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Hold the thyme

Hold the thyme

130601-rosemary-by-heather-1If you’re T.S. Eliot, the naming of cats is a difficult matter.

If you’re the Tabby’s Place staff, the naming of cats is an occasion for absurdity and awesomeness.

Serene Sage
Serene Sage

We’ve had the Adventure Time litter (Cake, Marcelline and Beemo). We’ve had fields of flowers (Ivy, Iris, Poppy and Primrose, named in honor of lookalike elders Daisy and Violet). We’ve even — God please help us — had a Kardashian kitten (Lamar).

Yet somehow we keep coming back to spices.

Longtime blog readers will remember Zedoary, Paprika, Anise and Juniper. The spice surge ceased for a season after these girls, only to come squealing back with a new class of cats. I’m not quite sure how the names come to us, but, somehow, when we met three abandoned adorables in the course of our TNR work, we knew they were some spicy meat-a-balls. And so, Barley, Rosemary and Sage were named.

(Essential interlude: it is a true fact that barley is not a spice. We will give grace to whoever thought otherwise. After all, Barley is awesome, and barley is also awesome. Thus ends the interlude.)

Barley, as ye know, was adopted by one of the most outstanding human beings in the history of human beings — this despite his unrelentingly gloppy nose and his solemn promise, “I will cover you in boogers of love every single time I cuddle you, which shall be every twelve seconds, henceforth unto forever.”

Sage, Casa Forever
Sage, Casa Forever

Sage followed swiftly, landing her own pair of two of the other most outstanding human beings in the history of human beings — this despite her diarrhea drama.

And Rosemary — terrified, is-she-feral-or-isn’t-she? Rosemary — well, more on her in a moment.

First, though, it’s time for a feast of Sagacity. Take it away, SuperSageMama:

“We first fell in love with Sage when we saw her picture online. Those sage-green eyes! That perfect face! That beautiful fur! Then we met her and fell in love all over again. Not only was she GORGEOUS, but one of the sweetest, most confident, most relaxed, most loving cats ever. She engages you with those beautiful green eyes when you talk to her and seems to understand everything you say.

“Now that she has been here for a year, her greatest joy (besides eating and being petted) is being in the garden (fenced, of course) to watch (and catch) birds and small insects, etc. She can hang out there for hours, under the raspberries or in the morning glories. Her second greatest joy is Bandit, our black and white male cat, whom she grooms and follows everywhere.

“Sage has brought us such love and happiness that we have decided to adopt another Tabby’s Place kitty, named Salem, whom we’d been fostering. This brings our cat household total to five. We already adore Salem, who is a precious all-black kitten. She has some medical issues, such as deafness and inner ear problems which cause her to wobble a bit, but for us she’s perfect and so affectionate that we want to eat her up. Stay tuned for updates.

Rosemary reviews the situation...
Rosemary reviews the situation...

“We want to thank everyone at Tabby’s Place for their caring commitment to all the cats at this special place.”

I should mention that SuperSageMama has also become a Tabby’s Place volunteer — and one who we cherish like whoa. If all adopters should follow in her eminent footsteps…well, we’d be happier than an oregano addict on a McCormick Spice Factory Tour.

Which brings us back to Rosemary. As the last in her expertly-spiced trio to remain at Tabby’s Place, Rosemary presented an enigma. A long stretch of wariness was perforated by bright sparks of bravery. Every once in a great while, Rosemary would sample a skritch on the neck or let us touch that magnificent mane. Yet it was always as though she was at a tasting, nipping just a sip rather than savoring a full meal. You — the hapless human — would always be left with the sense that Rosemary was saving her appetite and her courage for something fuller later.

...and decides that it is, in fact, time to let love in.
...and decides that it is, in fact, time to let love in.

Well, my spicy friends, she has found it — or rather, found her. Rosemary is now ensconced in a forever home that loves her for precisely who she is.

That’s the joy we live for at Tabby’s Place. Because, honestly — changing your flavor for someone averse to spice? Ain’t nobody got thyme for that.*

*Oh, I am truly sorry for that.

Photo credits from de top: Heather x2, SuperSageMama, AT, Heather.

4 thoughts on “Hold the thyme

  1. If you’re having a bad day, just read a Tabby’s Place blog – especially a spicy blog like this one. Who couldn’t be uplifted and happy just seeing these daily miracles?

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