GRENDEL AND ME (0907)

Bernie Moore

I was talking to Grendel the other day. His eyes were locked on the flower garden, as mine were looking to the brilliant blue sky we have been enjoying these last few days. Since cats are mostly colorblind I wasn’t about to comment of the beauty of the sky with just color as the main theme, yet, it was impressive. There must have been an arrhythmic scratching emanating from the flower bed, ‘cause he froze and rendered his high alert: frozen body, eyes fixed, ears pointed, tail sharply in a partial twitch. False alarm; he reverts back to DEFCON 2, and I ask him,

“Why do you spend so much time staring into the weeds?” (Which hitherto for I referred to as the flower garden.)

He ignored me, as he usually does when I question his motives for anything, preferring to think anything he does is exemplary feline behavior. Then as condescendingly as he could he gave me the why do you stare at the sky look.

“Hawks,” I replied recalling a few weeks when I was watching the circling raptors in the distant sky. They were circling ever closer and closer, and I was enjoying the improving view of these magnificent predators forgetting about Grendel who was laid out on the lawn fixed on the sounds coming from the weeds.

I was mesmerized until one of the hawks slid out of the trees and silently and rapidly, cruising our street at about 20ft watching the black morsel in the grass.

“Hey,” I shouted.

Really! I couldn’t think of anything else. I stood during this brief discourse as the hawk screed and turned up and away.

Grendel never looked up. Such concentration! He weighs eleven pounds, not very big in the world of Toms, and I don’t know what the hawk weighed, but he had an impressive wing span, perhaps just a bit shy of my own. Cats can be ferocious combatants, but I suspect with a couple of sets of talons in his spine a lot of spunk would have left him.

Alas! I digress.

I was going to tell you about staring into the sky and seeing a large boiling cloud roiling about and convoluting into itself. It was so dense it was gray.The sheer intensity of the action brought a Stephen King setting to mind, and I was totally prepared to enter one of his stories. But first some data: What direction? Looking at the western edge I noticed it was moving in that direction. Checking the eastern side for confirmation (good reporters need two sources) I was surprised to see it was moving east too. North…that too. And finally south. Now this is getting confusing.

Gradually, as I watched the cloud proceeding in all directions, some seventh grade science kicked in: Brilliant blue sky + cool temperature = high pressure system which tends to draw the cool air from high and bring it to ground.

The high pressure system was forcing the cloud toward me rapidly, and as it approached, the intensity waned and it got pale and soon faded into the still brilliant sky. Fifty four years out of seventh grade and I see what you meant Mr. Ahearn. Sorry it took so long.

But then again how many have been assailed on their front porch by a cloud?

It might not have been such a big deal were it not for the fact that in the last month I have found my first (1) scorpion fish, (2) red candy stripe crab, (3) sea horse, cleaning station with crabby cleaners, and lettuce slug. Taken together, I am impressed how much more there is to see every day.

Someone advised that we should stop and smell the roses…But there are four other senses.

My pictures can be seen at: http://www.photo.net/photos/Bernie Moore