cats choose you

i took a walk this morning and saw a playful cat jumping at something in a yard as i walked by. i had the thought that i would probably want a cat like that, if i were to ever have a cat. a while ago somebody told me that when a person goes to adopt/purchase a cat, the surest way to get one you'll like is to let it choose you. i almost feel that this is reason enough for me to never get a cat, but maybe it's just some hidden insecurity that no cat would ever choose me. or that the cat that would choose me would be a loser cat. the thing is, i have been chosen by cats. it's just usually as the target of angry cat aggression.

jeremy's sister, sarah, has a cat named frances. even from the time that frances was a helpless little kitten, she chose me as the family member that she was going to swat at from under the bed while cuddling up next to everyone else. maybe she could tell that i'm not original linneman blood. last year at Christmas, i was in our room at the linneman's house in kc and was getting ready for bed. i had brushed my teeth, washed my face (okay, i probably hadn't washed my face because i actually don't really wash my face every night - is that weird?), or not washed my face, put on pajamas, and was walking toward the bed when frances struck. she had been in this room with me for nearly 20 minutes, just waiting under the bed for me to approach it so that she could attack.

i've also been chosen by a stray cat that likes to sit on our front porch and move at the absolute last second before i put my foot on the first step. then the little terror doesn't even run away but merely sits in the bushes right next to the front porch until it can reassume its position in front of my house when i've gone inside. i've had to dodge it multiple times for trips in and out of the house unloading groceries.

in addition, multiple cats from various stages in my life have nearly attacked me much to the delight and surprise of their owners who usually just laugh it off and say how she allllways jumps from one couch to the other and lands right behind your head, and even though it looked like she was coming right for me, she just wanted to be in the sun.

i was talking to a volunteer this morning about the mice problem we have in our sweet little cottage and an eavesdropping customer suggested i get a cat. strangely, i somehow withheld all that i have just shared with you about my relationships with cats, which is very odd because i had been consciously thinking about cats pretty much all morning. she said that the smell of cats is enough to keep mice away. she said it was the most natural way. we had an exterminator come yesterday and put out traps with poison that will make the mice crazy and cause them to run out of the house and die outdoors rather than in our walls. that probably would have offended her so i kept that to myself as well.

i don't even like cats. why did i just write about cats? who likes cats, anyway?