So I’m heading to Seattle on Saturday to visit my brother Ken for a few weeks. I’m taking the genxchronicle.com operation on the road, and I’m really looking forward to it. We did this last summer too, and it worked out great.
The thing is, about seven months ago I adopted a beautiful 3 year old female tabby cat from an animal shelter. Her name is Copper, and she’s my pride and joy.
She lived in the animal shelter for the full three years of her life before I adopted her. She was the longest-tenured resident.
Lots of people and families came to visit her to consider adopting her, but they always decided against it because, in the words of the shelter director, she didn’t “show well.” Which meant she wasn’t social enough with the visitors.
So I took a risk on her, partly because I felt she deserved a better life than to live in a cage, and partly because she was so incredibly beautiful. She was a lean 10 lbs, and her coat was a silky smooth combination of brown, black and gray.
The first month of her time with me she hid under my bed. I had to bring her all her meals there. But slowly she came out of her shell, starting with short forays into the living room, then longer explorations of the apartment, and then finally culminating in an intense petting session between us that lasted a good twenty minutes.
Ever since then we’ve been best friends. She’s still a little shy about some things, like sleeping on the bed with me, or being on the same couch. It’s like we’ve come so far, but there’s still a little more ways to go.
But I pet her all the time, and we hang out a lot. It’s just that I spend most of my time in the living room, and she’s still more comfortable in the bedroom.
So I’ve made it a point recently to spend more time in the bedroom, and also to invite her into the living room, an invitation she readily accepts.
I love Copper, I really do, but now I’m heading to Seattle for three weeks. My friend MItch, who lives across the street, is going to feed her each day, and try and socialize with her for a bit. But no matter how I look at it, I feel a little bit like I’m abandoning her. I’m also going to miss her intensely.
I have to travel, because it’s important both for my work and for my soul.
But it’s going to be really hard to be away from Copper. I hope she doesn’t take it too personally that I had to go away for a little while. I don’t think she will. But with cats, you never know.
Because cats are great, but they’re also complicated. They’re not like dogs, oozing innocence and heaping unconditional love on their owners.
Cats are complex, loving, scheming, smart, dastardly, emotional, cold-blooded, and everything in between.
So we’ll see what happens with Copper and my separation. I think she’ll be okay with it, but I guess I won’t really know until I return to the city. I’ll just hope for the best.
I mean, what else can I do?
It’s a cat’s world, and we’re just living in it.
