~SPUR of the Moment~
When it comes to animals, I tend to be very softhearted. As a child, animals included insects as well, but I have pretty much gotten over that part. I can still remember at a very early age tattling on one of my older brothers for killing, “God’s creatures,” when I found him and his friends destroying anthills in the backyard. He tended to do things like that when I cramped his style by trying to tag along. The typical sibling love/hate relationship.
In the big Dog vs. Cat debate, hands-down I have always been a dog person. It was really a no brainer after a friend’s cat took a nasty swipe at me when I was a child. Truth is I just never understood cats. They do not like to play like dogs, they do not come running with tail wagging when you walk in the door and frankly, half the time you do not even know they are around. Always seemed like a lot of work and expense for an invisible pet.
Dog fan or not, I am pretty much over being a dog owner. I become so attached that after losing several dogs in a short span of years, I cannot bring myself to own another. I say that, but if one of my friends came to me with a hard luck story, I would most likely cave…again. It is also how my family ended up with the majority of our dogs.
Being the mom of a young son, I knew the day would come when he would ask for a pet. Smooth as I think I am sometimes, I was prepared. This is why I now find myself taking care of four hermit crabs. Still, I had every intention of standing firm when it came to anything bigger.
Unfamiliar with cats, I actually had to do some research while writing, Spur of the Moment. Cats were mainly used as rat catchers in Europe during the Middle Ages. Knowing this, however, did not exactly endear me to the furry felines. Since a cat fit into the story, in went a cat named, Ceinlys. The name Ceinlys comes from the Gaelic word for cat. Original I know, but that should tell you something about my ambivalent feelings on the matter.
Less than a week after I signed the contract for Spur of the Moment with Rhemalda, I found myself in what I like to call a fated moment. My personal motto has always been to live and let live and I am a big believer of paying it forward. So far, the blessings in my life have outweighed the shortcomings and I like to think this philosophy has something to do with it.
While in an office at the Pompano Beach State Farmers Market, a friend came in and showed me a photograph on his phone of a small filthy kitten looking through the glass lobby door at him. He told me the kitten was still downstairs trying to get into the building. Of all the places for an animal not to be is a busy truck terminal.
Intending to find a home (that was not mine) for the kitten, I should have known my good intentions would be tossed aside the moment my son got a glimpse of her. The look on his face was so priceless, I felt fortunate to have captured a picture of it. Who am I to deny him a cat? After all, he could cheer for the opposing team.
Hundreds of dollars in cat care later, I find myself chuckling at the irony of it all. Sometimes the unlikeliest things tend to happen to me. In this case, it was a small kitten named -Spur.
Candace Bowen Early
June 15, 2011
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Aww, what a sweet little story! I don’t like cats much myself, either, nor am I a huge dog person. I like reptiles and bugs…hence Monarch, hahaha.
Hope all goes well with the cat!
I love butterflies, Michelle, but you can totally have the rest of the insect population~lol.
As a proud owner of a two-year-old beagle, I will throw my vote toward the dog side in this debate. Although,since I never had a dog growing up – my grandmother lived just up the street and was horribly allergic to them – I have to include my disclaimer that puppies are a lot of work. Hermit crabs definitely sound less demanding:)
Hermit crabs are definitely less demanding, TJ. Too bad I didn’t want those either! ~ LOL Thanks for commenting.