People forget that sweets were once only slightly sweet and not cloying. People forget that bug-song can be as beautiful as birdsong. People forget to stop and listen to the sound of the world, to catch a soft scene on the breeze, to breathe.
Cats remember.
Human habits are built around all that we must do, all that needs to be done. We toil, take measure, return to task, and forget why.
Cats remember.
Luckily for the cats at Tabby’s Place, staff and volunteers all remember that cats remember. A one-time thing is all well and good, but two times creates expectations. Thrice means routine and a promise (unless it’s to do with something medical or hygienic, in which case thrice is not nice, fourth has no worth, and anything beyond that is unimaginable).
The third time Josie is treated to crispy, hypoallergenic kitty cookies is an oath writ large to shower generous nourishment and heapings of love.
Graciously, Josie will remember for eternities.
The third time a wand toy is presented for enrichment to Firestar, a solemn compact is chiseled in granite. The bringer of the fun is gifted with leaps and bounds and snurffles that are Firestar’s alone to bestow.
Joyously, Firestar will remember through the ages.
The third time Samantha is scritched just so under her chin, with respect to her delicate skin elsewhere, a vow is spoken in the language of forever.
Contentedly, Samantha will remember in her whole being, for all time.
We will also remember. We will remember, especially, that these actions are lyrics. These songs are those that bid the trees to grow and the flowers to blossom. This poetry is that of the mountains and rivers that grow and flow through time immemorial into futures unimaginable.
Birdsong and bug-song, the pledges of spring and summer, will give way to whistling winds and crisp air that are the songs that become the covenants of fall and winter. The seasons will shift and change, and we will remember.
We will remember the glories of those things behind us as we look forward to all that will inevitably unfold before us. As they do, we must also remember to play and nourish and scritch…just exactly so. Josie, Firestar, Samantha, and the rest of the Tabby’s Place cats, are counting on it. They will most definitely remember.
P.S. Arthur (pictured in the banner) is not only the once, current, and future king. He also remembers that you owe him a visit.
P.P.S. Since the initial writing, FIRESTAR HAS BEEN ADOPTED!! We’ll miss seeing his little face around the sanctuary, but that’s not stopping us from turning cartwheels in joy!