winnie's human
cat tail
Today is Monday, that most grim of all days. The sky outside my window is grey and gravid with snow. I have a cold, one which has seized hold of my head and chest with such ferocity that it could be the basis for a bad science fiction movie. I tell this to you so you’ll understand this essential fact about today: nothing can make me smile. Nothing. Until I saw this photograph.
Because I am who I am, after a period of unexpected smiling I sought out a book. Why? Because this photograph immediately reminded me of a scene from one of Mark Twain’s lesser known novels — Pudd’nhead Wilson. Feeling like a bit of a pudd’nhead myself, it took me a time to search for the passage in question, only to discover it was right there. Page one, paragraph two. That’s how bad my cold is. After you read this, you’ll understand why I thought of it. All will be made clear. And you will smile, even if it is Monday, even if snow threatens, even if you have a vicious cold…you will smile.
When there was room on the ledge outside of the pots and boxes for a cat, the cat was there–in sunny weather–stretched at full length, asleep and blissful, with her furry belly to the sun and a paw curved over her nose. Then that house was complete, and its contentment and peace were made manifest to the world by this symbol, whose testimony is infallible. A home without a cat–and a well-fed, well-petted, and properly revered cat–may be a perfect home, perhaps, but how can it prove title?
Okay, smiling now.
Blog photograph copyrighted to the photographer and used with permission by utata.org. All photographs used on utata.org are stored on flickr.com and are obtained via the flickr API. Text is copyrighted to the author, greg fallis and is used with permission by utata.org. Please see Show and Share Your Work
