The Cat on the Porch

When I used to drive to work each day, I chose certain streets because of a cat I’d seen at a house, or dogs in the yard. I liked the routine.

There was a house on the corner of First Avenue and “I” Street which I always liked because of its “character”. It is an old house with a large front porch. The design looks more like a farmhouse in the mid-west and not like the cookie cutter California houses we have here.

I drove by one morning and saw a little black cat sitting in the front yard. Then as I started taking that route each day just to see if the cat was there. I noticed that there was a bowl on the porch and something that looked like a makeshift cat bed. I thought maybe the cat really didn’t belong to the people who lived there, but maybe they were taking care of it. I felt better when I knew the cat was being cared for.

It was about that same time that I accidentally turned down “J” Street instead of “I” Street one day. As I drove along I saw two dogs in a front yard. The yard was surrounded by chain link fence. One dog was a black Lab and the other a Golden Retriever. They looked to be several months old. Sometimes they weren’t in the yard, but the front door was open and I knew they were in the house. These dogs had it made.

One winter morning I drove by the “cat” house. The cat was lying in the yard near the street. I was alarmed because I thought maybe the cat was not alive. I didn’t stop and continued to on to work. During the morning I thought of that cat in the yard. At lunch I went home and made sure to drive by the house to see if the cat was still there. It wasn’t there. Of course, then I worried that the cat had died and someone had removed him.

I drove by several more days and no cat. I assumed that he really was gone, although his bowl and bed were still on the porch.

I started driving by to see the puppies every day and only went by the “I” Street house when I thought about it.

Then one day I went my old route without thinking and there on the porch was the little black cat. I was so happy to see that he was there. I started going by to see the cat in the morning and when I went home for lunch, I went by to check on the puppies. It became my routine. Sometimes the cat wasn’t there, but those puppies were always in their front yard playing or sleeping.

One day I went by the “I” Street house and noticed that the people were moving. It was a rental house, so that was expected. I wondered if they would take the cat with them.

I still drove by, and in a few days the house was empty. There were workmen at the house doing repairs, etc. getting ready for new renters I supposed. The bowl and bed were gone from the porch. But, I saw the cat in the yard one day! I had hoped that he had moved with the people.

That weekend we had our house tented for termite extermination. We piled our cats and Chelsi into our RV and stayed at the local KOA. In the afternoon Charlie and I went over to our house to check on things, hoping that the tenting had not included any bushes or plants that would be killed. It was getting dark when we were coming back and I wanted to drive by the “cat” house to see if he was there.

As we went by, we noticed that the porch light was on although I knew the house was empty. On the porch sitting at the front door, was the little black cat. I said to Charlie, “They moved out and left him there!” Then I explained that I’d been seeing that cat for the past year or so and now he had been abandoned. I couldn’t do anything at the time, but I thought about it all weekend.

After we got back into our house I took a walk over to “I” Street. There was no cat there. I drove by several times, but no cat. I don’t know what happened to the little black cat. I hope he was taken in by a kind neighbor. I wish I’d stopped in at the house when I saw that they were moving. I would have asked if they were going to take the cat with them. If not, then I might have been able to help him. I’ll never know. I can only try to do better next time.

Since then, I have walked by the “J” Street house and met the dogs. They are friendly. Their owner was out one day and we talked. The black Lab is “Major” and the Golden is “Chunk”. I told him that I’d been watching them since they were puppies. He was very proud of those dogs, as he should be.

But, I still have the image of that little black cat, sitting all alone on that front porch in the dim light, waiting for someone to come to the door.

More later...........