2/12/07 The Visitors

My house has, inexplicably, become the new neighborhood cat meeting place. In the last few days, my yard has been overrun with cats that I have not seen before. A week ago, I watched a black cat calmly saunter through my backyard without a care in the world. Three nights ago, Tony found two different cats laying on our back porch, conversing calmly with Mason, who was on the screened-in porch. Later we saw a calico and a black and white cat walking down our driveway together. Two nights ago, I arrived home to find an orange and white striped cat sitting on my front porch. (When he saw me pull up, he gave several loud meows and then moseyed down the sidewalk, across the driveway, and around the side of the house. Last night, I drove into my driveway and spotted the black and white cat laying under my Japanese Maple. She didn't move when I pulled up. She didn't move when I got out. She didn't move when I walked within two feet of her on my way to the front door. She just watched me with a faintly bored expression. I'm a cat person, but it's kind of bizarre that all these cats that I've never seen before have all suddenly appeared. It reminds me of the very first Harry Potter where Professor McGonagall sat on the wall in cat form. These cats all seem to act like they have a reason for being at my house. I wonder what they know that I don't.