Just the way it happens every year in Bachelor Valley, fall passes into winter and the nights get colder. The days have been warm and sunny. You couldn’t ask for better weather but lately, at night, the thermometer drops to 20 degrees or so; way below freezing. The water in the pipes would freeze solid if I hadn’t wrapped them.
The second calico, the stray cat that looks like the original calico, the cat I had before Cleo and who died, might be calico’s twin sister. During the warm days she lays outside my door, four paws in the air completely relaxed. She is jealous of Cleo and sometimes tries to keep Cleo from coming into my house. I can’t have two house cats so I give Calico No. Two kitty kibbles and made her a nice warm house on the front porch.
Cleo usually comes in at night when I call her. When I straightened out my cargo file box this morning Cleo was on the bed supervising, as always. This time she wanted attention. She wanted to play. First she took my pen and started chewing on it. Then, when I took that away, she slid over to lay on the file folders I had not yet filed. I got the message. After I scratched her ears and gave her a good petting she left me alone to finish my work.
By now I thought Cleo knew which side of her bread, had the butter. By now she should have learned that my warm house is a better place to lay her head than a cold yard or my cold garage. The few times she stayed out late last summer and forgot to come in I let her have her way, finally I stopped writing, and went to bed to get some sleep. Off went the porch light. Whoever was outside stayed outside until morning.
The two times it happened to Cleo I was sure she had learned the drill. I thought Cleo must have recognized there are seasons. Winter and a freezing time was just around the corner. She knew the nights were colder. Right? Nope. Cleo still hadn’t got the message. Or she guessed wrong. Last night it was freezing. After wearing out my lungs calling, “Cleo, Cleo, time for bed,” without an answer, I gave up, turned off the lights and went to sleep.
For some reason (probably, if I want to admit it I was worried about my cat outside in the cold) I woke at 1 a.m. I got up and peeked at the glass sliding door outside my bedroom. It leads to my front porch. There she was. Cleo had her nose pressed up against the crack in the opening of the glass sliding door. She looked apologetic … and cold.
The instant I opened the door she was in the room like a shot and headed for her favorite nesting place, which is the reference box of folders sitting on my side dresser cabinet. I have placed one of my sweaters on top of the folders for Cleo and it is her favorite place to sleep.
This time she was only there for a minute. She looked around and decided to sleep on my chair, which sits next to the dresser and her file box bed. I sit there whenever I am taking a breather, watch TV and a take a rest from my writing. I guess the chair cushions carried my scent and she felt safer in the chair after the harrowing experience in the cold. Now, even when I don’t call her, she comes in at night.
Gene Paleno is an author and illustrator living in Witter Springs.
