2011 : A Cats and Dogs Odyssey

On the way to my favorite art supply store on Sunday morning,  I met a white and gray kitten on the storefront of  a pet supply store.  She was too shy to say hello to me.

On the way back at the same storefront, an orange kitten named Charlie said hello.  He was relaxing and enjoyed the sun as well as the store owners.

On the next block, a small black pug running behind the old black lady walking two other dogs. I saw her and the dogs several times, but never talked to her before. As soon as I started petting the black pug, the lady introduced him as “Spike Lee”. The adult beige pug is “Grace Jones” and a big Chow Chow is “Elf”. Everyone was very friendly, especially Miss Jones. She sat on my feet, matter of factly and didn’t leave. The lady asked me if I had any animals  and we found out that both of our pets came from shelters. She had 8 cats at home as well. I asked if her dogs and cats got along OK. She said yes and said “If they try, they can do it”.
She didn’t look like an affluent type. She might be one of the old lonely cat ladies who had a pack of cats (and dogs) in a tiny studio. That’d be kind of animal abuse for sure, but also highly understandable, especially if I lost my husband and had no children.

On the same block, my friend for several years greeted me from the windowsill. Her name is “Bardot”.  According to her owner, she is Phoebe, but before I realized that fact, she was already Bardot to me and my husband and she didn’t seem like minding it. Bardot is a skinny black and white cat with a big black mole above  her lips. She is not a glamour like Bridgitte Bardot but  somehow unconventionally cute, so we decided to call her Bardot.
Anyway, she meowed in a strong husky voice and came down from the windowsill to the street. I petted and massaged her. As if I pushed an invisible button on her body, she kept rolling and rolling.
It was hard to leave. When I tried to leave, she looked at me and meowed again, so I had to stay. Finally I left but she was still rolling without any sign to stop. I watched her from several steps away to make sure if she was OK since  It was a prime dog walking time. Suddenly, she started to clean herself and jumped up to the window to go back to her owner.

I was relieved and missed my own kitties at the end of the odyssey. Chef was busy enjoyng nap in the sun and didn’t care about me at the moment. Fireball came and smelled all the dogs and cats I just met.