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Obligatory Cat Picture "Annie" The Spiffinx ("If I'm still, no one can see me. . .") In Winter, Spiff Discovers the Importance of a Well-Insulated House

A dainty calico born in March, 1996, Annie is sister to Spiffy (below). No pussyfooting about it: "Fujino is a paradise for cats"—so declaim our felines cattily as they roam the south forty. Annie catches mice, moles, moths, frogs, lizards and snakes (including one mamushi, a Japanese pit-viper). Spiff caught a young crow in the summer of 1999, though for a while it was unclear who had caught whom—particularly since he was subsequently attacked all day long by the irate parents, who even now hold a grudge against him. As the white hunter on Isla Nublar said, "They remember . . ." Apparently that adventure emboldened him to go after even larger game, since Spiff took on an automobile in the early winter of 1999. It broke his nose and lower jaw, but he lived to tell the tale. We rushed him to the vet, who was amazed that Spiff had survived at all. "Any impact big enough to give a cat a bloody nose usually renders it unconscious so that it's hit and killed by another part of the auto . . . " For several weeks Spiff had a stainless-steel wire holding his lower jaw together, and he lost quite a bit of weight, but he's now back to his irrascible self. In future, we've advised him to stick to mice. I suppose I don't mind the cats' catching mice, or even crows, but I'm ashamed to say Annie brought home a baby pheasant one day in 1998. We were not amused . . . To return to your previous location, use your browser's "BACK" button; alternately, click your heels together three times while saying, "there's no place like home" . . .

Green Gables: A Contemplative Companion to Fujino Township
by Norman Havens nhavens@gol.com
Updated: April 20, 2002

URL: http://www2.gol.com/users/nhavens/htmlfile/annie-e.html