remember.... bruce fields is an alleycat

remember... bruce fields is an alleycat

ages ago...
long before I met lisa
well, not that long before I met lisa
but I have been with lisa for ages so it is ages ago
during the pre-lisa years I lived in a group house in this same neighborhood

the house had an assortment of people always with a few rooms going through rotation

there were usually a good number of bicycles in the house
both the basement and anne frank's attic were filled as rooms
that gave the house five people plus me

one winter it got brutally cold
not cold for a few days
wintery cold for the winter
there was snow
but worse than that there was ice

in the alley behind our house lived various alleycats
some came around more than others
we did not feed them religiously
but there were those of thus that occassionally fed them
usually a tin of tuna
not sure if ever anyone bought and cat specific food
not sure if these cats would have eated cat specific food

during this brutal winter there was a house discussion about the cold, the age of this one cat, and the well being of this one cat
the cat was old
my memory may be exhaggerating things
but this cat was not pretty
not pretty at all
not that the cat was dirty
just old with patches of hair that needed to be brushed away

we discussed it
in this discussion I lobbied that this cat had lived a long life outside and that this was an outside cat that did not want to be inside
there were some arguements back and forth
everyone listening to everyone else's point
eventually agreeing that we were not going to take the cat in

a few weeks later I packed up my car and drove out to colorado for over a month of the C Chair Shuffle
surfing on snow
surfing on the couches
eventually having to head home through a very cold midwest
then back to a still very cold and ice covered washington dc

when I got into the house I was greeted by an excited housemate and a less than excited cat
I did not object
but I was not pleased

sure enough...
the cat who may have been known as scratch cat was about as happy to be in the house as I was to have him
this cat was not a people person
this cat may have never learned the kindness of the human hand
this cat was foreign to domestication

there was no call for another vote
I accepted that we had another room mate

as it is my story I can direct it where I choose as I can not fully recall at this moment what happened next

perhaps it was the hissing at each encounter
or the cat feeling cornered just one too many times
but we decided to open the door
scratch cat could leave or stay
scratch cat moved slowly in an old cat way out the door

sure enough
it was cold and scratch cat was old
scratch cat died that winter
died at home in the alley

it is cold out there
actually a bitter cold night... like winter can be
the wind is brutal
on top of all that there is snow coming down
but remember... bruce fields is an alleycat