Cat Napped

Life is full of mysteries. Full of them.

From the very little…. to the great big.

For some odd reason, I have been thinking of a kitten I found when I was a kid.  As I remember it, a bunch of us were having a “pick-up” softball practice.  It wasn’t like a team practice, it was just a bunch of us kids, getting together to hone the craft.  I mean, we were ten-years-old, for crying out loud.  We were young.  We were committed.  We were softball players, by god, and we were on a mission.  Ten!

So, I know for sure, it was me and Lisa Tuckerman.  I can’t remember who else was there.  We were up at the grade school on Parkwood Avenue.  Now… be assured… this  was the dustiest, rockiest, hard-knocks-sandlot we could find.   We were hard-core.

The whole time we played, a little gray kitten was hanging out with us. It was the cutest little kitten I had ever seen.  I swear.  Within moments, I fell in love with that little thing.  I called him Padgett.

After practice, we were all saying our goodbyes and getting on our bikes.  And that kitten didn’t want to see us go.  So Lisa & I made the executive decision that we would take it with us.  She said her house was OUT.  No way, no how.  (And I am a sucker.)  Well…..  then….  I figured I could wing it.  I mean, there were a bunch of us at our house already.  Mom and Dad probably wouldn’t notice another.  That is exactly  what I told myself, as I devised a way to sneak this cat into our lives.

It was quite the Mission Impossible scenario, getting this thing into the house, up three flights of stairs, and into the attic…. where no one would notice another individual living in the house.  Lisa and I were like a couple of Jewel thieves stealing through the halls.  Finally, we made it up to the very warm attic.  We fixed up a little bed, a little fan, some food and water, and a little litter box.  I used one of our Laundry Tubs for the littler pan.    This move, would later be thoroughly regretted.

Padgett lived up there for two entire days, until the ruse was over.  My Dad heard some mewing.  The jig was up.

I can only remember begging and pleading with my parents twice in my whole life.  The first was at Cedar Point, when I was about 4 years old.  I had declared my life would not be complete unless I acquired a box of Salt Water Taffy on the way out of the park.  And this, the Padgett Incident, was the second time.  I begged to keep that kitten.  I promised, with all that I was, to take care of this kitten.

They reminded me that we already had one cat, Fritz the basement cat….  and that was one too many already.

And now, as I recall the story…. I have no idea what happened to that kitten. I imagine Dad took it to the shelter.  Or maybe he just drove it back up to the park behind the school on Parkwood.  I don’t know.  It is the first time I have thought of this in 40 some years.

Things come and go… in and out of our lives…. all the time.  Events occur at random, without any regard to our opinion.  Sometimes, these things are minor incidents.  Sometimes they are huge.   Either way, we can rarely control the things which evolve at any given minute.

Sometimes, these are things we can never explain…. . .. or know the outcome.  And there are times when we do not know the reason why.

Mysteries.

Seeking reasons could be futile at times.  And when that happens, the very best thing to seek is peace.  But here is the great thing of it.  The peace is with us all the time. We simply have to choose it with our free will.  Being at peace is a tremendous thing.  A good way for us all.

As for the kitten.  Whatever happened that day… …… happened exactly as it should have. Because here we are, reading this…right now.  And that is how it goes.  Life keeps building on each new moment.

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“The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science.”
― Albert Einstein

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“The possession of knowledge does not kill the sense of wonder and mystery. There is always more mystery.”
― Anaïs Nin

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“The world is full of obvious things which nobody by any chance ever observes.”
― Arthur Conan Doyle, The Hound of the Baskervilles