I believe that, if you have a blog, not only are you allowed one post about cats, you are actually required to have (exactly) one post about cats. This is mine. I hope you enjoy it.
Black & White
The adorable little beastie in the picture is my parent’s cat. They adopted it after their neighbors, the cat’s first owners, abandoned it when they moved away. The cat has one great virtue (it is extremely photogenic) and one minor talent (appearing ingratiating and helpless). It also has a wide variety of nicknames, of which my favorite is “The Great Disappointment“. There’s a reason for this.
Gary Preston
At first, Black & White was skittish. Which was only to be expected, given her ill-treatment. After years of patient care, however, my parents were able to earn her trust, and break through her natural and acquired wariness.
There’s a natural tendency to assume that, inside the shell of a damaged creature, is a sweet, sensitive soul waiting to emerge. Or, as Matt’s anger counselor, Gary Preston, put it:
You know what? Inside that angry shell is an awfully cute peanut.
In this case, however, inside Black & White’s defensive shell was a big, fat, lazy, self-involved, grumpy cat. (Please remember that this assessment is corrected for her species.)
Its was a good deed to adopt the cat but, in this case, virtue would have to be its own reward. There’s a general lesson here that’s applicable to human relationships.