It was the winter of 2013- cold, harsh, unrelenting – that got the hardy barn cats inside for a month or two. Flo and Minnie swing both ways, they love being outside in the good weather, they love being inside in the cold, usually within snoozing distance of a wood stove. In the morning, if it isn’t storming, they go outside and hunt and nap in the hay bales.

Maria said it was my idea to bring them in last winter, she says I was opposed to it, I remember it differently, if you are a barn cat and you live near Maria, you will have a warm place to sleep on a cold winter night. The barn cats  have preserved their dual life, they are outside nearly as much as in, but last night was especially cold and Flo took up residence on a new and soft blue pillow. It’s soft and high-up, and there, her majesty can rule the living room and peer down at her subjects. And sleep on my lap when I am in the chair. She has a sweet side, if you are not a mouse or bird or rat.