My Gratitude

Today is Thanksgiving Day. I try every day to be grateful for what I have and have had, but today is when we acknowledge our gratitude more explicitly.

I am grateful for many things: my life at the Cosy Cabin, the shelter and warmth it gives me; my employment, the funds it gives me to survive; my friends, who have helped me more than I have been able to help myself, I think.

I am grateful for my last minute capture of Sable, on the Thanksgiving weekend last year. Yes, Sabe has been with me a year now. I worried that I was doing the wrong thing by bringing her inside. But she has progressed faster and better than I had hoped, thanks in part to her friendship with Moxy. She still won’t let me touch her, but I can come closer than ever now, and she sleeps on the bed, not even jumping off when I move or get up in the night.

I am certain that she is hard of hearing. She can hear me speak at almost any distance, but my approach must be seen to be believed. At her age - at least twelve, probably thirteen - she may not have been able to stand many more winters outside, and she may not have had an assured source of food after I had moved.

So I am grateful for having caught Sable. She may have regrets, but I think she also enjoys, at least in part, being an insider cat. Warmth at night, comfort in cold weather, plenty of food, clean water, friendship and toys to play with do compensate somewhat, I think.

This year, this is the face of my gratitude.