But the cat next door and I have become friends. What I like about cats is that everything is on their terms. If they want to do it, then they do it. If they don’t then they don’t. I have always enjoyed and respected that aspect of the cat’s mentality – I suppose that I am a little like that myself.
The next-door cat comes to sit with me on either my front or back deck from time to time. I barely know the neighbours, private person that I am – wouldn't recognise them in the street, but cats don’t regard the same boundaries and morés, and fortunately for me, the cat came to investigate one day and decided that we might become friends.
I don’t know whether it is a she or a he, but in my mind I think of her as a she. She is short-haired, grey, not very girly, but extremely talkative at times, and very purry when she comes for a visit.
My front deck gets the morning sun, and she likes to bask in the shafts of sunlight sometimes. Often I am running late in the mornings, and my good intentions of spending some time in the sun while I have my breakfast end up being a quick sit down while I down my smoothie in a few moments. I really ought to take a lesson from the cat who knows how to stretch out and act like there is all the time in the world - a few minutes in the morning sun would set me up for a lovely segway into the day I am sure, instead of a frenzied gallop several times around the house hurling things at my work basket while I am pulling on my work clothes and slapping a bit of make-up on.
My back deck catches the afternoon sun and on my days off I like nothing better than to sit and enjoy the rays as the sun disappears behind the trees and then behind the horizon. Occasionally the cat will come and join me. This is often slightly awkward, because the neighbours are often sitting out on their back deck, and even though I am high up and they are lower and we can’t see each other, it is obvious that their cat is talking to me quite vocally and visiting with me on my deck. They are okay with it, but it is a bit odd sometimes.
Mostly the cat sits in the sunlight away from me and we just pass time in companionable silence. I know she is comfortable with me because she is not on guard in any way, and often talks to me or purrs. Other times she does that cat thing where she indicates that she wants to be stroked, but every time I go to do it she makes sure that she is just beyond arm’s reach and that she is pointed away from me – trés amusing.
Today was another nice day with the cat. I was enjoying the last of the sun, feeling the chill of the autumnal air start to creep in, when the cat, who was prowling in my back yard, spotted me. Lots of talking to me as she made her way across the yard and up the stairs. She was in the mood to sit on my lap – it is always an honour when a cat decides to make contact, up she came onto the bench and thence onto my lap. I got cold and put her off while I went to get a cardy, but she waited and settled back on my lap with her head tucked under my chin and her paws around my arm.
I still won’t get a cat – much as I would like to have one, I would hate to leave it every day, and I would feel trapped about not being free to go away for the weekend or for a holiday. No, I like much better being able to chat with the cat next door.