It ended peacefully, with a tired Zip going to sleep in my bag with one arm hanging out over my arm. It was a sweet moment, but our encounter earlier was not as sweet. When I came out of the farmhouse, Zip had a chipmunk hanging out of his mouth. It wasn’t Alvin, his nemesis; this one was much smaller.

I can’t look away when Zip has a baby creature in his mouth. I’ve saved more than a few.

The poor thing looked dead; I can only imagine those teeth in his back and neck. But he wasn’t dead; I think he was playing dead and hoping for the best.

I couldn’t handle watching Zip chase and capture living things, so I rushed over. he dropped the chipmunk, who was still, and I was going to stomp on it to make sure it was dead and out of his misery when the chipmunk shot out from under my feet. He took off, heading for a nearby tree; I could hardly believe how quickly Zip came after him and caught him again.

The chipmunk tried to run up the birch tree, and Zip rushed up after him and ahead of him. I grabbed Zip by the tail and pulled him down, giving him time to rush up the tree and into a hole. Looking shocked and betrayed, Zip came down and went off into the brush; he seemed confused, popped up, and looked around to see where the chipmunk was.

(The apple tree is dropping apples. Maria is making applesauce.)

I went into the chair we both sat in in the late afternoons. Zip looked exhausted. His tongue was hanging, which I’ve never seen, and he seemed almost disoriented. I thought he might be angry with me, but a half hour later, he appeared beside the chair and jumped into my lap.

This is the great drama of the cat, especially a Barn Cat. Sweet one minute, murderous the next. Nature is full of animals eating other animals – that’s how most animals in nature survive – but I can’t bear to watch it. But cats are also generous. Zip never holds a grudge.

I stroked his neck, which he loves; he needed calm, and I saw how drained he seemed. In a few minutes, he put his head on my arm and went to sleep. No hard feelings. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the battered chipmunk run for it, racing to the stone wall where some of them live. He made it.

Zip slept for more than 20 minutes while I stroked his back, and he slept. All was forgotten.