Cat People

 Sunday morning, I awoke to find Fluffy on my stomach. Fluffy is the cat that lives in our house. I hesitate to call him "our cat," since it has been my experience over time that no cat belongs to anyone, really. It also maintains the distance for which I have grown accustomed to the feline species. I am not, as the epithet goes, a "cat person." 

Nonetheless I found myself, as I often do these days, scratching him behind his ears and stroking his eponymous fur. It was a soothing experience for us both as my wife continued to slumber next to us, oblivious to the lovefest taking place beside her. Not that she would have been shocked or amazed. Over the past several months since Fluffy has come to live with us, there has been a gradual détente brokered between the cat and me. What began as a mission of mercy, rescuing this toothless wreck of a feral beast and putting him back on all four paws to resume a life more in keeping with his peers has become a day to day co-existence that could best be described as house pet. Those initial encounters with a hissing, slinking thing that wanted no part of me has become more of a give and take relationship. I will not drone on here about who does most of the giving or taking, but having another soul in around has made a difference. For the better, I think. 

With one hand on the cat, my other hand was free to turn on the television, with the volume low so as not to disturb this sublime Sunday scene. The first image I saw on the screen was a tiger. On a boat. I was watching the last bit of Life of Pi. If you're unfamiliar, it tells the story of a man and a tiger stranded at sea, sharing a lifeboat. Which got me to thinking about the last several months of being cooped up indoors with this wild beast with whom I have come to an uneasy understanding. 

I don't worry about Fluffy trying to eat me. That was never really the concern. Instead I worried more about how we might feel about one another. As I have mentioned, I am not much of a cat person. Over the years I have made room for a few felines. My older brother had a pair of black and white cats named Harold and Maude. A friend from college had a roly poly ball of fur she called Cattywampus. When my mother heard that a cat would be moving into our house, she expressed her surprise. I am not much of a cat person. But today, for my wife's birthday, the woman who truly is a cat lady and a Leo as well, I can say that she finally got what she wanted: A cat for her birthday. And a husband who seems to be okay with the idea.