I'll Call It Like I See It

by sheila morris

Category: photography

  • are Carport Kitty and Bully Cat an item?

    are Carport Kitty and Bully Cat an item?


    Every new relationship has its highs and lows – peaks and valleys can be expected. Carport Kitty and I are no exception; we have developed a pattern I call Now you see me, Now you don’t. I leave you to surmise who’s the Now you don’t see me actor.

    Yesterday I made a plan to skulk (as opposed to stalk) around Neighbor John’s driveway on my early morning walk to try to catch a glimpse of Carport Kitty who was in the Now you don’t see me phase for the past three days. I peered over his hedges as I walked down Cardinal toward home and saw that only one of John’s trucks was there. When I reached his driveway and could see above the hedges, I looked anxiously for CK. No cat in sight. Sigh. Major disappointment. I was about to just walk on by when I looked down, startled to see a multicolored ball of fur sitting very still near my feet.

    …calmly curled at the bottom of the driveway next to the street…

    Carport Kitty soaking up the early morning sun

    I told Pretty when I got home I was sure CK would be dropping in for a Fancy Feast meal at some point during the day since she had clearly been waiting for me plus I knew she’d been impressed by my reminding her of the yummy meals we served in our carport (even though she never acknowledged my presence by a glance in my direction). Pretty shook her head and repeated her mantra I think she’ll show up when she’s hungry. Pretty stands by her cattitudes.

    Alas, she was neither hungry nor thirsty yesterday apparently. Now you don’t see me was still in effect.

    Today was a new day. Would I ever see Carport Kitty again, I wondered.

    Why, yes. Late this afternoon someone was hungry.

    She waited at the bottom of the kitchen steps while I prepared fresh water and her dinner. She didn’t rush to eat but seemed to be keeping an eye out for something or someone else. I thought I had seen the blur of Bully Cat leaping in the air and running away when I opened the kitchen door to pick up Carport Kitty’s food bowl. To quote Tweety Bird, I ‘tawt I taw a puddy tat.

    Maybe CK was afraid to eat because Bully Cat lingered in the bushes somewhere. I stood guard while Carport Kitty ate.

    I spotted Bully Cat at the edge of our yard next to the fence

    Ha. He sees me guarding poor pitiful Carport Kitty’s dining experience with her over the shoulder fearful glances.

    She carefully ate her Fancy Feast broiled chicken pate, and then she walked away but hid under our car. Now why would she do that? She knew I was protecting her from Bully Cat.

    she left her Meow Mix – someone had drawn closer

    Bully Cat enjoyed the dry food left by Carport Kitty

    Thanks to my followers who are much more cat savvy than I am – you recognized the possibility of a food scam and figured my relationship with Carport Kitty was apt to be a threesome.

    Bully for you!

    ************

    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated, Happy Thanksgiving! and stay tuned.

  • joining the community of lesbian cat lovers

    joining the community of lesbian cat lovers


    Carport Kitty has dropped by around dinner time for the past two late afternoons and I, as Pretty predicted, make sure to rush her food to the carport before she has time to think I have failed her. No sign of Bully Cat. And no sign of Carport Kitty following her Fancy Feast and Meow Mix. She is not one to linger for a visit, but she has at a minimum allowed me to give her a quick rub when I set her food down. This was the extent of our relationship.

    She stopped coming by in the mornings to eat so I assumed Neighbor John must be a bed and breakfast arrangement for the heated condo accommodations. However, I walked past his house on my regular early morning walks with my eyes turned toward John’s driveway just in case Carport Kitty might be up and about for a stretch in the sun. I hadn’t seen her at his house for a while until this morning.

    There she was sitting in Neighbor John’s driveway

    I stopped to chat but kept my distance in the street. How were things working out for her in the heated condo? Did she like her friends who roomed with her at night? How was the breakfast and by the way, I have delicious Fancy Feast at our carport this morning if you’re interested. Otherwise, I will see you for dinner.

    Carport Kitty running toward me

    To my astonishment I felt movement behind me, turned, and saw Carport Kitty actually trotting behind me like one of my dogs would do. Evidently mentioning the food made an impression.

