During the day, Zip loves to lie in a wicker chair nestled in the warm blankets Maria puts out. At night, he sometimes sleeps in the heated cat house in the barn. Sometimes, he likes to sleep out with the sheep and donkeys he has befriended. Sometimes, he goes up into the woodshed; there’s a box with blankets sheltered from the wind, rain, or snow.
Two or three times a day, no matter the weather, he sets off to hunt in one of the pastures or the marsh below the farm. We see bits and pieces of his kills. He loves to meet with me, and then he gets restless and goes out to explore. Sometimes, he pops up on the front porch and peeks in.
I love seeing him pop up in a window at odd times. Once he looks things over, he vanishes and goes about his barn cat duties. The rat is gone, the pigeons are gone, and the mice are running for their lives. Good for him.
The animal rights zealots insist in their reliably shrill voices that he is dying to get inside because that is what they would wish to do. Humans have a tough time putting their animal’s needs above their own, but if you know Zip, you immediately know that inside is the last place he wants to be, or should be.
Two sheriff’s deputies, both cat lovers, want to visit the farm and visit him. They are welcome.
I love the sweet mail I am getting from the cat people now that I am one of them. They know what their cats need and understand my relationship with Zip. It is precious to me, something new and valuable. He is my farm buddy; he watches over me.
I thought I adopted him and Maria, but it seems he has adopted me.
Zip napping in his special flannel blanket.
My job as a steward is to ensure I put the animal’s needs ahead of mine. That has been the case with Zip from the beginning. Maria loves him just as much as I do, and the love is returned. Zip turns out to be a very loving creature. But also fiercely independent. I admire both things about him.
It is a great life to see him so happy here, especially now that he has charmed or befriended every creature on the farm, including me, Maria, the donkeys, the sheep Zinnia and Fate, and the chickens. He visits or plays with almost all of them every day.
In between, he kills things and eats them. We also feed him twice a day. He’s had a vet check recently, and the vet says he is in perfect health, including ears and teeth. He was skinny when we got him; he has gained much weight.
I am thrilled to know him and to live just around the corner.
