Kitty Cats and Christmas Trees

  A new family tradition has been to trek downtown to check out the big Christmas tree on Thanksgiving. This year it was rainy and cold so we put it off a few days till the weather cleared. I was excited to try and grab a great shot of the tree with the capitol building glowing softly in the background. It’s always a hoot to try and get the best shot. Between the coldness of a Michigan winter trying to freeze both your camera and your fingers…and the juggling of trying to find the best spot to take the shot (which usually ends up being right in the middle of the street), you end up taking a ton of pictures. I’ve taken hundreds of shots, trying to capture the right angle and get the perfect light.

This year, I took 11.

Oh, it wasn’t because I’ve become some perfect photographer (ha!), or developed a way to get my camera to take great shots on the first run. It’s all due to a little boy cat. My sister is a sucker for animals. She currently owns two dogs, two rabbits and a rat named Spencer. I, on the other hand, have no pets. It’s not that I hate animals…they’re just not a huge priority for me. My apartment doesn’t allow them so I don’t have them. No big deal for me. But for my sister it would be a tragedy. She will coo over any animal in a store, pet anything on the street…which I constantly think will get her into trouble. I’m always worried about fleas or biting or rabies or super mutant rabies that will turn her into a mindless zombie. (…it could happen.) So when she saw a little cat meowing and moving towards us downtown, she immediately went into “OOOOHCUTEKITTYGOTTOPETIT” mode. I did the big sister arm block to try and keep her from getting rabies, but there wasn’t a need as the kitty darted into the bushes in front of city hall. I went back to taking pictures, trying to ignore my sister and mom talking about how cold it was outside and how sad it was that the kitty was wandering around.

Then the bush in front of me started meowing. Or rather, the little boy cat inside started meowing. I was determined to ignore the pitiful cries but my sister looked at me with big sad eyes and I figured I could at least try and coax the poor fellow out of the bush. I snapped my fingers and before I could say anything, the little boy cat was purring at my feet. I reached down to pet him, noticing that he was a little too plump and clean to be a stray and decided to try and find a warm place for him to rest. There had to be an empty box or something nearby so I headed off, thinking I could bring something back for the cat. I was surprised to see the cat pacing me as I walked. Not running ahead, or following behind, just quietly walking right next to me like he was a dog. I went up to the lobby of city hall and walked around trying to find a box and then headed down the street when I ran out of luck there. Around tables and over sidewalks, the little boy cat walked with me. I went down a flight of stairs and he jumped along, I went over a curb and so did he. Finally I passed the police station and caught a lady out for a smoke who said she might look for a box. I walked up the stairs with my companion right beside me and even the officer noted that he had taken a shine. When she was trying to get the little guy inside, he refused to follow her so I led him in and tried to leave quickly and he made it out the door before it could close behind me. I eventually had to pick him up and hand him off to the officer in order to leave. Happy to do a good deed for the little boy cat (and my sister), I headed home without taking anymore shots of the tree.

As much as I’m not an animal person, a loyal little boy cat who followed me around certainly captured my heart that night.