Walking Spirit

About three weeks ago this little kitten attached herself to my back door. She sat there, as pictured, for most of the day and night for about a week. Just staring inside my house. Every time I thought she was gone she would reappear from under the deck whenever I approached the door. This, of course, prevented me from being able to go out on the deck. (It's extremely difficult to keep a cat from going in or out while sitting in a wheelchair.)

She first appeared one evening while Jamie, my old roommate, and I were outside. She came up from under the deck and immediately walked over to Jamie. She began purring as she approached. Jamie pet her a little and then she decided to come over to me and rub herself against my wheels. She tried to follow us into the house but Jamie was able to keep her out. However, from that point on she rarely left the door. She didn't make any noise, she just sat outside the door staring in.

Hobbs noticed her pretty quick and spent the first evening sitting on the inside of the door staring at her. She hissed and arched her back when he first approached but then sat back down to continue staring. The few times that she wandered away were the only times that Hobbs made any noise. He almost seemed to miss her when she would walk away.

Since I didn't go back outside I assumed that she would go away after she realized that she wasn't going to get any more attention from us. After about 3 days I realized that she didn't plan on leaving. On the fourth day she figured out that, whenever I went through a particular door in the house (the door to the garage) I didn't come back for a while. On the evening of the fourth day the smart little kitten decided to come around to the front when I went through that door. I had opened the garage door and was just getting into my car when I saw her come running into the garage. She immediately darted under the car.

If it's not easy to corral a cat while sitting in a wheel chair, imagine trying to get a cat out of a garage while walking with prostheses! Eventually I got her to come out from under the car. When I finally started the car she bolted out of the garage, but she didn't go far. I backed out very slowly, then got out of the car in the driveway to ensure that I hadn't run over her, and that she was not in the garage (so that I could close it).

That night, when I returned from a friends birthday dinner, I looked for her as I approached the house and didn't see her. However, as I was getting out of the car she appeared (almost magically) in my garage. I had to call a neighbor to keep her distracted in the driveway so that I could get inside without letting her in! While I was waiting for my neighbor to come out the little kitten was, quite literally, climbing the wheels on my chair in an attempt to get me to pet her!

I had hoped that she would follow my neighbor back to her house, but the kitten just sat in my driveway staring at the closed garage door. My neighbor said that she looked like a sad little child who had been abandoned by her parents. So, I could no longer go out on my deck, or leave the house through the garage, without having to prevent this kitten from getting inside. I was being held hostage in my own house by a kitten!

The next day Mom came over and helped me catch her and I took her to the vet. She didn't put up any fight at all when Mom picked her up, and she just sat peacefully in the cage during the car ride. She's now been declawed and spade and lives inside with Hobbs and I. For the most part Hobbs seems to like her, although I think she wants to play a little more than he does. They're very cute together, and I've even caught him giving her a bath! She's approximately 5 months old, and I'm pretty sure she was born underneath my deck. There were a lot of cats around my backyard during the winter and I'm positive that at least one was living under the deck. Her name is Jasmine.

Won't you all join me in wishing Jeremy a happy birthday today?

Wishing you a blessed birthday, Jeremy. You are loved!

We all have our own unique superstitions that have developed over the course of our lives. I'm not talking about things like throwing salt over your shoulder for good luck, or going the other direction because a black cat crossed your path. (There are two black cats who have been hanging around my yard all winter, but I don't think they bring any bad luck with them.) I'm talking about things that have become habits because of lessons learned.

Whenever the song Dream Weaver comes on the radio while I'm driving I immediately change the station before the first few cords have played. This is not because I don't like the song. In fact, I really like it, but I can't bring myself to listen to it while driving. Any guesses as to why?

When I was 16 I was in my first car accident. The song Dream Weaver was playing on the radio. On the night of October 22nd, 2005, when a 16 year old driver turned left in front of me, Dream Weaver was again playing on the radio. Now, logically, the song has nothing to do with the accident. It's merely a coincidence, but whenever I hear that song begin this little voice in my head says "change the station or else it might happen again".

My experience is that if I change the station nothing bad will happen. Of course I had heard the song on the radio while driving many times before that fateful night and no horrible events occurred. There's absolutely no reason for me to think that it is the harbinger of doom, but that song is now forever linked with my shattered memory of the events that led to the fire that took my legs.

As silly a habit as it is, I feel safer when I change the station. It's an odd thing, I know, but I thought you might all find it interesting.