In reference to cats, I enjoy and feel grateful to make them a part of my life. Twelve years ago -- and, My! How quickly time goes by! -- an acquaintance then living in the countryside encouraged me to adopt a kitten from a litter born in a barn. MyMrMallory and I drove out there to meet our new feline friend for a lifetime. Behind the lady's home, we walked toward a structure that for all its dilapidated looks we recognized was once a barn, long ago. Inside, there stood a tractor that I thought belonged in a museum. Underneath it we saw blurs of fur as kittens ran and jumped in and out of, and over, the tractor. I sat cross-legged watching the kittens, about ten of them. From a distance, I noted that mama cat eyed us, with either wariness or with just as much interest as we felt in her kittens. 

        The two kittens I scooped into my arms long ago grew to become an important and delightful part of my life. They are beautiful and intelligent; mischievous and naughty; distracting and humorous; loving and tolerant. They provide a certain unpredictability in my life that I cherish. They are my feline friends for a lifetime. 

Bisous sleeps under a wool blanket. 

Cocoa looks contentedly at my camera.