The Beginning of a new day

Peanut's Tales of loving and living

This is one of my favorite places to be, curled in the shade of a pine tree in the Crouse’s yard warily observing the world.  My name is Peanut. I am an extremely beautiful calico. I am just a little kitty but my coat is moderately long and silky.  I live in the rural countryside of York County.  I enjoy exploring the surrounding fields and woodlands.  I have had a near miss or two with dangerous critters who live outside the boundaries of our yard. Over the years many cats have come and gone. I remain, along with June Cleaver, my sister. The key to my survival so far is how well I have perfected avoidance techniques. I am what the people world refers to as a “scaridy” cat.   I am kind of timid but have had to be a tough girl to learn the ropes. For me, flight serves my needs. I don’t have to assert myself. Anyway, I get everything I need by being cautious and watchful.

 Right now I am watching Mr. Cat Bird, who is such a tease. He is flitting around from tree branch to tree branch trying to bait me to chase him. I didn’t give in to his silly escapades. I let the young ones hone their skills trying to catch him. (They never will.)  I have known this old bird for ten years. Each year when he returns, we make eye contact and greet each other.  Mr. and Mrs. Catbird are the first sign that spring is drawing near.

 I was just a tiny kitten when Mrs. Crouse rescued my mother and my litter mates. She was a temp working at a trucking company called That-A-Way. Originally we were born under a porch where it was dark and safe. Our mother kept us back in a corner where no one (or so she thought) could find or know about us.  One morning very early in the predawn darkness, the young man living in the house captured our mother in a trap. We were easy picken’s being so small and helpless. Suddenly his huge hands grabbed me (and it hurt!) and threw me into a box with my mother. One by one the rest of my family was dropped in with us. It was so dark in the box and we were falling and tumbling against each other. We were so scared including our mom.

 We had no idea what was happening. I have since learned we were in a car. (I have been forced to endure this on more than one occasion when going to a place called the veterinarians office)  After a long time, the movement stopped. The man picked up the box and we were being jostled about and bumped again. We were confused and crying.  Abruptly, the box stopped moving and our dark world became still. I could hear him running and his foot steps faded away. It was very quiet again.

 We milled around inside the dark box crying and scratching the sides, I wanted OUT. But our mom kept herding us together. All of a sudden it was becoming very smelly and noisy. Soon I could hear people talking and loud rumblings in the background which were terrifying. I peeked through the slot in the box and saw the noise was coming from huge trucks idling and the men were truck drivers walking around in the garage. Daylight filled the box when a big muscular man opened the lid, “Oh my,” I heard him say, “Look at these beautiful kittens. Does anyone know someone who can get them out of here?”  He quickly closed the lid. (Mom nearly got out of the box and we cried and cried). Eventually, the earsplitting noise of the trucks stopped and it became quiet once again.

 Hours passed and we stayed close to mom who tried to keep everyone calm. I was just dozing off when I heard footsteps again. This time they were quick steps which had a tapping sound. The box lid slowly opened and a little light shown into our world. I was glad my eyes were open so I could see this wonderful lady talking so sweetly to my mom.

 She was talking to another lady, who was peeking in looking intensely at us. “Why don’t you take a picture?” I thought. After a few more deliberations between them, the nice lady took all of us home with her. I liked how she carefully picked up our box. The next thing we knew, we were on the move again. I was tumbling around, smashing up against mom and my brothers and sisters but it was not as bad as the first time.  We ended up spending the entire day in her car. Thank goodness it wasn’t hot outside as she had to keep the windows nearly shut. Still, my mom wanted OUT.  Later in the day, Mrs. Crouse brought milk and something called a hamburger into the car for our mom. Mom really liked that stuff!  Mrs. Crouse opened the box so we could venture out and stretch our legs. Things quieted down and we had lunch too. Mom was purring again and we all took a much needed cat nap on the backseat of her car. We drifted off to sleep wondering what was in store for the rest of the day.