Sam emerged from playing in the raspberries and froze. He felt her eyes upon him, but from where? Then he saw her, the dark shadow under the rose bushes.
“Does she mean to attack me?”
She does. And she did.
Tag: orange tabby
Blogging From the Face of the Sun
We just got through a nasty heat wave here in Portland, some days over 100° Fahrenheit (1000° Celsius). We don’t have air conditioning in our house so I spent most of the weekend hiding out in the basement. It’s generally nice and cool but after so many hot days it was warm even there. Thankfully the heat just broke, the temperature dropped 20° pretty quickly and there’s even a soft rain now.
This picture of Sam was taken a few days before the heat wave, we were running around when I noticed he stuck his tongue out whenever he paused, so I decided it was time for us to take a break so he could catch his breath. The daisies on the right are past their prime but he loves to play in them, so I left one patch standing for his sake.
Flower Child
The daisies in the flower garden out front were getting too numerous, so a year or two ago I transplanted some of them to the backyard to give us some temporary flowers until we decide on landscaping. I planted two patches and they’ve both done really well. They lean over to get more sun and many of them eventually fall over since I usually forget to tie them up.
Sam likes to play in them, sometimes hiding under the flowers so he can surprise Scout or Emma (and sometimes knocking more down in the process). I let him wreak a little havoc in the daisies since they are so numerous and he enjoys it so, but I do try to keep him out of the coneflowers. Here he was sitting beside some of the daisies, I framed the picture so he was mostly hidden by the white flowers. The cats haven’t been able to go outside much this week either because I’ve been working late or had other stuff to do, so I’ll have to make sure they get some time out there this weekend.
Foreshadowing
A picture of little Sam asleep on our guest bed back on Christmas Eve, his third day with us. My wife and I alternated time with the new kittens in the guest bedroom and time in the main house with Scout. I thought that my time with the new cats would be reasonably productive while they slept, it seemed like a good time to get back to more serious writing.
However, Sam foreshadowed one of his traits rather early (foreshadowing being a sign of a high quality kitten) in that he wanted to sleep on you if at all possible. And when Sam zonked out, he went into a deep and tranquil sleep and you didn’t want to move for hours, even though your arms and legs were falling asleep. Since he was curled up in my lap, I couldn’t type very well, so I read books or browsed the web instead until it was time to walk to the candlelight service at church.
Rumor has it that I joined Sam in restful slumber a time or two.
In any event I have no complaints, it was both peaceful and comforting. My wife and I had taken time off around Christmas so it was a good time to get the cats acquainted with each other and with us, as well as a good time to transition from the sorrow of losing Templeton to the joy of welcoming new life into our home.
I have many treasured memories of Christmas over my life, but bringing Sam and Emma home will always be one of my fondest.
Tugboats
When I wake up in the morning, Sam is usually the only one in bed with me, tucked up tight behind my knees. Scout is sometimes there but otherwise comes in when she hears my alarm clock ringing. Sometimes, though, all three cats are in bed and tucked up tight next to me or sleeping on me, mooring me to the bed. One such morning I woke up on my back with all three cats sleeping next to me. I carefully shifted over to my side, as if on command all three cats filled in the gaps and curled up again, like furry little tugboats keeping me in bed.
I drifted back to sleep. Good thing it was a weekend.
The Legends Tell of a Creature that Strikes from the Shadows
Little Sam loved to play under our dressers as a kitten. Of the three cats, he was the only one small enough to fit under there. At first he could run under there pretty easily, then as he got a little bigger he’d have to wiggle to get in. Now he’s too big to fit under there at all.
Has Anyone Seen Sam?
I can’t find him anywhere.
Pinned
As you can see from yesterday’s post, little Sam is quite the wrestler but this hasn’t always been the case. During his first week with us, even this little furry mouse was able to pin him to the floor. Cut him some slack though, he was just a little kitten.
Sammy Lives!
Perhaps a better question to have asked is “Is this the end of Emma?”.
Is This the End of Sammy?
You’ll have to tune in tomorrow to find out. Same cat time, same cat channel.
Boolie 