Crazy Cat Lady

12 Sept 2011

CRAZY CAT LADY

It occurs to me that I'm the "crazy cat lady," even if I don't fall into the confines of the age of your typical "cat lady," and I have only two cats. This occurs to me now in post-action thought. I heard Boy open his window and say "go home!" and the tickling of an animal license. I put down my personal journal, put on my shoes and glasses, picked up Hubby's bb gun from childhood, and calmly walked out the front door to face the intruding animal. The Boy said through his window, "It's up by the R.V." so I walked slowly in up our driveway, following the young Retriever-looking dog (I thought it was going to be the older one that has laid its excrement at the foot of our stairs before), hating the fact that owners do not properly train their animals, which to me shows an active lack of care for the animal.

I have posted very clearly "Private Property – No Trespassing" signs on the property, in which I clarify "Animals or people" for the benefit of literate folk and neighbors who let their pets run free. I also stated enforcement.

So there I was, wearing my Christmas, snowmen on candy-cane skiing pajamas, carrying the bb gun, hoping that the poor dog would just go away and that I wouldn't have to shoot at it. My wish was granted, but not before it peed on some stuff outside my barn by our huge burn pit (where we roast hotdogs and make s'mores!). I lamented that this poor animal isn't cared for enough to be trained while it's still a puppy. It also occurred to me that if anyone saw me (other than my son, who was watching out of his window), that a woman with frizzy-curly hair wearing pajamas and toting a bb gun would not only be a comical sight, but possibly a little scary in the "Crazy Cat Lady" sense.

Here I sit, with slight vibrations of left-over "fight" chemicals running through my body, trying to work them out through my finger-tips. I've been attacked by dogs multiple times, and NEVER because of intending them any harm. One time was when I thought the stray we brought home when I was 7-years-old should get some of the mac n' cheese that our own big malamute was hogging; the malamute disagreed with me trying to make him share and bit me-- the scar on my brow that he left cannot be hidden! Another time was playing with the same malamute (his name was "King Tut" and was a very good dog, despite these incidences), and he jumped up (as dogs who play do) and tagged my eye with his very large claw. I was still 7-years-old. I had to wear an eye patch for a while, and was very lucky that I didn't lose my eye over that incident (I heard the doctor say so). Thankfully, there was no lasting damage to that eye. Another incident, a different dog and location all together, was when I walked up to the door of our neighbors to see if they (the children) could come out to play with me. Their dog attacked me, grabbing onto my left elbow and hung on while I swung my arm spastically while screaming. I think there's a scar for that one, too.

Now it might seem that since I've just chased a dog off the property (without having to fire the bb gun, thank you) and have written these brief stories about previous instances that left scarring, I should be a dog-hater. I am more afraid of un-trained dogs, than just dogs in general. And even well trained dogs can hurt by accident, as is the case w/ my parents' little ugly dog, who hurt my daughter's eyeball when the dog jumped up on the bed to greet my daughter. It was an accident. No lasting damage, but you would not believe the kind of color changes the "whites" of the eye undergoes after an injury like that! It took about 2-3 months, and parents at my daughter's school glared at me as if I had done some horrendous thing. It was a snobbish school with "money" people anyway, but still.

The thing is, I do like animals. I like animals more than people, because people supposedly are able to think and reason. I've seen animals of various sorts display more consciousness and apparent "decision making" than I've seen in some people! There's a "big fat dumb dog"-- a chocolate lab that I walked years ago-- who won my heart over when he walked into a light post while checking out a poodle during one of the walks. How can that not be endearing? I grin at the memory. He's a good dog, even if his greeting of Hubby has consistently been that of nailing Hubby hard in the balls! Heheheheheh, every time! But that's funny.

It's been said that it is-- unreasonable-- of me to expect other people's pets to not cross or come on to my property. I think it's a perfectly reasonable request, as I own animals and they do not cross people's property. Perhaps it's just unreasonable to expect other people to care about their animals (or children, for that matter) enough to train them and protect them.

Perhaps the next time a person's animal comes on my property to 'relieve' itself, I'll go onto the animal owner's property to relieve myself (didn't that work in Me, Myself and Irene?). I do not expect more out of others than I expect of myself; I am, in fact, too lenient.

"History has proven that mankind never learns from his mistakes," which I also take to mean that not all people will train their children and animals, which also means other people's pets will cross my property. Guess that means I just have to remain being the "Crazy Cat Lady," and take it upon myself to protect me and mine.

~Cedeham~