Cats

The Man and I have been cleaning and sorting and straightening this weekend. We've got some work getting done on the house and the worker bees need to get into some tricky spots in the basement. Boxes are getting moved and shifted and piled.

The Man is a much better worker than I am. I get distracted.

I was moving a box of photos and found some old ones from the Man's family. That's all she wrote. I was done working and it was time to settle in for a trip to the past.

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I love the sass in the Man's grandmother, above.

Strike a pose, Grandma.

One of the first times I met the Man's parents, his dad told the Man that I reminded him of his mother. I loved that.

And I loved this fine lady. The Man's great aunt P. A sweet, gracious woman.

Although I didn't always think so.

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After the Man and I had dated a few times, he asked me if I wanted to take a drive out into the country to visit his great aunt and uncle. We had to drive through the deep, dark forest to get to their farmhouse in the woods. 

The ride was endless. No houses to be seen since it was all state land. The trees stretched high and wide, dimming the sunlight and making it dark and a little spooky.  There were no other cars on the road and we didn't see a soul as we went along. As we drove through the forest, I had the brief thought that I really didn't know this guy very well and what if he was driving me off into the woods for some sinister reason. 

I watched way too many scary movies when I was younger.

Of course nothing happened except that we drove out to the country to visit his great aunt and uncle. Very pleasant people living in a beautiful old farmhouse. Their home was exquisitely filled with antiques and memorabilia - enough to keep your eyes moving all the time. After a bit of a visit, great aunt P asked if we would like a cup of tea. The Man and I replied that we would and she went off into the kitchen.

I followed her, intending to offer my assistance, and went through the door to the kitchen. And stopped dead in my tracks, eyes wide open.

The kitchen was filled, and I mean FILLED, with cats. There had to be at least fifty cats all over the place - up on the counters, the tables, the chairs. On top of the refrigerator, under the cabinets, on the windowsills. Cats, cats, and more cats.

Everywhere I looked, there was a cat. And most of them had their backs arched and were hissing at me. 

I am not a cat person. Not by a long shot. 

I immediately retreated and just about ran back to the living room. My mind was racing again and I was convinced I was in some kind of horror film. I burst into the living room and the Man looked at me with a "what are you doing?" look on his face. I let him know that I had just met all the kitties and thought it was just about time to go, didn't he?

At that point, great aunt P came in with the tea and we had to stay and visit a little bit longer. I examined my tea closely I can tell you.

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I had the chance to visit the Man's aunt and uncle many more times before they passed away and they were always lovely and delightful and so happy to see us. They traveled the world in their earlier years and loved to keep up with current events so conversation was always stimulating. 

A sweet, old couple with lots of cats. I'm happy to say I survived every encounter.