I am aware that October is here and soon we will be embracing the idea of halloween - the night before All Hallows the day when spirits of the dead are forgiven as they walk in our world. The images of black cats, broomsticks, flying witches and other goulish and supernatural entities abound and in the USA and Canada there is a tradition of 'Trick or Treat' where children dress up in odd costumes and visit homes.
In England this idea is fast catching on and it is with mixed feelings that I see its coming.
Now, I have a black cat.
Ah, you might say, there in lies a tale. Or tail if you feel like it. What is this man doing with a black cat. Are they lucky or or are they a kin of the devil and witchcraft?
From my observations of them I reckon they are different, odd to say the least and peculiar when it comes to their relationship with people. My small, elegant, green eyed feline is a friendly, soft, purring twit with the occasional need to assert herself with a display of sharp claws and teeth that will shred my hands if I let her.
But she is a pussy-cat compared to my last moggie who could shred my flesh to the bone in play and still purr happily as she did it. If any cat was a witches familiar this was her. Toots was not evil but she was a one person cat - the political correctness is deliberate - Toots cared not a jot for PC and attacked both males and females with equal vigor.
And the one before her was strange to say the least . Frodo didn't walk around puddles but through them, liked to attack small waves on the beach, loved to ride on my shoulders and seemed to choose the full moon to go crazy.
As for Sophie, my present puss, she tends to be more active during the full moon than at other times. I am beginning to wonder if black cats are familiars and as a consequence I am now quite worried about what I may be.
Maybe this Halloween I might find out.
Thinks: must get that birch broom stick...
