The Outside Perceptions of Hector Fortescue

I wonder if Hector’s perception of the outdoors is typical of most cats’. I doubt it. I don’t know that he is typical of cats in anything.

Hec enjoys sitting at windows, looking out. Since the warm weather came in the spring, he has especially liked the windows and the glass door to the concrete ditch being opened to their screens, so that he can smell the outside, and hear it, too. One day, early in spring, he observed me, outside, in the ditch, replenishing the outsider-cats’ water- and food-supply at Café Cosy. My presence there startled him. He didn’t know what to make of it, and he ran back into the room. When I returned inside, he was untroubled. Perhaps for the little Turk, I was an inside creature only, and the image of me beyond the apartment was a doppelgänger.

Eventually, after repeatedly seeing me outside, in the ditch, he came to understand that it was still me, the same human, inside and out.

This weekend, for the first time, Hector saw me through the bedroom window. My presence there startled him. He didn’t know what to make of it, and he ran back into the room. When I returned inside, he was untroubled. Perhaps for the little Turk, I was an inside creature only, and the image of me beyond the apartment was a doppelgänger.

I think he may have to learn the same lesson at each window…