jinxed

I guess I was only delaying the inevitable in my insistence that I was going to resist the temptation to get a cat. Soon after settling into my home here, I began to muse on the idea, pushing it away as impractical. But then, all things considered, this is about the most practical-pet-rearing mode I’ve been in for almost a decade. And people here are rather attached to their pets, so it had to rub off on me. Though here it’s more often dogs you see: little “yappy” ones as some of us tend to think of them.
One family I am friends with here enjoys going to the bird and flower market for the sole purpose of looking at the pets for sale. So for 2 weekends now I have joined them on the outing. Yesterday I came as close as picking up a kitten from it’s pen and asking how much it was. The steep price tag, however, quickly confirmed my adamant no-pets-for-me mindset. When I told others about it later at a birthday party, I was teased for being a stereotypical cat-loving librarian—a thought that had not, in fact, occurred to me!
This morning my biking buddies and I headed out for church. I was trying to pay closer attention than usual to the route, knowing I was going to be on my own for the return trip. This was going to be interesting, I knew. I still have not quite gotten over the shock of the crazy adventure that bike-commutes are here. And I’m not terribly good with directions. But my virgin solo voyage had to come sooner or later, so today was going to be as good of a day as any. Heading out after the service, my friend headed out her way and asked if I felt confident. I shook my head no, but then launched into a few lines of Maria Von Trapp’s “I have confidence . . .” and headed out. During the half hour it took to get back, I imagined myself succumbing to death-by-us-impact as one after another city buses careened far too close for comfort. And I almost called someone to try to double check where I was on the road, hoping I was not going the wrong direction altogether. But somehow, surprising myself more than anyone, I made it back without a hitch.
Shortly after I had returned home, a got a call from the mother of a student. Her neighbors had a cat they had gotten but had had to kick out of the house. It had been roaming outside her place and she wanted to adopt it herself but had a cat of her own who would not cooperate with the idea. She wondered if I would take it. I figured it was meant to be, so was soon carrying home my own “Jinx,” trying to keep her calm during the much-longer-than-usual walk home. I was nervous about how the settling would be, but it’s obvious I didn’t need to be. She has claimed the space quite happily and even seems to be attached to me, following me if I move from one room to the next. I may need to brush up on my pet-training skills now, though, to work on her playful biting habit. But other than that, so far so good ☺