Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Seasons Changing and So Do We

While the temps have just begun to reflect the change from summer to fall, the last few days are hinting that winter isn't far off. I don't mind the cooler weather and am happy to have turned off the AC.  After surviving far too many recording breaking days of 100+, anything under 80 feels like heaven.  But the newest addition to our family isn't very happy.

Toby, a 2 1/2 year old gray cat, came into our lives a month ago.  Several times throughout the year, when the cat population becomes too high, our local Humane Society gives away free kittens and cats.  I hadn't intended to take a new pet home, but out of curiosity we decided to see what was available at the latest give-away.  After getting a number and walking through the crowd of people hoping to adopt a new pet, my youngest daughter and I weren't able to tear ourselves away, even though we were told that it was entirely possible there wouldn't be any kitties left by the time our number was called.  As it turned out, Toby, who was being fostered by one of the employees and wasn't in the facility at the time, was the last cat available at the end of our four hour visit.  We took him in a heartbeat.

Toby's description mentioned that he was a great personal assistant, and he's already proved that to be true.  His favorite spot to snooze quickly became the window that overlooks over my desk.  This was fine with me, until the temps started to dip into the low 50s at night, and the daytime temps stopped reaching 75.  To Toby's utter disgust, the window had to be closed.  All the windows had to be closed.  So now when he discovers that his favorite sleeping spot will no longer accommodate his bigness, he gives up and settles for the top of my desk.  At 34 inches stretched out from head to tip of tail, that's more than half of my desk, and I've spent quite a lot of time moving him so I can see the bottom of my computer screen.  He still doesn't understand that assisting doesn't mean keeping me from working.

We're happy that, instead of a tiny kitten that would have needed training, we found Toby.  Or he found us.  It appears that he and I will be enjoying the changes of the seasons together.  I'm already curious to see what he thinks of the view out the window when the snow begins to fall.

3 comments:

Angela Hood-Ross said...

Beautiful story. Valentine's Day 2010, my husband surprised me by adopting a rescue kitten. She's a beautiful tortoiseshell named, Cruella DeVil, or Ella for short. Shy, at first, she and our Shih-tzu, Caesar, are like brother and sister. Ella loves to sit on the top of the couch above my head when I'm working from there. If I'm at my desk, I usually have her climbing on the desktop and Caesar in my lap. They are my biggest fans...my sweet furbabies.

linda s said...

Toby is a very lucky cat to have found such a wonderful home. Maybe adding a short shelf to the windowsill would give him back his place. Or maybe not...

Joanne said...

Neat story. I hope Toby is very happy with you for a long time to come.