{"id":5082,"date":"2013-01-06T15:42:54","date_gmt":"2013-01-06T20:42:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/beginnersheart\/?p=5082"},"modified":"2013-01-06T18:18:03","modified_gmt":"2013-01-06T23:18:03","slug":"a-ray-of-sun-a-flat-grey-cat-and-winter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/beginnersheart\/2013\/01\/a-ray-of-sun-a-flat-grey-cat-and-winter.html","title":{"rendered":"a ray of sun, a flat grey cat, and winter ~"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Sophie the cat came to us about 10+ years ago. So she’s an elder cat — well-versed in the wiles of felines. She knows that when I’m sitting at the breakfast table, and the mid-day sun is slanting over the table, I won’t object to her laying on the table beside me. After all, the sun is warm on both of us, and a grey cat is greyt inspiration…:)<\/p>\n

I sometimes wonder if it’s attachment to be so fond of the family animals. There are animals in my life — far far back — for whom I still grieve. A dog; a cat that didn’t even belong to me; another dog that didn’t, either… Their names and faces are fresh, like a beloved aunt’s.<\/p>\n

Sophie isn’t a ‘life cat.’ She isn’t as amazing as the cat who lived w\/ us courtesy of friends. Grabber seemed to know my every thought. And while she’s certainly as beautiful as (if not more than) any cat I’ve had, she’s pretty well-adjusted, as cats go. She doesn’t have any real idiosyncracies. Perhaps that’s enough to make her idiosyncratic…?<\/p>\n

Because cats always come w\/ baggage. Sophie is a rescue, a feral kitten born at the site of my son’s camp counseling job. He brought her home 10+ years ago, and she’s been with us since. Several years back, the neighbour behind us shot her; the pellet from what should have felled a racoon instead remains lodged in her flank. The vet told us it’s too dicey w\/ cats to operate, since it doesn’t seem to do more than make her gimpy. She can still take a hummingbird down from mid-air, even at 10. Still, she is simply herself — a grey cat, sleeping in January sun.<\/p>\n

Something there is, as Auden would say, about sitting in the lazy sun w\/ a dozing cat. But I don’t think it’s attachment. It feels more like this moment, expanding outward like a warm golden field. Kind\u00a0 of like a black hole in reverse…? At any rate — I wish I could send it to each of you. Because I’m pretty sure we need more of it this coming year ~<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sophie the cat came to us about 10+ years ago. So she’s an elder cat — well-versed in the wiles of felines. She knows that when I’m sitting at the breakfast table, and the mid-day sun is slanting over the table, I won’t object to her laying on the table beside me. After all, the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":398,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,1],"tags":[11,1181,262,1248,452],"class_list":["post-5082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-attachment","category-uncategorized","tag-beginners-heart","tag-britton-gildersleeve","tag-buddhist-blogs","tag-living-in-the-moment","tag-pets"],"yoast_head":"\na ray of sun, a flat grey cat, and winter ~ - Beginner's Heart<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sophie the cat came to us about 10+ years ago. So she's an elder cat -- well-versed in the wiles of felines. 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