It's a few days early but I didn't want to forget. On January 6th, 2001
Persia came up to my back door and demanded I let her inside. She just
stood at the door and yowled. She absolutely refused to leave. I was
living in west Tennessee at the time and as dusk approached the temperatures
were dropping rapidly. Icouldn't very well leave her outside! So I grabbed
my coat and drove to the store. I said to myself, "If the cat is still
there when I get back I'll let it in." (Obviously I didn't know if it was a
male or female cat at that point.) I bought a litterbox, litter, a bag of
cheap cat food and food bowls and headed back home. By then it was dark and
the temp was about 23F. The cat was still there so I opened the door. It
waltzed in as if it owned the place, which of course she ultimately did

I couldn't find her owners. I took pictures, printed up posters, called all
the area vets and shelters. No one claimed her. (She turned out to be a
her.)

Long story short, she's moved 700 miles with me. (That was certainly an
adventure!) She's kept me laughing with her wonderful antics, like breaking
into the pantry to get a can of Fancy Feast She loves to snuggle and her
fur is very soft. She has a very loud purr which she exercises regularly.
I call her my rumble bug She bites me very gently on the shoulder or arm
(sometimes on my chin) and then slowly blinks her pretty green eyes at me.
Those are "kitty kisses". She taps me on my nose to wake me up; "hey, it's
time to feed me!" She sometimes stands on the edge of the bath tub when I'm
taking a shower and yells at me: "Hey! Don't you know you're getting wet?!"

I'm going back to work tomorrow so she'll have to remember I used to go to
the office every day. I'll make sure the cat TV is on... IOW, the blinds
will be open and the bird feeder filled. I've had a plethora of birds
showing up. Chickadees, Carolina wrens, tufted titmice, pine warblers,
purple finches. There's a mated pair of cardinals that have a nest a bush
in my back yard. A blue jay just showed up this morning. I rarely see them
down here. A couple of weeks ago some North American bluebirds were on the
patio. Persia should be well entertained

Happy Persia-versary!

Jill