Once upon a time, we had a kitty named Paws. We named her before we saw her, but lo and behold, she did have little white paws. We named her Paws because we were planning to get two kittens, and it was Eric’s idea to name them Paws and Claws. Well, when my mom went kitten-hunting, she was only able to get one, and it was such a pretty little thing that we kept the name Paws.Paws was a lonely little kitty, until one day a mangy, ugly brown and black cat showed up at our back door. And kept showing up. We had our Claws, and the name couldn’t have been a better fit.

Paws and Claws.

I managed to pet Claws a time or two, but she was so ugly and so skittish that (1) I didn’t want to pet her and (2) she didn’t want me to pet her. What mattered was that she befriended Paws, and our lonely kitty was lonely no more.

Enter Sebastian. As soon as he was old enough to crawl around on the deck, he chased Paws.

At first she kept her distance.

But a reluctant kitty is no match for a persistent baby boy. 🙂

Then one day Jack arrived. A huge black cat, he prowled around our property, and especially our female cats. Eventually I realized there was not one Jack, but two. They were almost identical, these enormous, fluffy black things with yellowish eyes. I named the second one Phil.

Paws and Claws, Jack and Phil.

By spring, Paws and Claws were pregnant. By summer, Paws and Claws had disappeared. Claws reappeared eventually, much thinner and with no sign of her babies anywhere. We saw her a time or two before she disappeared forever, both her and the kitties we never got to see.

That was sad. But we still had Paws’ kitties to look forward to. I would catch glimpses of her here and there, enough to know she’d had her kittens, but we didn’t know where they were. Then one day she came around the fence from the neighbor’s, and a funny little kitten with a funny little tail came bouncing along behind her. I was thrilled. The next day, a different kitty came along. The next day, it was yet a different one.I kept track on my calendar, and by the time it was all said and done, seven little kitties had appeared. Paws eventually moved them all back to our property, which was a huge relief to me. I didn’t want our neighbors claiming our beautiful cat and all those cute kittens!But then the kitties started disappearing. Some of them got sick. Some of them likely got eaten. And then eventually even Paws herself disappeared. All that was left were two little cats, a striped one like Paws, and a completely grey one. None of the cutest kitties had survived.I named the striped kitty Tiger. She looked kind of like a tiger.I named the grey kitty Wolf. Tiger and Wolf, two animal names. I like to name things in pairs. But Wolf seemed a bit silly, and it never felt quite right to call that kitty Wolf. So I named it Timber instead.

Tiger and Timber.

And they have been our faithful cats ever since. Tiger only ever lets me pet her, and even I am not always able to, but Timber is another story. He scratches at the door and tries to come in the house, and he’s always meowing at me to pet him. I did for a while, mostly to tame him, but now I leave the petting to Sebastian.And he is thrilled to do so. Timber is very much his kitty. One day he squealed when Timber walked by, “Timby! He wants me!” Unfortunately, Timber did not want him at that moment, and the little boy was foiled.

But there’s many a time when I glance out to the sandbox and there’s no Sebastian in sight, and I know I’ll find him somewhere on the deck holding Timber or sitting on him or lying down beside him.

Thank goodness we have at least one tolerant kitty. 🙂

This is completely unrelated, but the other day I let the chickens out to roam free in the back yard, and I heard a little voice say behind me, “I have a chicken!” I turned around, and there was Sebastian, and did he ever have a chicken. He was literally sitting on it, holding onto its neck, just like I’ve seen him do so many times to Timber.

Then he got up, and the chicken got up, and that was that. Apparently all animals are for sitting on, even chickens.

We should probably just buy a pony. 🙂