Medea In Our Lives

I thought we finished with Medea after discovering she belonged to our next door neighbor. However, Medea-- the little black cat with yellow eyes-- apparently didn't get the news, or couldn't care less. She has continued to hang out in our backyard, seemingly all day and night, waiting for our back door to open so she can dash across the patio and into our house for a visit.

Yesterday was a particularly busy day. By the time we got home and finished dinner, it was about 11 pm and we were exhausted. Before going into the den off the kitchen, however, I opened the back door out of curiosity and immediately found Medea racing full speed inside. I never realized that a cat could react like a family dog. We promptly invited Medea to join us on the couch for the late news, which we enjoyed watching together. Unlike our dogs, we discerned an apparent interest in TV by the cat, who never stopped staring at the screen or purring.

After the news, I slumped in an armchair next to the couch and started to doze off. At that moment, Medea sized up the situation and with a single bound jumped from the floor to land precisely on top of me, between my chin and my chest. This was a leap worthy of a gymnastics medal winner at the recent Olympics. She then curled up, as if this silent and precision jump was nothing, and joined me for my brief nap.

Eventually, I woke up and regretfully put her back outside for the night. I suspect we were both disappointed that she couldn't stay the night. I must admit that a growing number of experiences such as these are changing our attitude toward cats. We can finally understand their attraction to lots of people. By the way, I just learned that Medea is not a young little cat, but rather is actually 14 years old. She is incredibly quick and mentally alert for such an advanced age.

My wife also seems to be succumbing to Medea's lovable ways. The previous night, for example, she permitted the cat to sleep inside overnight because the weather seemed to be a little nippy. I even walked into the kitchen on a previous occasion to find the cat strolling around on the kitchen table while my wife read the newspaper, something my cleaniness-conscious wife would normally never tolerate.

It all goes to show you how love conquers all and how misperceptions can be changed by real life experience.