    The next thing I heard was the sound of garbage trucks rumbling down the street behind me, and I thought (being the Alarmist Pretty thinks I am) of the irony in the story I would tell of how I was welcomed with my newly minted membership in the Cats for Lesbians Club only to have that membership revoked because Carport Kitty had been killed by men who didn’t care about animals.

    The men did care, though, and slowed their gigantic commercial vehicles as Carport Kitty leaped in front of me and raced up our driveway. I moved as fast as I could to get her breakfast. Close call.

    As CK dined, I noticed from my kitchen spying post she ate quickly, glancing around like something bothered her. I fed the dogs, then went back to check on her only to find Bully Cat having a go at the food. First of all, I think I showed improvment in my cattitude by not opening the door with hysterical obscenities. No, no, no.

    I opened the door which caused the Bully Cat to retreat to our garbage cans – not a full retreat – but not disrespectful. I appreciated that and simply said you have to go away because Carport Kitty needs me more than you do. (Maybe I waved my arms a little with a Shoo or two.)

    Bully Cat did retreat across the street, Carport Kitty finished her breakfast. My membership in the community of lesbian cat lovers is temporarily secure.

    **********

    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.

  • Bully Cat returns, but I am conflicted

    Bully Cat returns, but I am conflicted


    Late yesterday afternoon I peeked down at our back door steps through the glass in the kitchen door because it was about Carport Kitty’s dinner time, and I wasn’t about to miss her visit – our only time to bond since she now resided at Neighbor John’s heated cat condo.

    But what to my wondering eyes did appear on the top step where Carport Kitty usually waited for me?

    The horrid Bully Cat! The Bully Cat who appeared for all the world to think HE was coming to dinner – what on earth possessed him?

    Well, I sprang into full frenzy mode – I jerked the door open, shouted obscenities, waved my arms in the air and followed him as he made his way out of the carport. Interestingly, my diatribe didn’t seem to scare him as much as it did me. He ran, then stopped periodically to see if the hysterical old woman was still following him, then ran again, stopped, repeated. Finally he made his way across the street and down the hill.

    I was furious, fuming and flabbergasted all at the same time. Needless to say Carport Kitty was nowhere to be seen for her food yesterday.

    During my morning walk today, I thought I caught a glimpse of the Bully Cat a block up from our house. I was walking in a different direction so I couldn’t be sure. Then I was 100% positive when he confronted me five minutes later.

    He stopped, seemed to be weighing his options

    he came over to me as if we were the best of friends,

    my tirade forgiven

    then Bully Cat slowly sauntered on

    When he walked off, I thought he looked a little thinner. I wondered if he was getting enough to eat. Sigh.

    But when I got home from my walk, someone was waiting for me.

    hello, is it me you’re looking for?

    ************

    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.

  • sunday morning coming down

    sunday morning coming down


    I had what some might describe as a “brisk” walk this Sunday morning, as in brother, it’s really cold outside today – is there any way I could skip the healthy habitual morning walk when Jack Frost was nipping at my plants and my nose as the sun rose from its customary place…

    Full disclosure: I’m not a cold weather person which goes a long way to explain why I live in South Carolina. Pretty and I talked often about relocating to another state, country, world in search of politics we preferred to our state’s conservatism, but this was back in the days before our granddaughter’s appearance. Honestly, a warm climate was best for both of us. Politics be damned.

    Patriotic and Playful

    A belated Happy Veterans Day to all those who served

    in the air and everywhere

    1st. Lieutenant Glenn L. Morris with his mother before leaving to join the Army Air Corps in WWII –

    he was 18 years old

    My dad flew 32 missions over Germany when he was stationed in England with the Eighth Air Force. He never talked about that time with me, but he did instill a love of family and trees in their autumn finery when we walked those hills, those forests in rural Grimes County, Texas together.

    He still walks with me every morning.

    *********

    Stay safe, stay sane, get vaccinated and please stay tuned.

  • Boo at the Zoo!


    Who do you think had the most fun this week at the Riverbanks Zoo & Garden annual Boo at the Zoo event? The pictures give the clues…

    Boo!
    Oh, Nooooo! and/or Oh, Yay
    I can’t bring myself to look – too scary

    Coco, Naynay, Mama, Daddy, Me, Nana

    From our family to yours!