And the Winner Is . . . the Cat

The cat finally got into the house. Was let into the house, specifically. As an act of ineffectual softheartedness.

We had a storm (or possible two loosely connected storms) this weekend. I could see the front approaching for about two hours Friday night, rolling in from the Gulf, all flashes and backlit clouds. Thunder arrived about ninety minutes later as it neared and finally the skies opened. Surprisingly, although the storm came from the west, the rain came from the east and I closed the windows on that side of the house. The cat spent the night under my car.

Saturday night threatened a repeat so I took some food out to her before the weather arrived. The winds hit close to 50mph and I closed the rest of the windows. I saw at least three lightning strikes in the neighborhood and the thunder indicated there may have been a couple more. The rain came in sheeting gusts. The Weather Channel showed our storm, a classic cyclonic swirl of clouds and lightning, stretching all the way up the Gulf coast.

When my brother came home from work, I mentioned I felt sorry for the cat out there under my car. He looked out the door and said, "No, she's right here." She'd followed him up the walk and parked herself just outside the screen.

At first, when he opened the door, she was reluctant to enter. She came into the entryway slowly and then into the foyer, walking daintily, sniffing around with a look of wonder on her face. She walked right past the bag of cat food and stood staring into the living room. My brother called to her, using several different names all of which she ignored. Finally, with some nudging, he got her into his room but apparently thought better of that and moved her onto the lanai, making a temporary cat box from an old plastic basin and some fine wood chips. I was concerned for the resident lizards.

Of course, as soon as she was safely ensconced, the rain ceased, the winds died and the lightning stopped.

She spent the night curled up on one of the cushioned wicker rockers and managed to let herself out through the lanai's unlatched screen door in the morning.

The lizards hid successfully and are fine.