My unexpected Eid/Christmas/Birthday/Insert-Holiday-Here Present

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As my friend Barbara who is responsible for this new addition to my life has already described events better than I could, as I wasn't there, I'm going to quote from her narrative and my reply from her blog, Tigers and Strawberries. Besides, I should be working on my Sunnipath homework and I'm stalling so I ought be brief!

I'll get pictures soon, inshallah - or I'll try to if they sit still long enough : )

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... Saturday morning, we went out to eat at another restaurant–Jana’s–and had a great breakfast. We came out, and Zak and I got Kat strapped in her carseat, we jumped in our seats, and Zak turned on the engine. Right then, the sound of a great, piteous mewling filled our ears, and we were sure that a cat had gotten trapped in our engine.

He turned off the car, I jumped out of my seat, and out from under the car next to us–which was still unoccupied–popped a little tortoiseshell kitten head. She bounded out, and put her paw immediately on my knee, and mewed and purred. She was skinny, and had fleas, and ear mites, and was much younger than the two kittens from the night before–but she was adorable and friendly.

Well, so I thought. As I walked back across the street to Jana’s to ask if they knew if she belonged to someone, we passed two fishermen, whom the kitten tried to run from, and two old ladies coming out of the restaurant who scared her, too. Jana said she thought it had been dropped off–it seems to happen often out where the restaurant is–so I told Zak to call our vet who often fosters cats and finds them homes. The office was closed. Then, we drove the mile to another local vet office where we have had good dealings–but they were closed, too.

By now, the kitten was curled in my arms, purring mightily, and Zak and I had resigned ourselves to at least taking her in our home until we could find her another set of parents. She was charming, gorgeous and sweet.

And then it dawned on me. Heather wanted a friend for her first kitten.

So, we called her.

And we dropped by.

And the kitten has a new Mommy.

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To which I replied...

I am the recipient of the tortoise - she is indeed sweet and affectionate, and is getting along like gangbusters with my first kitten, Meep - also rescued, but not by Barbara. They’re very close to the same age and zoom around like crazed furballs, chasing each other, wresting and biting - the kinds of kitten play Meep desperately wanted from me that my tender human skin can’t handle!

The new kitten is named Amma, which I took primarily from the Arabic for mother - umm - a word closely related to ‘community’ (ummah) and ‘beloved’ (amat). And of course this basic word/sound is found in many other languages with similar maternal meanings, even in languages not closely related linguistically, which I think is pretty cool.

I wouldn’t be surprised if Barbara isn’t grooming me to be the next cat-lady-in-training, once she gets her official Weird Cat Lady union card I’m gonna need a bigger house.

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I think I've got plenty of cats now. No, really, I'm done. I can stop whenever I want. Really.