Boomerangs

Our house is on a corner lot. On the opposite corner lot is the place where they process and sell drinking water for our community. And at a house on that property, at the next corner over, not too close to us but not too far, lives Boomerang. Boomerang is a male Siamese cat, and he is pretty young. I have no idea what his real name is, or if he has a real name. But I call him Boomerang.

One day there was a big cat ruckus at our house, and for the first time I saw this wiry, fiesty little cat. It looked to me like he was picking fights with our cats. They weren't happy with it, and neither was I. When I tried to run him off, he wasn't going that easy. In fact, he turned and confronted me. I was kind of shocked, because most strays run from us. We look different, and they really don't want any kind of confrontation. But Boomerang turned and acted like he was going to attack me. I don't remember how it turned out that day, but he did depart. I hoped I wouldn't see him again, and I really had no idea where he came from.

Not too many days after that, he was back, scrapping again. And this time Mike was not to happy about it. In fact, he was trying to shoo him off with a broom, but that was a volatile situation. This little skinny cat was spitting and snarling. More than once he snuck into our "front room" where we have classes. He got into it with Stinkey, who scared easy, and Mike found the only way out of the situation was to pick the Siamese up by the scruff of the neck. He couldn't turn on him that way. And so Mike picked him up, and to my surprise he took him and sort of flung him out into the field of weeds and grass behind our house. The grass is pretty high, so I think it was a soft landing. But boy, all four feet were out with claws bared; it was an interesting site. Mike said the next time he showed up he would take a stick to him. I am pretty sure he was kidding....but

I really didn't understand why this cat came to pick fights with ours. Dinkey is a lot bigger than him, and OK is a street fighter.

The next time, I decided I had better do something if I didn't want to see more fur fly, so I talked nicely to him and sat down at the corner of the house. I realized that day that he wasn't interested in fighting with my cats. What he was interested in was getting past them and getting to the dish of cat food inside the house. He was just hungry. And that day, that was how he calmed down, was by my giving him a little dry cat food.

He was so thin. But I knew that feeding him was not wise, because he would want to move in. And there are five cats here already, none of whom wanted that. It isn't that they just don't like him. They squall, and fight, and fur flies. Injuries happen. It is not a good situation.

I was pretty sure that he lived at that house at the water plant, so the next time I spoke nicely to him and he let me pick him up. So I carried him back to his house. The man there, took him from me, and I thought I would share my wisdom that they needed to get their cat fixed so he wouldn't wander off. Well, this guy wasn't too happy hearing advice from a farang (foreigner). Not only a foreigner, but a Christian one ( I think he may be M.) And he proceeded to tell me that, yeah, the farang cats came to his house and bothered HIM, with the implication that these were my cats he was referrring to. I was a little upset but said nothing, thankfully, and I just came back home. I hoped I wouldn't have to deal with it further.

But not too many days hence, guess who was back. So since he had let me pick him up before, I did again, and took him back home. The man was there again, and I was polite. The man showed me they had put a door on the outside room where the cats (he has a bunch) live, and that he locked this one up. He said he had just gotten out, and headed for our house immediately. I said, I guess he likes it there! I thanked him and left.

Next day, guess who. When I took him home, the lady was there, and she said (basically) "You can have him!" I politely declined, telling her that my cats would not agree to this.

What I was noticing on all these visits was that they had a LOT of cats. And in their food dishes? A bunch of leftover rice. No wonder he came to my house. Their cats all skinny and unhealthy looking.

My cats, most of the time, fairly healthy but definitely well fed. In fact, on a daily basis I have to toss some dry food down the toilet. The dry food that isn't quickly eaten gets kind of yucky in the humidity, and since they know that it tastes better right out of an air-tight container, they are willing to wait until I give in and put out some fresh food. Hence, we have leftovers.

So that is how we have progressed to today. A few days ago, I started taking a little bag, with the leftovers, along with me when I take him home. And I started calling him Boomerang, because he just keeps coming back! Now, though, he really looks forward to me picking him up and taking him back home, because when we get back to his house, and I lock him up in his room (I do it myself now, I don't even bother the people-- and they wave me on)-- only then does he get his food. In fact, now, most of the other cats at his house like to get locked up in there with him when we get there! And none of them are quite so skinny anymore.

I was thinking this morning, that I guess we all have our own "boomerangs"--that is, something not too convenient, maybe from a past transgression, that keeps coming back into our lives. We can get angry and frustrated with it, or worse, or we can use the food that we were flushing down the toilet to relieve the situation. And maybe it will help somebody else out.

(Romans 8:28) ........see you next time.....

LOL I wasn't intending to"boomerang" YOU!