Friday, March 20, 2020

Live the Life of an Indoor Cat

Self-isolation may become the catch phrase of 2020. As I walk about my relatively unscathed life-to-date, I am grateful for every little thing that pushes me out of my natural desire to be self-isolating right now.

Then I thought of our cats ...

We have two indoor cats. Cats whose nature is to roam free, chase bugs, hunt mice and do their part in perpetuating the cycle of life.

We have domesticated their lives and asked them to live inside our cages. We bring them food, take care of their needs, provide natural light and windows to the world outside. We allow them to see what they are missing but a pane of glass keeps them from the life they are born to live and the life we have imposed on them. We think adoring and loving them unconditionally makes up for all they have lost.

Our cats have been self-isolating within our home ever since we adopted them.

I am now hearing the voice of my dad as a child:

Grandma had geese at the Rutherford place. One time she was feeding the geese and a goose had chop all over its bill. It grabbed at and bit Dad's eye and really hurt him. Later on, Dad came back and poked the goose in the eye and said, “There! See how it weels [feels]?!”

Yes, I hear our cats chiding us as we adapt to the idea of self isolating. "See how that feels?"

The life of an indoor cat. Yes, we are beginning to have a glimmer of understanding how hard it is to fight our natural desire to socialize and be among nature and life itself.

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