Piawacket - A Love Story

I had a cat.  Well, now that's not quite correct.  A member of the feline persuasion agreed to share domicile with me.  And she was not just a cat.  She was Siamese.  AND she was cross-eyed part of the time.  Now the cross-eyed business was a good thing because you see this cat was pixilated.  When she was in the throes of this condition she was cross-eyed so we all had good enough warning to beware around her.  I named her Piawacket after the cat in Bell, Book and Candle.  Piawacket had a son, Chan Chan.  My son was 3 or so when Chan was born and he was attempting to name him Charlie Chan but it just kept coming out Chan Chan and so that is what it became.  Piawacket was an adept huntress and her preferred prey was lizards.  And she caught them too!  Then they would shed their tail and run off to safety and Piawacket would return to her pillow the supreme victor.  She caught her prey and did not have to (yechhhh) actually devour it.  She much preferred her Fancy Feast and roasted chicken.  Chan Chan liked to hunt birds.  Our yard always had many birds, both before and after Chan's arrival.  Piawacket ghosted through the ferns on silken paws.  Chan Chan sneaked across the tree branch BOOM BOOM BA BOOM BAMBA BOOM!  He just didn't have his mother's light touch with the paw.  Yes, we had plenty of birds in our yard.  It wasn't her fault that Chan was such a poor hunter, Piawacket tried and tried to teach him.  Somehow the birds always knew the days she was training him and they flew up much earlier than when Chan hunted alone.  Piawacket was a certain threat.  Witness all the lizard tails cluttering the yard.

Piawacket was not a cuddler in the traditional sense.  While you sat on the sofa, she would pace back and forth presenting various portions of herself to be petted and stroked.  She would allow herself to be picked up and held for short periods.  But it was most advisable to allow her to go free when she indicated that she was ready.  She didn't tend to signal politely more than once or twice.  Did I mention she was meticulous about herself?  Those silken paws sheathed claws honed to razor sharpness.  As a result, when Piawacket wished to be released to go on her way, 2 leggers tended to comply with alacrity.

Large parts of each day were taken in exploration.  She would go to the front door and demand release.  There was a doggie door and the gate in the fence present no barrier to her.  But when she wanted out the front door, she wanted out the front door and she did not want to go around Robin Hood's barn to get there.  And so she would be let out the front door and we would not see her for a few hours.  She had a route she followed.  She would walk across the street and hop up on the fence between 2 houses and continue on south into the fruit trees.  Beyond that I could not see her and travels could only be imagined.

Certain days she was cross-eyed.  Always when a Santa Ana wind was blowing.  And certain days when she out in the early morning dew she would return that way.  It could only be one thing.  She was talking to the pixies.  It accounted for her super stealth powers.  Once overtaken by pixilation, she would walk across the living room and without stopping raise straight up about 18 inches, return straight down and keep walking as though nothing had happened.  We always knew to check here eyes on those days.  She stayed close to home on pixilated days forsaking her explorations.  Perhaps it was hard to see to cross the street or perhaps her mind was cluttered with her "other" thoughts.  The things she discussed with the pixies.  This was always an interesting subject for me to ponder.

I did not know for years that Piawacket's explorations were really a round of home visits.  (She had 5 older ladies she visited, I later discovered.)  One fall when we had a lot of Santa Ana winds and Piawacket had been pixilated and staying home a lot, a nice lady came to my door.  She was inquiring about the health of my Siamese cat.  She was one of the ladies Piawacket visited.  I asked her in for a cup of coffee and we had a very informative talk for both of us.  Piawacket seemed glad to see her and presented herself for stroll by petting.  It turned out that Piawacket came by her house several time a week to be petted, show off her lizard hunting capabilities and be fed treats.  Who could ever guess that this was going with 4 other ladies as well?  She was always slim and sleek and lithe.  But her visits gave each of them something to look forward to.  They were all widowed and lived alone.  As exasperating as it might be, you just can't be angry with a cat for wandering off when you know where she's going.  But on pixilated days she stayed home.  She and the pixies had lots to share.  And much as I may have wanted to be, 2 leggers are just not on that wave length.

Piawacket lived to be 21 years old and did not die of natural causes at that.  A new neighbor across the street hit her with his truck.

I have not had a cat since.  Piawacket was just irreplaceable.