CAROLYN’S COMPOSITIONS
THE CAT WITH THE CALICO TAIL
Repeatedly I’m asked why the wooden cat sitting on my windowsill is painted so silly, having a gray and orange striped tail attached to its all-white body. A few years ago my artistic niece Debbie painted the craft item for me, using our cat as a model.
Shenan (short for Shenandoah) joined our family in August, 1985. Her creation-day tale explains the incongruousness of her body and tail.
You see, Shenan began on the kitten-makin’ assembly production line. She was passin’ through the snow-white line, doing quite well, I might add. Her yellow eyes and faint swipes of orange color on her forehead and side separated her from being confused with albinism.
Kitten-making factories use many steps, but we all know that the very final step in the process is the tail-attachment.
As Shenan moved along her specialty line she was destined for uniqueness. It was almost quittin’ time when she reached the tail-puttin’ on step. Complicating matters was the incompetence of the tail-counter, who must have been daydreaming on the job, for when Shenan reached this point of completion not a single white tail was to be found. Poor Shenan—she needed that tail to meet her birthday deadline. Yet the exhausted assembly line workers—overworked by the spring kitten population explosion—weren’t prepared to correct the situation by adding more overtime hours to their already overstuffed schedule. The dilemma caused the workers to settle on an easy way out. They grabbed a tail from the leftover parts pile, not caring whether it fit or not. They stuck their find, a gray and orange striped tail accented with minimal white, on Shenan and moved her on to meet her birth schedule.
That’s the story behind Shenan’s odd tail tacked to her eye-catching white body.
On the bright side, however, the tail provided some advantages.
In the all-white garb of winter, her calico tail sharply contrasts with blankets of snow so familiar to the north-country, enabling her rescue from the frozen tundra. Between winters her white body sharply contrasts with the vibrant spring through autumn colors, so one can sight her easily.
She might not consider the above as advantageous, but I’m certain the birds and mice and moles agree with me.
Shenan was a loving addition to our family until the mid-1990s. We took her to our country home for a short stay, and she bolted into the sixty-plus acres of woods. She never returned, and neither her white color nor her contrasting tail helped us locate her. She left behind one son, Gizmo, whose story will be featured on this blog at a future time.
ADDITIONAL READING:ANIMAL STORIES:
WHAT RIGHTS DO CATS HAVE, I ASK
BEAR CARNIVAL IN CONNELLSVILLE, PA.
OF FIREFLIES AND LIGHTNING BUGS
THE SNITTY CAT LIKES PUMPKIN PIE?
A DOVE STORY RETOLD: JASMINE AND JEWEL
ELINOR’S ORPHAN KITLINGS
HOT DOG LIMERICKS
FERAL BIRDS: THE LATEST COMMUNITY HAZARD
THE UNICORN: MYTH OR REALITY?
STARTLED BY A CRITTER IN THE CAR!
ARCHIE & MEHITIBLE
HI! I’M COCHRAN! NICE TO MEET Y’ALL!
DEAR A’NONNIEMOUSE FROM COCHRAN (COCKROACH)
Battling squirrels at bird feeders I: to fight or join them
Battling squirrels at bird feeders II: to fight or join them
Battling Squirrels at Bird Feeders III: Types of bird feeders
BEAR CONFRONTATIONS: SAFETY PRECAUTIONS
BEAR STORIES ACROSS THE NATION
BEAR CARNIVAL IN CONNELLSVILLE, PA.
OF FIREFLIES AND LIGHTNING BUGS
BLACK FLIES AND OTHER INSECTS: Then and Now
THE AMAZING BEAVER
SITE LINKS:
www.beanerywriters.wordpress.com/
www.carolyncholland.wordpress.com
www.westmorelandphotographers.ning.com
