on cats & crutches

John asked (as he was simultaneously petting ellycat and toweling off after his morning shower):
“What if humans had fur like cats all over their bodies?”

Jana: “Then we would have riots and wars over the fact that some of us cats have different-colored fur. Can you imagine how snotty the Siamese-cat humans would be?”

John: “Me, I’d be a hairless cat”

John finished drying off and the conversation drifted off into another direction. But as I was doing dishes this afternoon I thought a bit more about what type of cat I would be…

I think I would be like the B&W three-legged cat that we used to meet on our walks to the garden. That cat was agile and strong. His missing leg caused him to lurch from side-to-side a bit, but never slowed him down.

Being a three-legged catwould mean I would have no need of crutches like the new ones I bought yesterday. For 22 years I’ve used hand-me-down or thrift store crutches. For the first time I bought my own. They are of the space-age folding variety because I’m sick of having to hand-carry my full-size crutches every time I travel. They always cause problems at security checkpoints and they don’t fit in the overhead bin (thus, they usually ride in a posh first class coat closet while I’m relegated to coach). Because I like to travel light (e.g. two weeks in Europe w/one small daypack), the crutches really slow me down…

But no more…(purr, purr)