A Whole New World

Warning: This post is about a cat. If you don't like cats, you may want to skip it.

He's really more of a curmudgeon than a cat.

This is Zippy. He is my cat. He was born in Pittsburgh in 1997. In 1998, he moved to Paoli, and he has lived in the same house ever since. Zippy rules the house. Chairs are placed near windows so he can get a good view of things. Ottomans are placed near beds so he can easily get off the bed without jumping too far. He's living the life.

As a kitten, Zippy lived in a small basement apartment with windows up too high for him to look out. So he was harnessed and leashed and brought outside into his backyard in Pittsburgh. Here in Paoli, he has a nice little patio area that he sometimes hangs out in, supervised of course. He has long outgrown the harness, but his harness training keeps him in this little boundary that's about 12X12 feet. When the wind blows too hard or a loud truck drives by, he runs for the safety of the enclosed porch that leads to the house.

The other day, Zippy was feeling quite restless. He didn't want to go out onto his patio area. He was generally acting like a doofus. He decided that he wanted to inspect the door on the other end of the enclosed porch. He has looked out this door before, but since there are 4 concrete steps that lead down to the backyard, he generally turns his nose up and walks back into the house.

This day though, he was feeling either bored or brave. He ventured cautiously down the steps. His sniffer was sniffing a mile a minute. His senses were in overdrive. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. The large blue garbage bin was especially fascinating, and he sniffed his way all the way around that one. Then, he just sat down and looked around, taking it all in. This whole other world had been here this whole time, and he had never taken advantage of it.

Then the mailman rounded the corner and Zippy ran back into the house.

I often forget that there is a whole world....nay...many worlds...outside my own world. And each one has the promise of new sights and smells. And each one has the scary mailman to scare me back into the house. Hopefully I can remember Zippy's awe each day and try to venture into worlds other than my own.