Dear Reader,I
never thought this would be my first of these newsletters. Many
others are almost ready to send, but somehow the events described
below seem more important to share now. I think the lessons apply
to all of us.– Jimmy Scott
Goodbye
Mister Felix
His real name
was Felix, but I called him many names–Felix, Mr. Felix,
loudmouth, big mouth, little pig, big guy, little guy, big fellow,
little fellow, big buddy, little buddy, nuisance, and some others.
My home became his home when he was only a few weeks old. He was
all black save a small white spot on his chest. He was handsome,
proud, sometimes arrogant, and a very loveable cat. As he grew
up the land around us became HIS territory, and daily he would
patrol it. As the grass or other plants (some call them weeds)
grew his trail became visible, connecting all his favorite watching
spots. He was an excellent hunter and during summers mostly fed
himself. Even in winter he sometimes ran through the snow, tracking
the small field mice as he heard them tunneling beneath, occasionally
digging furiously in efforts to catch one of them.
I was away
for several days (very common for me!). When I returned Felix was
nowhere to be found. My other cat, Mandy, was there but no Felix.
Then when my office manager came in she told that Felix had been
run over by a car, some distance from the house. Sure enough on the
pavement not far away were the remains of a black cat. This poor
flattened carcass was collected and we had a somber burial ceremony
in a small clearing in the woods at the edge of the marsh near the
back of my property. Several hours later I was about to eat some
dinner when I heard a scratching at the door. I opened the door and
in walked Felix! This was a joyful reunion but I did wonder whether
he had just used up one of his nine lives or whether the burial was
for another cat. Anyway, he was very hungry. He had lost a lot of
weight and since he was such an excellent hunter this meant he had
done some real traveling. Now this part of the story itself was very
interesting, but paled in comparison with–
The
Rest of The Story
I soon found
out that at the same time Felix disappeared both his brother and
his mother also vanished! They, however, never reappeared. His
brother lived about 10 miles / 16 km away and his mother some 20
miles / 32 km away. Was it his brother who was buried? Was there
a family reunion somewhere? Were they together? Where were they?
Everyday
Life
Felix loved to
follow me around when I was walking around my property. One day
I was at the back of one garden area next to the channel I had
put in to connect two ponds. The grass was tall so Felix was hopping
and bounding to get through, not an easy walk for such a small
fellow. He spotted a flat area and with a big jump he cleared the
weeds and landed in the middle of the flat area. Of course he did
not realize the flat area was water, covered in pollens collected
on the surface of the channel. I do not know how he did it, but
I am sure his exit was faster than his entry! He got onto the far
bank of the channel, shook himself off, glanced around with that
sheepish “I hope nobody saw me do such a silly thing” look
that even people have. I have seldom laughed harder.
Felix had
a talent I had never seen before. He would stand on a stack of papers
and riffle through them with his paw (and claws). He did this with
either foot equally well, and learned quite early that he received
rapid attention when he did so. The only way to stop him was to give
him my full attention for a while.
Lessons?
There are many
other stories about him, of course, but these are a few that are
especially dear to me. His presence in the house was very large,
especially compared to his physical size. We miss him.
How many
times did I tell myself "I'll video record his paper–riffling
act so I can share it with others." The answer is exactly the
same number of times that I also said, sometimes explicitly, "I'll
get to it soon". How many times do we have to tell ourselves "I
will do this when..."? How many times do we have to realize
that now we are too late to do it? How many times does it take us
to finally ”get the lesson”? We adult humans just seem
to refuse to "get it". Just watch any cat! Just watch any
young child! Hummm. Maybe some HK corrections are in order.
