). Poor little thing. They didn't have the thunder jackets for dogs back then, and something like that might've helped her. It does sound as though Catsby is learning that he doesn't need to fear the elements. Good job on that. You're obviously a great kitty mama. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lisa! I've had several dogs who were terrified of storms, but I'd never heard of a thunder jacket. So glad you mentioned it! Looked them up and they exist for cats, too. Hmm...might be worth checking out if this keeps up or gets any worse!

      Delete
  6. Hi Tammy, it's Kay again
    I've been thinking about Catsby some more, and am amazed he survived on his own, having been declawed. So glad he made it in the "wild" until he got to your house.
    K

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Me too, Kay! He's very smart, but it's still pretty miraculous he made it so long on his own!

      Delete
  7. Congrats on both counts - your kitty anniversary (and he's adorable by the way) and your story!!!! Not surprising. Can't wait to read it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks so much, Lynn! I'm finding it's surprisingly hard to take a black cat's picture. He hates the flash, but he blends in too much without one. I'm getting better at it, though, and plan to post more pictures later.

      Delete
  8. What a sweet looking cat. Congratulations on both accomplishments!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Your little Catsby has surely hit the jackpot now that he's got a home with you!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

    P.S. Congrats on another Chicken Soup publication!

    ReplyDelete
  10. P.S. Whoops! I meant to type congrats on another NYMB publication! And guess what? I'm in that one, too!

    Pat
    Critter Alley

    ReplyDelete

Any return "messages" are appreciated!