Sunday, September 03, 2006

Sunday Vicarious Kitten Blogging

I so wish I'd had a camera on hand, but anyway:

Doing errands, on my way home. On the sidewalk, near the gutter, outside one of the small supermarkets, there is a

teeeeeeeeenny tiiiiiiiiiiiiiny

little black kitten

playing with a weed. Stalky stalky! Pouncey grabby! Bat, bat.

So, I am just standing there with my heart full of brimming luuuvvv and a drop of concern for whether this was someone's baby or a street urchin; and, if the latter, could I?.....should I?...oh, I really can't, but, tsk, it's so little, if it belongs to someone, do they know it's playing outside?

I bend down. Friendly sniffage. So, okay, socialized, must belong to someone. Maybe it's the store cat. Hope so. Batty paws, back at the weed. Heart melts.

I hear, in the wake of some woman marching by, very Margaret Hamilton, flung back at me:

"It probably has rabies."

Not a break in the stride, either. Nice. oh well.

other people are stopping to bask in the kyootness. Someone establishes that yes, it's the, or a, store resident cat, the store cat's kitten. Six weeks old. wuzza.

While I'm trying to ask the guy, who's very friendly but whose English is rather broken, whether it's okay for teeny one to be romping around like that outside,

I mean I think probably yes, it's New York, cats can well take care of themselves, but I am a Concerned Jewish Cat Mother and I Must Know For Sure, and also want to ogle some more,

but so while we're talking, kitten has abandoned the weed and is prancing merrily up the sidewalk. Absolutely fearless. I don't think I've ever seen a cat that small and that, well, bold? and yet completely unwary of people? outside before.

So I'm following this kitten up the sidewalk like a baby duck after its mother, giggling like a little girrrrrrrllll.

It scampers into a dry cleaner's. No concern at all for customers who might step on it. There's a full-length mirror on one wall.

and now this is just completely out of hand, with the cute, because the kitten spots its reflection and starts to do this great kitty Marx Brothers routine: who is that...? that is ANOTHER CAT! is it friendly? Sniff. Cold! Hiss! Arch! Crackle! Bounce around like a jumping bean! Swipe! Tumble over! Shake!--oh, look, a curtain, start to climb--what's THAT, over THERE? --wait! say! WHO IS THAT OTHER CAT? Swat! Bat!

I'm not even pretending to be a customer, of course. guy who runs the place is laughing, customer is cracking up. He whips out a digital camera--"You're taking a picture?" "Oh, I had to," he grins.

Kitten has calmed ever so slightly. I get in a pet. Just a little one. Mrrrrrrr.

Eventually, it is communicated that the lady wants to know if the store knows that it's ten o'clock, do they know where their kitten is? A young boy comes in, and, after only a moment's catch-me-chase-me, scoops it up rather unceremoniously and goes back down the street.

Sap that I am, I follow him back, too.

He gets back to the store's entrance and even less ceremoniously dumps the kitten in the entrance to some kind of cat door--what, he couldn't just bring it in? but so it uses the kitten's entrance, and wanders away out of sight behind the counter.

That's all, really.

now I really really need a camera, finally.

and a KITTENNNNNNNN

16 comments:

Bimbo said...

Belle~ Clearly this woman was the expert on rabies. Perhaps, as an author, you'd like to rewrite this story in a more fictitious way and give yourself an excuse for any behavior you might like to have over the next few days. You can always say you have rabies.

Anonymous said...

We just brought in a new kitten on Thursday. I will post pics when I get batteries for the camera.

belledame222 said...

YES!!!

hexy said...

My boss is about to get a new kitten. The unofficial version of this is that we are about to get a new workplace kitten. *grin*

I think everyone is now on record as being annoyed and irritated by this... and off the record at being utterly delighted to have a new fluffball to play with when not actively working.

Anonymous said...

OOOOO KITTIES!!!

Now I'm seriously missing my cat, who's technically no longer my cat. :(

Spiky said...

I bet he put it in front of the cat door because they're trying to get it used to using it. So maybe it wasn't a sign of cold-heartedness after all.

Spiky said...

Also...

teeny tiny black kitty

http://static.flickr.com/87/233835472_1f842e900f_o.jpg

I ain't nobody's teeny tiny black kitty!!

http://static.flickr.com/98/233835475_3ca90d795b_o.jpg

(That second cat actually belongs to someone on The Well, BelleDame, FYI)

belledame222 said...

hexy: well, of course. Kittens Increase Workplace Satisfaction And Productivity By 35%. I've read studies. if every business had a resident kitten, the world would be a much happier and more productive place.


per little (or not) black kittens: My own little monster (whom I just had to heartlessly dump off my chest in order to type this) goes to a sitter who has five cats of hir own. At one point he was there when the black one was still teeny tiny. She was his "girlfriend;" or, well, he bullied a bit, I think; but it was all in good fun; she luvvvved. always came back for more. they romped and romped.

Some months later, I'm about to go away again; of course, Miss Thang has now grown into a full-sized, quite large actually, sleek black Cat.

Once out of the carrier, my guy takes one look at what she's become and bolts. "What?..But...? i, THAT WAS NOT THE DEAL."

now he's dating the little grey one, who never did get too big.

he's such a sexist ;P

belledame222 said...

caren: wah. so sorry you're missing your friend...

belledame222 said...

per cat door: yeah, tuffy, I think you're right. They didn't seem cold-hearted at all; just, you know, a tad brusque.

which, you know, I guess: gotta keep the employees in line, which technically, that kitty is...

belledame222 said...

and: pics: SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE


I think I know whose that second one is; istr seeing it the first time proud mom (?) was showing off.

Anonymous said...

I had a kitten who would lick her paw and comb her face every morning upon waking, while looking into the full length mirror at herself.
It was absolutely odd to watch, but also meltingly wonderful.

Anonymous said...

arewen, i have a long haired orange monster that used to pull the vanity act in front of the mirror. it was really odd to watch.

alas, now he has no full length mirror.

belledame222 said...

Oh! It could be "Jesus Christ In A Prom Dress"'s first song!

"It Probably Has Rabies"

by "Jesus Christ In A Prom Dress."

has a good ring.

now all we need are composer and lyrics and maybe a video! and we are rady to RAWK!

let's see. can't do the other shit, but lyrics, hm.

What rhymes with rabies?

"babies"

"scabies"

...hmm.

So, are we thinking this is like, you know, emo-like ballad, or death metal, or what?

JEAN! We need Jean for this!

And AdequateDer!

Oh, I am so stoked. this is IT, people. time to take the SHOW ON THE ROAD

WOOOOOOHOOOOOOO

Anonymous said...

Oh, I was so with you the whole time! The puffing up, the jumping, the OH SOMETHING NEW!!!

Great comment thread, too.

Get a camera.

Please.

belledame222 said...

Hey, SB! hopefully one of these days...