The Tractor and the Cat

Since our Back Forty is a rather large area, we needed a work horse to help us but the powers that be in this fair city would no doubt frown on the notion of us having a real horse.  So we got the next best thing:  the animal that runs like a deer.  We house it in a very nice shed with flower boxes under the windows and curtains with tractor motifs on the inside.

This is how it happened almost eight years ago:  We went to the tractor store and looked around at all the tractors and equipment.  Would they assemble the tractor for us?  Of course.  Would they load it up on the trailer?  Of course.

While waiting for the staff to finish up with the tractor, I looked around and came upon a large cardboard box in the middle of the store.  Hmm.  What's in it?  At the bottom of the box lay the smallest kitten I have ever seen.  She was sleeping but I picket her up and put her on my shoulder close to my face.  I have never heard such load purring from such a small kitten.  I told the girls behind the counter that the kitten was mine.  Of course.

Initially, she loved to be outside but found the shelter inside a whole lot better than the wilderness beyond the porch.  She won't go to the garden unless my husband and I are both out there with her.  She loves to check out the plants; find shade among the foliage; and lap up the morning dew from the leaves.

We make our rounds with her, checking in on the goldfish in the pond and the ducks and turtles in the "scenic creek."  We make mental notes of the work that needs to be done while we wait for her to do her own investigation.

I have taken over cutting the grass with the tractor and I have hauled tree limbs and garden debris to the curb for yard pick up.  The waste management workers have scratched their heads many times in wonderment:  Where does she get all that debris?  They have told me that I do keep them employed.

Since I now use the tractor exclusively, guess who the cat is snuggling up with nowadays?  You should hear the conversations in the mornings before she gets fed!  My husband never talks to me like that; well, it's been a long time since he told me I was cute.

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