Smokey And The Banditos

The Sterns' recent adventure with their dog Roxie got me to reminiscing about an incident with our cat when I was about four years old. There wasn't much time when I was growing up that we didn't have a cat. And most of that time, we had a dog. (But that's another story.)

It was a late winter morning, and I was out playing, as four-year-olds are wont to do. I came up into the yard, and here comes Smokey. Something just didn't seem quite right with her, and she seemed anxious about something. Even though I had a good rapport with her, it's still amazing what a four-year-old can figure out. She came over and rubbed up against me and fussed at me a bit, so I picked her up (I think she weighed almost as much as I did) and carried her up to the enclosed porch on the back of the house.

Looking around, I found an old burlap bag and made her comfortable on it. She probably gave me a kiss for my efforts, because that's the kind of cat she was. Being only four years old, I wandered off and kind of forgot about it. Kids are like that.

Later, when I came back from playing, I learned that Smokey had had a litter of kittens. Naturally, we kids were pretty excited about that, and Smokey was very tolerant of our attempts to play with her babies. At least, I don't remember anyone getting scratched. Smokey was like that.

Over time, we found homes for the little ones, but Smokey stayed with us. I don't remember what ultimately happened to her, but I do look forward to meeting up with her in The Great Beyond.

Cats rule; dogs drool.