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Guest post: Boomerangs

Guest post: Boomerangs

Sometimes things get thrown out and around and about so fast, trying to keep up could give a person whiplash.

Other times, things get knocked about rhythmically, like tennis or ping pong balls. They’re easy to follow; the neck can swivel gently.

Then, there are boomerangs.

Ralph returned to rule the roost…er…cat scratcher

Sometimes bombshells (not the blonde ones from movies) just flat out explode. Even so, pieces can be collected and reconstructed or reconfigured completely into something more wonderful than what went before. Life can, frankly, be a blast, not always so great at the moment, but often with a fantastic aftermath.

In the first case are boomerangs. These curiously curved, beautifully balanced, manifest miracles of the throwyverse (I just made that up!), boomerangs – in the right hands – return whence they are thrown…every single time.

This is literally by design.

Suite B suits S’mores for sleeping better than for snapshots

The dynamics of a boomerang’s return are always the same. Not so for a Tabby’s Place return.  Yes, Tabby’s Place is both the origin and the return point for any and all cats that have been adopted out from the sanctuary and whose circumstances change. Yet, the design is a bit less sleek than that of a boomerang. And, “once a Tabby’s Place cat, always a Tabby’s Place cat” is far more than a glib saying or motto. It is a solemn, shared promise of continued love, hope, and care without exception.

While there is no one simple explanation for why cats sometimes make their way back to Tabby’s Place, that they will be well received and appreciated is assured. More importantly, the why and how about which cats boomerang matters absolutely zero. What matters is the cats. Period.

(I kind of want to call the returning cats “cat-erangs,” but that just makes me think of catamarans and orangutans and orangutans sailing catamarans.)

Garbo plays coy, but it’s just a ploy

Notable among the returns are Ralph and S’mores, the dynamic duo of tuxedo-dom that had a pretty long arc to follow before finding themselves re-embraced in a warm welcome back at Tabby’s Place.

The pair went all the way from kittenhood and through a significant part of their adulthood before returning as junior-seniors (believe me, cats can get way more senior than these guys are) for their reunion. Nevertheless, their returning point and safe landing were assured even before their trajectory shifted with the winds of change.

Following a completely different plot, the youthful twosome of not-at-all-blonde bombshells Garbo and Dietrich recently exploded back onto the Tabby’s Place scene. With all of the swish and sass of starlets of the silver screen, these beauties have captured more attention than all the paparazzi in Hollywood could have managed. While sweet, gorgeous Garbo is a little shy, she certainly doesn’t “vant to be alone.” And, Dietrich definitely deserves to be appreciated for more than just her stunning good looks and majestic tail.

Tail aflare, Dietrich is aware that she makes hearts explode

The important thing in the cases of Ralph and S’mores as well as Garbo and Dietrich is that life throws curveballs along with boomerangs, and sometimes life bombards us with bombshells. Luckily, Tabby’s Place is as much catcher’s mitt as sanctuary. Mixed metaphors notwithstanding, any cat adopted out of Tabby’s Place doesn’t need to race around all the bases, follow brick roads of any color, or click their heels together to find their way home when their trajectories change or when their paths are blasted into oblivion.

Once a Tabby’s Place Cat, always a Tabby’s Place cat.

Boomeranged cats that started out at Tabby’s Place will always be able to follow the shortest, most direct arc back into the sweet suite life where eager hands await to pet, to brush, and to ply with treats and affection. Shrapnel from exploded bombshells can not pierce happiness or hope when ample attention and food abound.

After all, every human and cat at Tabby’s Place knows that there’s no place like home.

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