Ordinary is Good

This is a propitious time at which to write a little bit about Josie, because it was at Christmas time that she first came to live with me. It was, in fact, Christmas Eve of 2008, I believe. We’ve been together ten years.

Josie is not quite as welcoming to stranger-cats as is Renn, but she has contributed her part to a smooth integration. I’ve watched her with Raleigh: Peachy barely acknowledges other cats sometimes, trotting right past them as if they were not there. Josie doesn’t mind this. Whereas Tucker will periodically feel a whap is in order, Josie just lets the new boy go by.

The Great White prefers to live and let live. She won’t sniff body parts, as Renn will. There is no investigation of any newcomer. Raleigh has been rather forward in the instance of food, and this will trouble Josie now and then. But other than that, the advent of the cosy apartment’s sixth cat has barely been noticed by our senior feline.

I often think that I don’t give Josie enough time. She is rarely sick (crossed paws that she remains so), and fusses little. She doesn’t stand out. I was tempted even not to write anything about her; there is nothing to relate. But she is my steady one, my barometer. Her calm makes me calm. She may be an ordinary little cat, but I for one have always loved ordinary.