I’ve always been a dog person
Not that I, personally am half human, half dog. I love dogs and have had one in my life as far back as I can remember. So it surprises me that I have a cat now. Part of me is resigned to the fact that my life will be alone. I think I’m a great person. My life has been filled with adventures of all types. Yes, many of the things I’ve done have scared me, but I did them anyways. About three years ago I went to Japan and went Scuba diving and zip lining. The zip line was a confidence course with nine parts. I don’t think I even made it through half. The one that did me in was a segment where I had to keep my feet on a cable and hold on to a higher one with my hands. It was an uphill trek and took a tremendous amount of arm strength. Before that I’d been very proud of my arm strength. In college I was the arm wrestling champion in my ROTC class. In later years I did so much photography and filming that my shots were extremely steady. I helped build two log homes in recent years. So when I got to that part of the zip line trek, I was so discouraged. Age seemed to be catching up with me after all. I did complete that trek uphill, but when I saw that the next segment required you to climb a pole to reach the line, I went and found a place to sit down. Enough.
Scuba diving. I did go. That first and only time was right in the Pacific ocean and the bottom was beautiful with colorful coral and many species of tropical fish. When we got out far enough that we could no longer touch the bottom, I knew in my heart that it wasn’t for me. Tremendous fear washed over. I doubled back to shore. Never again.
My life has been an adventurous one. However, I’m an introvert. Enough so that it takes time to get to know me and I don’t think many people are willing to give it that long. Just making friends has not come easy. Once people get to know me though, we are life-long friends.
My life consists of a small black Jeep Wrangler, a two room apartment in the city, a few books, a lot of art supplies, leather portfolios filled with artwork, a bin full of stories I’ve written, a couple bins of photographs, a few pieces of very comfy furniture, and a cat. I’m scanning the photographs and one day those bins will be gone.
Since Sophia was with her siblings her entire six months of life, I was warned that for a couple weeks she would miss them. She did indeed cry for a while on the drive home. Once in the apartment, I was prepared to open the door of the cat carrier and leave her be until she was ready to come out on her own. I opened the door and she slipped right on out. She walked a bit hunkered down, like she was on a dangerous mission. Once she had checked out every inch of the apartment, she searched me out to be petted and talked to. I felt as though I’d been given the stamp of approval. I took the photo above at that time. I think she looked a bit weepy.
Night time was probably hard for both of us. I went to bed and during the night when I stretched my legs out, I bumped her with my feet. She leaped away. The next time I awoke she was laying at the head of the bed, where a second pillow would be. That seemed to work well for her.
Today Sophia figured out favorite places to spend her time. She likes the window seat, but only for a little while at a time. A young couple was down below, trying to befriend one of the three cats that hangs around down there. My Sophia plays quite a bit. She has a flat round disc that has a circular track for a ball that goes all the way around. She bats at it and it goes shooting around the track. When she’s tired or bored she just plops down somewhere and takes a nap. Usually she does this on the floor near my feet. A couple times she’s gone to the door and cried a bit, then returned to find something else to do.
So here I am, a cat owner. Our first whole day together was good. I took lots of opportunities to talk to her, which brought her to me for petting. She’s very affectionate, but enjoys her alone time as well. Maybe she’s an introvert, too.
This is where she spent one of her naps. She laid on my art table, underneath two lights, as though she were sunbathing. Perhaps she’s going to be okay here with me.