Black Lightning
Mood:  mischievious
Topic: Jessica joins the family

Jessica has been with us for almost three weeks now. She has captured our hearts and continues to delight us with her playful antics, and her mischievous attacks on people and things.

She's a three-month-old all black cat, brought to us one Saturday evening by my husband's niece and family, who had taken in a stray mama cat that had kittens. Since we'd been wanting to adopt a cat since our move, we agreed to take one of the kittens. Amy saved us the best one in the litter.

Our dog, Ranger, was looking forward to getting a kitty. He was used to cats back in Colorado, when we had the two old cats, Mu and Jasmine, who had to be put to sleep last year on account of ailments and old age. We kept telling Ranger his kitty was coming... and the dog seemed to be eagerly anticipating a playmate.

So, when Jessica first arrived, she hunched her back and hissed at him... the classic Halloween cat stance. Poor Ranger's eager grin turned immediately into deep hurt. The dog laid down on the floor with his paws under his head, those big brown eyes so sad, as if to say, "She doesn't like me." This is a dog who can't understand why anyone would not like him, and he is gentle toward the feline species.

Well, it took close to two weeks before Jessie softened. Her curiosity about the dog would cause her to sneak peeks at him when he wasn't paying attention. Finally, one day they touched noses. Now they are pretty tolerant of each other, although the kitten still hunches and hisses at times, when he startles her.

Jessica's favorite hangout is the back bedroom (guest room) and the bathrooms, particularly the garden tubs. She also has a sleeping niche in the corner, behind my laser printer, and a perch on top of the piano. She seems to be fond of music because when I've sat down to play the piano or the guitar, she lingers, soaking it in.

One night, I was lying in bed, reading, when I was startled by a huge SPLASH! I sat up in bed and a moment later out ran Jessica from our bathroom... all wet! She had discovered the commode.

I recently discovered she could be the reincarnation of our old cat, Mu, who was my beloved companion for many years, whom we put down last fall because she was both deaf and blind at 19+ years. Since I realized this, I've seen a lot of Mu in Jessica, and I welcome her back in my life, hoping she'll be as good a hunter as Mu was.

The house often looks like there's a toddler living here. Jessica gets into everything and knocks over knick-knacks, pictures and whatnots in her clumsy explorations of every nook and corner. But it's a hard to get mad at her, because she has the most beautiful purr and settles into your lap at just the right moment for a bit of affection.