What tale would a tail tell, if a tail could tell a tale? As I compose this on Monday morning, Midnight is stretched out on my desk between the keyboard and the monitor. He watches with interest as my fingers compose this post.

More about those beautiful acrylic nails later. This is the tale of the tail.

First, a question. Does that tail look right to you?

Here a closer look. Does that look crooked? Well it is.

Soon after he came into our house, I noticed that about an inch and a half from the base of the tail it took a fairly sharp bend. During one of Midnight’s calmer moments, I ran my hand along his tail and discovered that the tail had been broken at that point. It healed crooked and there is almost a “knot” at that point. There is another break about an inch and a half from the tip, and a third midway between the other two breaks. fortunately, it doesn’t seem to bother our little guy.

I mentioned the acrylics — that’s what our daughter-in-law, Barbara, calls them. Last Wednesday, Sylvia took Midnight to the vet and she installed Soft Paws on his front claws. These are plastic pieces that are glued on to the claws. They are wonderful! We no longer are getting scratched on a daily basis.

What do you think? Are those okay? Sylvia considered getting them in hot pink, but in defference to the fact that he was born a Tom, she got plain.

Midnight’s Auntie Lin suggested that we get him a toy about his size with the same number of appendages. (Hobbes has a party pig.) Midnight has a rascally rabbit, or it a Wascally Wabbit?

While I have written this, Midnight has: 
– attacked my fingers (no harm done)
– sat between me and the monitor (blocking my view)
– curled up in a corner on the desk where he is taking a nap.

Let’s not disturb him. He’ll see you again soon.

Our little guy loves to play. What youngster doesn’t? I was sitting in the office on New Year’s Day listening to an audio book, when Midnight came in and began to play with the cords from the blinds at the corner of my desk.

I’m sharing this with you as an experiment. I hope you enjoy it.

Midnight likes to visit me in the office. So, I try to distract him with a toy. Glitter balls are his favorites. He bats them, pounces on them and carries them around.

To the left of my desk, between the waste basket and the shredder is a box that our little guy can leap on to get up to the window. There was Midnight with his head in the waste basket. What was going on?

I should ask, “What’s going in?” There was our guy diving into the waste basket. This should be interesting. He disappeared from sight and was actively doing something in there. What was it?

Then his head appeared, and in his mouth a green glitter ball. So that was his motivation.

And the victor emerged triumphant — glitter ball in mouth.

Sylvia and I were both  ill most of last week. She is doing better now, but I’ll be seeking medical assistance today for what appears to be an internal infection. I hate those things.

There is something about shoes that captures Midnight’s full attention. In no time he was on the attack, wrestling with Rick’s shoe. I took the above shot, and Sylvia asked me to pass the camera to her — she had a better angle.

And Sylvia captured this image with our little guy on the attack while Rick grinned and Clara captured an image from the other side. Do you think he’s trying to dance with Rick?

Soon, Midnight was on Rick’s lap. He will do that, but he’s just trying to lull you into lowering your hands into range so he can attack. We patiently work with him as we laugh at his antics and enjoy our latest addition to the household.

It all began with an exchange of e-mail messages. And then a package arrived in the mailbox out by the road. There was a note from Lin and some rings from the top of milk bottles and four sparkle balls. These are really neat.

Midnight was completely taken with his new toys. They are sparkly and pretty. When you swat them they go flying. Because they are light and spongy even our little kitty can pick them up and carry them around.

Also they are a lot of fun to wrestle with and roll on the floor.

Midnight is too busy having fun with his new toys. So I’ll say, “Thanks Lin.” As you can see, your gifts are greatly appreciated.

Feral cat and heart-stealing rascal — that’s Midnight. I introduced you yesterday, but there’s more to the story. Read on if you are interested.

Here’s the stick he’s played with for weeks. He has stripped the bark off the end as he has chewed and clawed on his scrawny friend.

You should know that Midnight looks up to me. Okay, I have a 5-foot altitude advantage. You can be sure that it’s the only reason why.

Midnight reminded me today that he’s looking forward to Fangsgiving Day.

Children, behave yourselves! Midnight is watching you.

We have feral cats here at Secondary Roads. We put out food and water for them each day. In return, they take care of the little rodents that might otherwise be a problem. The population varies from time to time. A couple of years ago, we had about 10 of them that were usually around here.

These days, the population is down to one. A little guy about 8 months old.

I guess you don’t have to wonder why why we call him Midnight. A little bit of white could be a crescent moon and the occassional white hair in his smooth furry coat could be stars.

For months he would run and hide if he saw or heard us. Then his mother (a calico named Chubby Checkers) got in a fight with another queen (female cat) and lost. The winning queen is no longer around, but Checkers is a rare sight for us.

Cats are social, and Midnight is all cat. For a while he played with a stick. It was his best friend, he would pounce on that stick. He would grasp between his paws and roll on the ground with it.

Sylvia and I spent a couple of days working around the garage as we prepared the place for winter. The shy little guy finally came closer on the first day. And closer. Then Sylvia reached out and touched him. He wasn’t sure about that. By the end of the second day, he was there getting in the way like kittens love to do and we were laughing and loving it — and him.

You’ve got to love a little guy like that — especially one with a bent tail.

His confidence grew and he quickly took to us.

Did you know that kittens have tiny little claws (and teeth) that are razor sharp. As I played with Midnight, he brushed the back of my hand with a paw. It felt lighter than a baby’s touch. The next day I felt a stinging sensation on the back of my hand. A teeny little claw had barely brushed my hand, but it removed some skin. It was not his fault — he meant no harm and my hand is mostly healed.

I’ll tell you more about Midnight very soon.