I Feel Safe

I may be living that ancient Chinese curse. 🙂 The Scallop Season began cold, very cold. Then the temperature soared and the winds arrived with lots of rain. Today we’re heading back into sub-zero territory. Just in case we get bored.

Very early (3:00 am) on the morning the boats were to head out on their first day of dragging for scallops I got up to check on the wood stove and realized I had left it too long. So, I restarted it and went out to the sun porch to enjoy the lights of Eastport before heading back to bed. I did all this in the dark because I didn’t really want to wake up. Keep this in mind while I tell you what happened next.

At the far end of the room is a tall cat tree. Ciaran headed that way and within seconds a fight broke out. A serious, snarling, hissing, growling fight. This was a surprise for 2 reasons; there were no other animals (as far as I knew) in the room, and a mouse hunt (assuming that’s what it was) is always silent.

It took less than 1 minute for 3 shadows to pass me and join in the battle. All three of the other cats (yes, including the kitten) had arrived as reinforcements. The growling, snarling, hissing, etc., escalated – and I was now standing up but had still not turned on a light. Then Fish arrived. He joined in and he’s really mean. The noise level was incredible.

That corner of the room was pitch black. I couldn’t see any of them or even any movement. I remember thinking that whatever it was that was willing to tangle with that many angry teeth and claws had to be of considerable size. Was there a raccoon in my house? Frankly, I didn’t want to know. I trusted my troops to take care of it.

Then everything went silent. I finally turned on the light and watched as Fish calmly left the room to go sleep in his bed next to the wood stove. Blink went to find something to eat. The two older cats sniffed at a spot on the floor and Ciaran climbed up the cat tree and announced he was “King of the Tower”. There was no evidence of any intruder. I went to bed taking comfort in the knowledge that my Garrison will protect this Castle.