Bowser the Cat

"Bowser the Cat"
Photograph

Well, I suppose it was inevitable that a cat would pop up here today. With all the little birds flying around on my site the last few days, what could be a more alluring treat for these amber eyes to behold and fantasize about?

Earlier this year, I was wandering out by my local library, camera in hand. Flowers dazzled my eyes and I walked around to the back of the building to get some day-lily close-ups. Entrenched deep into my photo zone, I almost stepped on a black and white cat rolling around on the cement sidewalk. He jumped up and moved to safer land, hiding in the tall stalks of grass and peeking out at me. A librarian walked up behind me and said "That's Bowser, Bowser the Cat. I've kind of adopted him at the library, and have been feeding him". We chuckled together about the cat's name and I noticed the librarian's eyes were filled with love as she gazed at her adopted cat friend. I decided right then and there to take a few photos of him and promised I'd give her a copy. Several weeks later, I noticed Bowser was no longer around the premises. After inquiring of his whereabouts, I found out he that he was now living in Connecticut, with a friend of the librarian. I thought that now the photo of Bowser would become even more of a treasured memory to cherish.
Today I went to the library and gave the librarian the photo of Bowser. On the front of the photo, I attached a small Sparrow card I had painted. I thought that would be a humorous little twist, letting it lie right on the cat's face (with only some sheer plastic to keep the two creatures apart). Inside the card I wrote "To Mary From Bowser (and Beverly). The librarian stared at it for a few minutes, seemingly lost in memories. "Bowser is doing well now, has gained weight, is healthy", she softly said. One of the fellow librarians standing nearby said, "Too bad you didn't take him in under your roof". The librarian nodded silently, knowing that another addition to the 6 felines she already had would be next to impossible. Ever the photographer, I told the librarian that I had tried to erase the stalk of grass in front of the cat's face (via photoshop tricks, but had given up the task). "I like the cat with the stalk of grass". Glad you didn't do anything like that to the photo", she commented.
She peered closer at the cat's image. "Ah, yes, see the beauty mark on his white fur by his whiskers? Isn't that something?" she said, beaming. I, myself, had thought it was a smudge on the camera lens which had made its presence known on the photo and had tried to erase it. When it did not come off, I figured it was a spot of dirt or something the cat had picked up in its roamings. Never did I think it was a beauty mark, a legacy of Cindy Crawford, perhaps. And I stood there pondering how we attribute human traits to our animal friends, in the process deepening our connection to them. The librarian gave me a hug, said thank-you and kept staring at the cat photo as I edged out the door, my departure going unnoticed.
I felt good inside. Hopefully, today, I had made someone just a little happier. And I had had fun creating it. So it was a win, win situation. And maybe, just maybe, Bowser's memory across the miles would be strengthened by the photograph. I stare up at the wall next to me at a photo of Princess, my beloved cat who has passed on, and know from the heart that this is so.