Was it Elton John who sang "Me and you rendezvous, with the cat at the end of the street"?

Maybe that's not quite how it went.

Apparently, unbeknownst to me, Cleo and Velvet have a "cat at the end of the street". Let's try and sort this out...

My Condo has a very long hallway, I am at the far North end of it, and Cleo and Velvet always venture about halfway down it if I'm out there with them. Normally, if I am not, they "prefurr" to watch the world from just outside the door which I keep propped open..

There is an old retired couple at the opposite end of the hall from me, very nice English folk in their 80's whom I often see and chat with. Last night, while creating the culinary delight of macaroni and cheese, I discovered I was out of milk. I was just going to go across the hall to borrow a bit, when I saw the elderly lady taking her trash down to the bin. Cleo and Velvet were in the hall with me, and I thought "I'll just use this lady as a victim to give me some milk".

Then, some 130 feet away, I saw the amber flash of a set of Kitty eyes in the hallway. The girls saw it too. Another Cat! I approached the lady mid-hallway with my cup, and she said she would be most happy to give me a drop of milk. Meanwhile, the mysterious Kitty-eyes had disappeared.

Her cat is Wendell, a nine-year old male tabby with great big yellow eyes, and the seniors told me Wendell often sees Cleo and Velvet in the hallway, and he only has the nerve to venture 15 feet or so towards the two of them. Well! This is news to me! They never told me they have a friend! After my gourmet meal, I took them a can of Nutro for Wendell, as I suspect they don't have much money.

Maybe one day, if I stay in the hallway, and so do the seniors, they can get a bit more friendly. Time will tell.

I have new friends, and so do Cleo and Velvet.

Copyright © Bill Mason
November 22, 2001