During the summer, five or six feral cats roamed the area between the parking lot and the apartments. They came by every day, sometimes several times a day, to frolic and occasionally fight on my porch and around the dogwood tree. A pair of them would wrestle on the porch, another would chase his buddy up the tree. Then the buddy would come down and they ran through the scene again, and again.
They might have been the cats that once caused friction among the residents in the duplexes. Some of the folks were cat lovers. They put bowls of food and water in their driveways for the cats. Others thought the cats were a nuisance and potentially dangerous. They didn't want anyone giving aid and comfort to them.
The anti-cat faction won the argument, and the maintenance guys were dispatched to rid that area of feline pests. Whether the cats that were hanging around the apartments were ones from the duplexes that had escaped a crueler fate, or a new herd, I don't know.
A month ago, James, one of the maintenance men, and I got to talking about, among other things, the cats catting around the apartments. James said they had to get rid of them. Which they did, except for one. A tan, furry, obviously not under-fed distant relative of the King of the Jungle walks by my apartment several times a day. When it's warm, he sometimes lies on my porch and suns himself.
Sunday morning, I got up, got dressed, and slid the porch door open an inch or two. The temperature was barely above freezing, but I like the fresh air, even if it is just for a short while. An hour later, the fresh air was making me fresh frozen. As I slid the door shut, the cat rushed onto the porch, sat, and stared at me with his big eyes. He held the gaze for over a minute, walked slowly away. I haven't seen him since. Maybe someone took him in.
* * *
Not long after after the cat left, Russ and Karen arrived, and we made our way to the dining room for Covenant Woods' annual holiday buffet. It was a great time. It is getting more and more difficult for me to get in and out of a car. As a result, the three of us seldom go out to eat. Karen and Russ do come over and bring supper with them once a week or so; that's always a good time, and the food, which is usually something they made themselves, is always very, very good.
Russ, Karen and me at the Covenant Woods' Christmas buffet in 2015.
And though we only went as far as the dining room, it still seemed like a "going out' experience. There was plenty of good food: shrimp cocktail, ham, beef, turkey, and all the fixin's. How good was the food? Well, I got a late start Sunday and didn't finish my oatmeal and toast until after nine o'clock. Two hours later, we were in the dining room. Russ went through the buffet line for me and brought back a more than generous portion of everything. I ate it all, not because I was hungry, and not in an effort to be polite. No, I gorged myself because it was so very good.
The event also sparked memories of Al. The holiday feed used to be held in the evening, and everyone ate at the same time, instead of in shifts as we do now. As people made their way down the buffet line, Al would sometimes get up and take charge of the shrimp cocktail. He made sure everybody got some, and made equally sure no one took more than their fair share.
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