There is something very special about barn cats. In our fearful and politicized culture, we rarely permit animals to live their natural lives, the lives they were meant to live. Our barn cats are part pets and part wild creatures in the sense that we make sure their shots are up to date and that they are wormed regularly and that they can come into the house on the coldest nights of winter to be warm (the basement is set up for them also.)

But I love their independence and their wildness. Barns offer all kinds of meditation spaces for barn cats – ladders leading up to dark lofts, hay bales, old chairs and shadowy corners. There are plenty of mice and rats out there. We spotted Flo in one part of the barn we’d never seen her in before, she was resting from a night of prowling and hunting, in complete peace adopt a hay bale. I loved the soft light on her head and whiskers, she was peaceful and at home with her place in the world.

At night, I imagine Flo dancing up in the barn rafters with the bats, scattering mice and upsetting the barn swallows. These creatures deserve to be free to live their lives.