He caught a chipmunk! I kid you not. He was still as a rock just a few inches from the pole holding our bird feeders. This chipmunk was completely unaware of him, despite Kang being a big, fat tick of a cat. Tina and I watched in amazement as Kang patiently watched the chipmunk eat the droppings from the feeders. And then suddenly he sprang and low and behold! he had a chipmunk in his mouth.

Now, I would be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed. Granted, the chipmunk was an idiot for not seeing this big, fat black and white cat sitting in the open. But the patience and stillness that Kang displayed was amazing.

However, I am not a monster. Kang had the thing in his mouth, and was carrying it to us as his trophy. I quickly got up and had him drop the poor rodent. It had been playing dead while in Kang’s mouth. Once I got him to drop it, the chipmunk started hopping around in place, obviously in pain. Eventually it recovered, scurried off under the deck, and we could hear it chattering angrily as it ran off to its burrow in the brush south of our house.

Still, damn! Kang, the Mighty Hunter! He’s out in the lawn right now hoping for another chipmunk to make the mistake of ignoring him.

Update: He almost caught another one!

Gee, I didn’t realize I’ve gone 12 days without posting to my blog. That’s not good. Well, to be honest, I’m not sure I have anything of import to pass along. Life is going well. I’ve got my job, the house, and Tina, of course. Plus, there’s Smokey, the ape-shit crazy kitten who’s claws are making mincemeat of our legs. She’s perfect. When she’s not ape-shit crazy, she’s a snuggle bug.

Here she is overlooking her domain after having successfully scaled Mount Lampshade, the Everest of our living room.

It would appear that Smokey and I are at loggerheads. He continues to believe my toes are his personal toys. I have made it clear they are not. It seems I have a cat that is not respecting my boundaries. This is unacceptable. Especially since he chooses to act as if he doesn’t understand me at all. I hope I haven’t gotten an immigrant feline that doesn’t speak English. Also unacceptable.

There ought be a wall…… errrr, I mean law.

I was late giving Kang an afternoon treat. Usually treat time is 4:00 PM. Anyway, I finally remembered at 5:00. I called him down, dispensing the treat into a stainless steel bowl. Kang looked at the bowl, then looked around. I realized he was looking for Cinnamon. He wouldn’t eat the treat. It was then I started crying. I walked into the living room, sat on the Love Seat, and continued crying. Kang followed me. I picked him up and he purred while I cried and petted him.

And yes, I will still get another kitten for Kang. And for me.

She was my faithful companion for close to 15 years. The longest significant relationship I’ve ever had outside of my family. Today I had to put her to sleep. She had bone cancer. Aggressive bone cancer. Last month when I took her in and learned she had hyperthyroidism they also took x-rays of her leg because she was limping. Then there was only a small amount of swelling. It could have been a sprained ligament. It wasn’t possible to tell. Today, when I took her in the vet could feel hard masses up and down her left hind leg. She was unable to tolerate any touch to her paw.

Cinnamon was not your typical rescue cat. I didn’t rescue her. She chose me. I was working one Saturday morning back in 2003 at Cochran Center when I heard this forlorn yowling. It was a beautiful, sunny summer day, with blue skies and just a hint of a breeze. I was finishing up some progress reports when I first heard it, off in the distance. Over time it became louder and more insistent.

My office was on the second floor in the stairwell of the building. So I made my way downstairs to investigate, stepping out the door. I didn’t even get my foot down to the front step, and she jumped on it. I was smitten.

“How cute.” I thought to myself, reaching down to pet her. My hand hadn’t even gotten below my knee when she jumped up into it. I was surprised and went to lift her up to pet her. Again, I don’t think I managed to get her much past my waist when she lunged right up onto my shoulder and started rubbing against my chin. I was now way past smitten.

She was a dark, reddish brown color. There was a patch right below her neck running along her spine for a few inches that was the color of cinnamon. Hence the name. She was with me from then on except for a six month period when I was staying with my sister in Grantsburg while I saved up money for a place of my own.

I’ve finished crying for the moment. No doubt I’ll have more tears as the day and the weekend progresses. I will miss her. And I will never forget her.