The Warden of the Marches

Cammie knocked the screen partially out of my bedroom window Saturday night. It occurred, of course, just as I was getting into bed. There was apparently an intruder-cat outside taunting the princess (actually, it was just another cat, passing by and looking in the window); Cammie takes great exception to such visitors. In her rage, she knocked the screen, with its frame, out of the window at one corner.

The screen did not come completely detached, and Cammie did not try to get out, though I was taking no chances and as soon as I saw what was happening, I grabbed her, tossed her onto the bed and shut the window pane. I don’t know whether Cammie would leave the apartment that way or not; I do believe that, in the heat of a moment, she would rush out after another cat, but probably not if she thought about it. But the cool-headed princess is not what I was worried about; it was the angry Cammie who may have wanted to tackle the intruder.

The next morning - after a stifling night spent with the window almost shut - I pushed the screen back into the window, something easily done, then devised a means of securing it. In my old house, I screwed small, t-shaped plates to the outside of the window frame to keep the screens in place. I didn’t believe I would have to do the same thing in the new apartment. And I cannot, as the frames are not wood, but plastic. However, a simple thin but strong metal plate across the corner of the screen’s frame should suffice. This will keep the frame from popping out more than an inch at that corner, which is the danger-zone. I will secure the library screen similarly.

I never thought that the whole screen coming out would be a problem; I feared Cammie tearing the screen itself. Unlike window screens of my youth, which were metal and stiff, these, like most products these days, are plastic and easily destroyed. That the princess may rip a hole in one is still a concern.

Cammie becomes incensed at what she views as intruders. I have a suspicion that, as much as she knows she is loved, she may still be anxious about her place in the household, and worry that she will be supplanted. It’s bad enough that she must share her home with three feline siblings. But a stranger inserting himself in my affections? That possibility will not be tolerated, so invaders must be warned off in no uncertain terms.

Thus, the princess dons her armour now and then, and maintains a watch on the marches of our little kingdom, especially at night. She is not to be trifled with; now that she has found her home, she intends to keep it, and keep it safe.