Happy Caturday: orange cat stalking after me on the dirt road.

My orange cats are getting bolder as they got older and bigger. Once or twice a month, my gardener would report that the big cat, Joan, went missing for three days. Last time I was so worried about him getting lost or chased away for those local stray dogs. I had to go around searching for him for two days; yelling his name loudly so that he could hear me if he was hiding among the tall grass and bushes. The grandma cat used to go missing and she emerged from the bushes after hearing my voice calling out for her. That was quite a close call, I could have lost her forever.

So, I didn’t want to lose one more cat after these three years; I was quite relentless in searching for him. Luckily he heard my voice and made his way through the fields towards our house in the night. I had to ask Joan not to wander too far away and that he should do a one day trip instead of three days. I suspected he lost his way back home. This week I caught him exploring the bamboo woods by the river. This was quite near so as soon as he heard my voice, Joan would hurry back to see me.

On the contrary, Kwan was very timid and too easily frightened so she would just go digging in the vegetable garden or the banana groves. Kwan preferred to keep being near the house. While Joan was missing for three days, Kwan was crying all day long. I thought she would become more independent and stronger as she got older. But Kwan was still behaving like a little baby kitten. She’s got into the habit of complaining about her pain and suffering of bring left alone on her own. She still played childish game of hide and seek with me and Joan in the evening. She even tried to pounce at me to make me run like Joan. So, I had to play their game and hid behind trees waiting to jump onto them. This has become our daily exercise in the evening.

The other day I had to cut some weeds outside the house. As I was walking along the dirt road, I heard a cat telling me to slow down. Kwan had sneaked out of the garden and followed me along the dirt road. I had to wait for to hasten her paws to catch up with me. It’s very funny seeing those short paws moving as fast as they could to reach me. Fat belly was seen moving from side to side amidst her anxious facial expression. She’s so happy to feel liberated outside the house where there’s always the danger of three stray dogs marching long this road.

I warned Kwan to be very alert on this road and to run fast when she saw any potential danger. I did my forty minutes mowing of weeds by the fence while Kwan slowly explored the area. When I had to get back, she just pretended not to hear my call. Instead of following my steps, Kwan laid down in the middle of the dirt road as if it’s her own playground. I left her there and walked briskly away; Kwan got so scared of being alone outside the house. She sprung up and ran after me while crying out for help. She was safely back to out front yard with me.

She showed her triumphant feeling of adventurous outing to her brother. Joan was puzzled by Kwan’ showing off, Joan used to hunt in the fields nearby and roamed several kilometers from the house. It seemed Kwan got quite annoyed by Joan’s cold indifference; Kwan attacked Joan and gave him a bite at his neck. Joan was hurt and cried out in pain! It wasn’t a friendly fight. I couldn’t believe my eyes that Kwan could get so moody and did such an aggression. She’s a little sister cat alright! Very emotional and self-centered in a way.

After taking some photos while telling them to cool down, I reflected on my first serious fight with my younger brother. He took a shaving blade from our father’s dressing table and slashed on my arm! Luckily the cut wasn’t very deep though I was shocked that he made me bleed. I would never use weapon on my siblings while we had a fight. We rarely had a fight as they knew I was the best fighter in the family when we were young. Perhaps, he was too frustrated that he could never defeat me so he had to use a ‘weapon’. Had a knife been there instead of a razor blade, I would have to get some stitches at hospital. I never told my parents about that incident; but my confidence in his loyalty to our clan was deeply shaken. I had to defend him when he was attacked by two or more bigger boys.

He saw how I handled the situation with fierce conviction to fight which made our foes scrammed back home. Our relationship had never been the same after that day; I couldn’t trust my brother 100 percent any longer. That’s a sad and painful memory for me to remember for the rest of my life. When we grew up, we had to confront each other in a legal case of theft concerning my inheritance. My lawyers told me I was too kind and got ripped off. That’s why I became the poorest on my family; for the sake of my mother I had to stop the court proceedings. But I wouldn’t change my decision even if I could get on a Time Machine to redo the past. I had been compensated by blessings which money couldn’t buy! This has been overwhelming and the healing process of my experiences of treacherous siblings brought me to a more spiritual lifestyle.

So, these orange cats have become my siblings in a way. They are very loving and trust me completely. They wouldn’t use their claws even when I held them high up in the tree on precarious positions. They knew I could never harm them intentionally. Whenever I stepped on their paws or kicked them side way; they just ignored the accidents. They began to quietly follow me around and sat by my chair without any warnings. They often ran between my legs as they wanted to catch up with me, so I sometimes kicked them quite hard. They could read my intention and they knew that I would never hurt them intentionally.

I am so lucky to have very nice and gentle orange cats to keep me company sbd entertain me occasionally. It has been difficult trying to limit their cat food and snacks. They just have a way of making me guilty of starving them so I had to yield to their silent protest. They would just sit there looking at the empty food bowls. So, I had to get them to run around the garden in the evening. So far they have been cooperating and kept running whenever I chased them around. I do hope we would all be very healthy and fit so that we could continue our exercise together for many years into the future.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.