The OGT Daily #30 Star

 Thirty days! I've made it a whole month with gratitude practice. Can I make it 30 more?  That's the challenge and mission.

Today my walk took me south along the Hudson River despite the 20 degree weather. I'm back in NY. This walk is very familiar as I did it for twenty years when our home was on the Hudson. Now it brings me by the colony of stray cats who populated that neighborhood.  They are the kin of my cat 'Star' aka Babycat.  

Our dog of 18 years had just died in Fall 2020, right smack in the middle of COVID when little Star appeared no less than a month later. We were not looking for another animal, still grieving our beloved puppy, but there she was a tiny grey bundle mewling under the board in the window well to our basement.

She couldn't have weighed more than a few ounces and her eyes were still milky from opening. There were no sibling kittens. She was all alone.  

I did see her mother and figured she was transferring this baby to another nest. We were used to kittens each year. These animals are like raccoons and the people who feed them do not spay or fix them. So they run wild and are feral. I've called animal control to no avail.  But this little baby was so small.  Her mother looked barely older than a year - thin and scrawny. I left her a bit of food which she ate. She was a tuxedo, like most of the cats in the neighborhood - all black with a white belly, but little Star's father must have been the gigantic grizzled gray tabby tom cat who went after all the tuxedo kittens.  After a few days her mother disappeared and Star tried to climb out of the window well. I was worried about hawks and coyotes. She was that tiny. I had to feed her with a bottle.

D says I kidnapped her, but I say I saved her from a life in the tuxedo cat shtetl along the river.

D won't admit it, but we adore out Babycat, even if she is a bit feral. I keep having to explain, "But, she's not a dog - she won't come when you call!"  I am ever so grateful for her fierce furry presence and the many face cleanings she's given me.

What are you grateful for today?