I couldn’t believe my ears. Then I heard it again; it was my
cat. There’s nothing too strange about
hearing him; except that he NEVER comes in the back of the house. Well, almost
never; at least not for about 3 years now. And, he has a good reason.
It was almost 3 years ago that Midnight took his celebrated
solo flight attached to the talons of a local hawk. The backyard at that time
was not as well developed as it is now, and many of the neighbors hadn’t even
planted a tree or erected a fence yet. So, the back was basically on long open
field, long enough to land a small plane on. This is exactly what the hawk must
have thought when he swooped down and grabbed Midnight.
Midnight has always been well fed, in spite of his somewhat
haggard appearance. He has always gotten his tuna twice daily and some dry food
is always in the bowl on the porch for him, along with his water. So he has
never really been a lightweight. This point was proved when the hawk was forced
to abandon his dinner about 3 houses down and 20 feet up. This meant that
Midnight was about to go down 20 feet. It’s all relative to where you are at
the moment.
So, down he came with a torn ear; the last grasp of the
hawk’s talons desperately trying to hold on to his dinner. And, until the other
evening, Midnight has refused to go back there again. This is why I was so
surprised to hear his distinctive meow coming from beneath an old picnic bench
which Sue uses to pot her plants.
He came out when I went to him, but he wasn't keen on hanging
around for long. He was there on a mission. He usually comes home for dinner at
about 5 o’clock. It was pushing 7 when he finally showed up looking for his
tuna. So, he came around the house and caught my ear. Then we both walked back
up front for his dinner. But as we crossed the back yard I did notice that he
stuck awfully close to both the house and me.
Here is a song by
Steve Earle which is probably pretty close to how the hawk feels when he’s up
there. It’s from the 2008 album “Washington Square Serenade” by Steve Earle.
Midnight generally likes his stuff, just not this song.
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