I Should Have Known Better Than To Turn My Back

It has become my practice, as of late, to take some time away from my computer every evening in order to spend time with my family before everyone settles in for the night. Then I usually come back to the office to write about whatever is on my mind. This is my time for solace, my time to gather my thoughts before moving on to a new and exciting morning. This evening was no different... at least until I returned to my computer.

When I came into the office, my son Jason was in tow, and immediately he began laughing. At first, I didn't see what was so funny. Then I found the source of his amusement. Our cat, Lexie, had decided that my keyboard was a nice, warm place to lie down. I was tempted to laugh as well, but instead, just shooed her off the desk. However, when I turned to look at the screen thinking that everything was just as I had left it, I found I was gravely mistaken. It seems that Lexie decided to try her "hand" at writing. She had synchronized my bookmarks, close several windows and opened others. As I began correcting her "errors", I burst out laughing, realizing that she had tapped on a Notepad window I had open: "xdzuyjhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhqaFGGGGGGGGGGGGVVXCCCCC". What a way to end the night!

Lexie has been a constant source of amusement over the years. She adopted us as her family when I visited the Humane Society one afternoon 10 years ago. We had just been through the euthanasia of our cat of 17 years, Ginger, and we were still side-stepping a cat that wasn't there. Our home was in mourning, and when I first saw Lexie, she was in a cage that was marked with the name "Sprinkle" on it. Lexie is a pure white cat, with large black spots on her head and back, and a small black spot on her nose. (I was tempted to call her "Booger", but wisely chose not to inflict such an awful name on her.) I had wanted to get a younger cat, possibly a kitten. But as I bent down to a lower cage, she grabbed at my hair. I looked up and Lexie turned her head on its side, sticking her paws between the caging, non-verbally saying "play with me". I was sold. A cat this playful had to have a home... OUR home. Ginger was so sick for so long, it would be nice to have a healthy animal in the house. As I was driving home, I called ahead to say "I'm bringing home a surprise", but it turned out that Lexie decided to announce her arrival ahead of time by emitting the loudest "MEOWWWWWWWW" I had ever heard while I was on my cell phone. Needless to say, my cover was blown. There was a cat on the way, and everyone knew it.

Lexie was not what my husband expected. While Ginger was a brown tabby, Lexie was this completely different-looking feline. Steve's response was not what I had expected. "Why did you bring THIS cat home?" My heart sank. I just knew that Lexie was the right medicine for our low spirits. But how to convince him? It turned out I didn't HAVE to convince him. Lexie did it for me. As Steve sat in his favorite chair that evening, he had Lexie on his lap, petting her softly as he did for Ginger so many times. And even though he was still mourning the loss of Ginger, I knew I had done the right thing.

Lexie has been an extraordinary animal and very good company when I needed it. She has always been very playful, but over time we noticed that she never responded to her name. She also didn't respond to sudden loud noises. Sadly, we realized that our sweet baby was deaf. She did, however, respond to some instinctive sounds, like birds, so her deafness was not complete. It was as if a light bulb had gone off in my head. Lexie was so playful BECAUSE she couldn't hear well. It was a blessing in so many ways. She couldn't hear us yell at her when she would knock something off a shelf or climb on the birdcage, so she wouldn't be jaded by our raised voices, but she also couldn't hear a car coming or other dangers. We have had to keep a close eye on open doors, so she wouldn't instinctively run out and get hurt. Most of the time, we don't have to do much more than watch the door. But there have also been times when she would follow us into the backyard, and unless we watched carefully, she was up on a fence post in one graceful leap. She has always moved like a lion, with a full-shoulder gait reminiscent of the king of the jungle, and she pounces without warning, showing herself to be a true hunter.

Lexie... playful companion, aspiring writer, and queen of the jungle.

Nazdrovie'

Paczki Puta