It was raining hard this morning when I stepped out for my daily photo-taking and Zip meeting.
He wasn’t waiting for me, so I walked around the yard looking for him. I spotted him a long way off; he was just a black dot on the marsh, but I zoomed in on him, surprised he was walking around in the cold rain.
The iPhone 15 Pro Max has a superb zoom so I could see him from a distance.
Zip showed me that he was a wild animal like so many cats. He is ruthless, relentless, and murderous; he sometimes walks like a panther. I was mesmerized watching him hunt in the marsh full of prey – birds, moles, mice, frogs, snakes. I’m glad he likes me.
People keep telling me I’m a “cat person” now, but I’m unsure what that means. I love Zip, but I doubt he will ever have the impact on my life that Rose, Frieda, Izzy, Red, and Zinnia have had.
At each step of the way, dogs have marked and shaped the passages of my life. We’ll see about Zip.
I owe my dogs more than I could ever repay. They kept me company when I was alone, cheered me down, walked in the woods, and were silent when I worked; they made me smile, protected me, and inspired me.
The therapy work I did with my dogs altered my life and helped show me how to get older gracefully.
This is why I don’t care for labels much – red and blue, progressive or radical, extremist or conservative, dog or cat – they pin people in. Instead of getting to know each other, we label them and tag them for life rather than talking to them or getting to know what they are about.
It is, I think, more important to know the people who are different than those who are the same as me. The Internet has made that difficult, as many people look at screens for hours daily.
I love many animals – donkeys, dogs, chickens, and a barn cat. Life is quite diverse. I think I’m a Zip person; that works for me. I love a lot of different animals and hope I stay that way. I have to admit that Zip is something new to me. We’ve had barn cats all along, but none were like Zip.
He is the most affectionate and wild creature I’ve ever encountered.
I saw his technique. He approaches the marsh’s edge, walks on a foot, and then jumps back to listen for movement. When he hears something, he jumps in. Sometimes, he wades into the wet marsh and sits still, waiting for some chipmunk or mouse. God helps the creatures he catches; he plays with them, lets them go, chases them, and eventually eats them.
He’s the only animal I’ve gotten close to that relishes killing and torturing things and then climbs into my lab for some cuddling and a nap. Wow.
I felt like I was on the African prairie watching a tiger or a lion.
It is a joy to watch Zip evolve and get comfortable. He is growing in savvy and patience; I suspect he caught and ate something on the spot. I was getting soaked, so I turned back towards the house. When I looked up on the porch, Zip had returned; I can’t imagine how he moved that quickly. Maybe Zip is a ghost who can walk through walls and fences.
He is the perfect barn cat.
We had our meeting, scratching and stroking. This thing about animals is fascinating to me, in my life, purring one minute, stalking the march murderously and silently the next. I could watch him for a long time and never get bored.
After years of reading your work, I think you are a dog person. But like all kinds of life.
Im not sure where the need for labels came from.People can call
Me what they wish but I don’t consider myself a dog or cat person, just a human person. I don’t need to pick sides.
Consider the visual beauty of the cat. Stalking, crouching, springing, chasing sunbeams and leaves, for me, that is visual poetry. Ballet is the closest humans can come to that poetry and most of us can’t do that.
Once you’ve learned to appreciate visual poetry, whether in human dance or feline movement, you’ll never see things quite the same way. Once you’ve learned to appreciate word poetry or music, you’ll never quite hear things the same way. Just my opinion.
I think Zip represents what us humans wish to be – authentically and unapologetically ourselves. He can’t apologize for his instinctive nature – he has both “good” and “bad” in him (our perspective) and it doesn’t bother him in the least. He is intrinsically a predator AND he loves companionship. As humans, we are also good and bad, and have the good fortune of a prefrontal cortex that enables us to choose to be good or bad, based on morals and values. And this is where the trouble comes – morals and values are taught and not instinctive. We can unlearn them, and become better people than we were taught, though this takes much effort and work. Many don’t want to do the work. I didn’t want to do the work, and I still don’t know why I am able to do the work, yet I did and do. I can’t go backwards. I see this in you, too, Jon.
I loved, “I’m a Zip person” and “I felt like I was on the African prairie watching a tiger or a lion.” I sure have enjoyed getting to know him. Thanks for sharing.