A Cat in the Gardens!

There are few things in life more heartwarming than to be welcomed by a cat. ~Tay Hohoff

First, I swear this is not my cat! No, really; I mean it. This is NOT my CAT!!

Several times a week, I like to visit the Arboretum's gardens in the morning briefly before work. I'm often there for just 15 or 20 minutes with my camera. I would say that you wouldn't believe all the beautiful things I have seen there. But that's not true - I have shown you so many of them here on these pages!

But this morning, the gardens held an extra special treat for me, a cat lover. I was standing in the pollinator gardens photographing echinacea backlit by the morning sun, when I felt a fuzzy head and then a fuzzy tail bump against my leg. I did not even startle; it felt perfectly natural and normal to me, as that sort of thing happens often at home. And so I knew just what it was before I even looked: a CAT!

I looked down to find a gray and white cat at my feet, a little thing, your standard 8- to 12-pounder. It was rubbing desperately against my legs, winding itself between them. And then suddenly it was leading me along the garden path, looking back as though to say, "Human, are you following me?"

And so I did. I followed the cat through the gardens to a sunny spot, where it sat down and commenced to bathe and then roll on its back in the morning sun. The cat seemed totally at home there, and gazed up at me with a confident look, as though to say, "Welcome to my gardens! I hope you like it here!"

The cat was obviously well cared for, and it wore a little collar around its neck. I suspected it had just come from breakfast at its own home; time now for a bath and then a nap. It allowed me to touch and pet it, and so I did. And I also checked the collar. Turns out the kitty's name is Scout, and the tag also included the owner's home phone number and the statement that its shots are up to date.

So hello, dear Scout. As in, "I'll scout ahead and accompany you on the trail." Well met, my friend! Flowers, cats: I could have stayed all day. The cat was being very engaging, chop-slamming me and wrapping its tail all around me. At one point, it seemed to want to lie down on my shoes. Anybody walking by might say, "Hey, you're not allowed to bring that cat into these gardens!" But I'd have to say back, "Hey, this is NOT my cat!"

And of course, all good things must come to an end. The cat and I both had places we had to be. So Scout sauntered off through the bushes, and I went back to my car and headed in to work, smiling to myself. In the end, we had only six minutes together, but it felt like much longer.

I have thought and thought about it, and I think this would be a very civilized thing, and perfect for the cat lovers. That there would be gardens that you could visit, and when you enter, they would assign you a cat to be your companion. And you would walk together along the garden paths in the sun. That would be just about perfect, I think! (But of course the cats would be trained not to eat the bunnies or the birds, no sir! There would be peace among all the creatures of the garden.)

The song to accompany the image of this delightful, friendly cat named Scout is a song about pussycats. Here is Tom Jones, with What's New Pussycat.