Mags and Mr. Rogers

There is a stray cat hanging around the apartments. Charlotte named him Mr. Rogers.

"Mr. Rogers?" I had asked.

"Yeah, because he's always in the neighborhood!" Charlotte replied.

I laughed hard at this. I'm not sure if Mr. Rogers is really a mister or is in fact a missus. The cat will not let me get close enough to confirm it's gender. Mr. Rogers does have a masculine presence to him so I refer to him as a male. I like this cat. I'm not sure if I can consider him to be my first pet. He does not enter our apartment no matter how hard Charlotte tries to bribe him with treats. We leave cat food outside by the door for him. I am sure other residences of the apartment complex do this too as Mr. Rogers has grown quite fat. However, I can't bring myself to stop putting food out every morning. The morning I do omit the food bowl could be the morning everyone else did too. It would be cruel to let Mr. Rogers go hungry even for a day.

He does sit on my balcony. I have no idea how he gets up there. Charlotte and I live on the second story. I have never seen Mr. Rogers climb up. He is just there; staring at me. Occasionally I try to pet him. He runs off before I can come within a few feet. I have never had a pet before. I wonder what the relationship between human and animal must be like.

I will consider Mr. Rogers my first pet. I feel a connection to him. Almost like a kinship. We are both quiet.

I like Mr. Rogers. I will add him to my list.