Companions

When I write, they are with me. When I don’t write, they are nearby.

Cloud is a special needs cat. She is shell-shocked and still doesn’t allow anyone to pick her up out of the blue. There has to be a stint of long calm if that is to happen. She has to be laying down, near sleep (or asleep) for her to allow me to pick her up.

She’s a curious cat and wants to have all the doors open. Sometimes she hollers at me to open the window blinds so she can see outside either that, or to open the front door. She loves to have her nose rubbed, but only in certain circumstances where she cannot see your face so close to hers.

I wish I knew what happened to her to make her so skittish. I wish I could take away her pain from the past. The only way I can do that is to be here for her now, to . her that all people aren’t as evil as the ones she’s encountered in the past.

Boots is our silent one. She either doesn’t know how to meow or there is something wrong with her vocal chords to not allow her to do so. Although she makes a queer sound when it comes to the wet food. It’s an odd chattering,‘Ach-ach-ach-ACH!’

Sometimes she has an odd howling meow when it comes to carrying what my wife calls ‘her babies.’ Boots will carry the stuffed toys around the house and issue up a howling that is full of concern and demands attention. When we call her, she drops the toy and comes over to us.

For whatever reason, they have accepted us, probably because we have thumbs and feed them. They teach me to live in the moment despite what has happened. They teach me what is important. They teach me that the tiniest action can have an impact that shakes the world.

I think, for that last reason alone, I will always have an affinity for cats of all kinds. Especially the ones that have lived through severe challenges. They are the best teachers of Zen that I have been exposed to at this point.

They are truly the jewel of the lotus.