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 A tentative blog to test the temperature. |
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Ten years ago I was writing several blogs on various subjects - F1 motor racing, Music, Classic Cars, Great Romances and, most crushingly, a personal journal that included my thoughts on America, memories of England and Africa, opinion, humour, writing and anything else that occurred. It all became too much (I was attempting to update the journal every day) and I collapsed, exhausted and thoroughly disillusioned in the end. So this blog is indeed a Toe in the Water, a place to document my thoughts in and on WdC but with a determination not to get sucked into the blog whirlpool ever again. Here's hoping.     |
| Jinx Jinx was our first family cat. Not only was she the first of our cats, she was also family in that she didn’t belong to anyone. I was very young when we acquired her and I don’t think I ever knew who had introduced her to the household. But I’m certain she came before the first of our dogs. She never chose one of us as her special person. Essentially aloof in character, she would accept petting from any of us but only for short periods. Mostly, she kept to herself. In a way, she was the most catlike of our cats in this acceptance of our usefulness to her but rejection of too much interaction. As a Manx, she had no tail but, once you were used to this, it became obvious that she was quite pretty. She was an attractive mix of white and grey in stripes, almost like an albino tiger. This gave her a smokey, misty look that is quite rare in cats. I have no idea where the name Jinx came from. She showed no tendency to bring bad luck and proved tough enough to outlast many of our dogs. They accepted her as the prior occupant of the household but kept her on her toes with frequent rough and tumble games. She put up with these in spite of her obvious dislike of her dignity being ruffled so often and the dogs never did any physical harm to her. You could say that she had the last laugh, spending her last few years in a brief interlude when we had no dogs. She lived about sixteen years. In the end, she went in a way that was typical of her ghostlike quality, disappearing quietly one day and never being seen again. Writing about her has made me realise just how important her colouring was to the whole concept of Jinx. Being the colour of mist, she lived a life slightly apart from us, always present but barely noticeable, a faint impression of a wraithlike shadow at the edge of the family. It’s almost as if she didn’t live with us - she haunted us. And that was Jinx. Word count: 364 |
| Cats I am very picky when it comes to dogs. I’ve known many breeds owned by others and quite a few that my father had when I was a child. That was when he was experimenting, however, and he eventually came to the same conclusion that I had reached at a very early age. It has to be a Staffordshire Bull Terrier. Preferably brindle although a red will do. And, if you really want the very best, go for a bitch. They are very slightly less trouble than males. Strangely enough, the story is completely different when it comes to cats. My life has been lived with many cats and I never took much notice of what breed they were. It didn’t seem to matter, apart from how fluffy they were. Not really into fluffiness in either cats or dogs. I like to see the true shape of the animal and that you’ll only get with the shorthairs. So I’ve known and owned a fair variety of cats, beginning with a Manx. But it’s the last one that has made me take notice. She’s from Florida, a stray picked up by the Girl and brought to us on return from her vacation. An unwanted addition to the family that has turned out to be a bountiful gift. But more of that in some later post. It occurs to me that I should write about the various cats I have known. This is more possible for me than the dogs because each of those is worth a book and I just haven’t the time these days. The cats could be dealt with in a blog post each, however. So I’m not promising anything but the intent right now is to write about those cats, a post for each. The first was a Manx, as I mentioned, and her name was Jinx. We’ll see how long I can keep the series going. Word count: 319 |
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