Fiona Understands Winter

Awww, cute. We (my dear one and I) have a black shorthair (absolutely. prototypical. Halloween. cat!) we adopted three years’-ago. He was part of a feral litter (with another black shorthair and also a tortoise; at least of the “pack” visible which would regularly go across our backyard lol). So, I (of course! — because I’ve ALWAYS loved cats and, truly believe they *do* have an evolutionary “mystical sense” of instinct: capable of bringing, both, peacefulness *AND* a spirit of protectiveness) started leaving dry food and fresh water outside the back patio every night around 6:30 for them.

Anyway: one of the black shorthairs, I’d notice, started hanging-around more often just by himself (the older and more familiar he felt in his surroundings)….to the point; where, when it started staying light out longer when that Spring came: I must’ve won his trust (finally!) enough while he saw I was going to fill the dish that night and he sat right there without running.

We went to a local rescue, got him fixed/shots/certificate/everything. I named him Nostradamus, because he’s got that “stare” (with golden eyes) — which, just remided me of the cover art to paperback books about the psychic Nostradamus I can still remember vividly from the 1980s with these piercing eyes on the front of (ha!).

I could *never* be a “dog person”! I think I once heard that a dog is, actually, an UNevolved horse — believe or not(!). I go power walking through my neighborhood each morning if the weather is decent (about 12 blocks round-trip) aannndd: there happens to be a row of houses, three streets away from me, where there are five people right. down. the. line. ALL WITH THESE BIG, OBSTREPEROUS DOGS that go nuts (like they have sonic hearing-or-something!) AT ANYBODY GOING PAST. That is something I cannot stand (and: I cannot figure out how someone else would want to, honestly?, live with the disarray of such behavior). Something else about dogs, I’ve always felt put-off by (and, again, I think when you contrast their “evolution” with ESPECIALLY CATS) is: I think when you see the way a dog is so hyper-predatory regarding what it feels is its “space” (*EVEN* if, for example, it is behind a fence or in a park — a “neutral location”, but the owner doesn’t have a leash on it) — NOTHING will prevent that dog, it seems, from trying to make a B-line straight toward you for no reason at. all. Out of all the sizeable predatory animals (eyes aimed in front), really, it’s like dogs and men are the only two not even cognizant of the fact they may be endangering *themselves* in a provocation. No joking. Honestly(!). I mean, (generally) any other of the larger predatory mammals aren’t programmed to “hunt humans”. If you don’t go interfering in THEIR habitat or — you are, inadvertently, in a situation like one often hears about hikers encountering wildlife on off-road trails: if the large/predatory animals either don’t feel you are trying to provoke a reaction from them or they sense you are not “prey” (by running away very quickly instead of backing away slowly and *avoiding eye contact*), they (typically: but don’t fully “bet on it”!) will leave you alone. A dog, though, just doesn’t seem to have that kind of innate intelligence (yet) and it shows (in a bad way, to me).

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