One Cat and 30,000 Tulips

The big story at the Arboretum these days is the tulip show! The Arboretum folks planted 30,000 tulip bulbs last fall, and late April is when they usually hit their peak. I've been visiting regularly - actually, almost daily - for the past few weeks, welcoming each new color that comes into bloom.

First there was purple. Then red joined the show. Last week some oranges and yellows chimed it. It is like watching a symphony unfold, with each new color adding its own joyful note to the scene. I stand and look, and have a magic thought: if I waved my arms like a conductor, would the tulips actually begin to make music, each color with its own sound?

I had a really awesome treat this morning: I had a little friend to stroll the gardens with. I was standing by the sundial when I saw Scout, the Arboretum cat. Well, he isn't officially EMPLOYED there, as the University won't let them have cats of their own.

Many arboretums apparently do have their own cats, for rodent control and other purposes. But Scout lives nearby and is a welcome visitor to the gardens. His name and his people's phone number are on his collar.

Scout is a very happy, friendly, people-oriented cat. I bumped into him for the first time on a beautiful sunny July morning last summer. Literally bumped into him, or rather HE bumped into me, as the first thing I felt was a little nose bumping against me, and I looked down to find: what a delight, a CAT in the gardens!

On this day, Scout spied me first, and what a happy little look on his face as he ran straight toward me. He was running so fast that I couldn't even get a decent picture of it. And then he was rubbing against me and I was kneeling down petting him, engaging in a little sweet talk, as one does with cats.

And then, like before, he seemed to want to lead me through the tulips, like a tour guide. And so we tiptoed through the tulips together: the little gray and white cat, and me. We walked along rows and rows of blooms in every color of the rainbow, until Scout strolled off to take care of other pressing cat-business elsewhere in the gardens.  :-)

The song to accompany these two feline/tulip images (for there is one more in the extras) is Eric Clapton, with Let It Grow.