Shadow, My Shadow

This is Shadow, the resident cat here at Chez Strategos. He is a complete the task master and fancies himself quite the creative director. He’s talkative, friendly, and quite fluffy. One could even say that he’s quite a handsome cat. Never mind the extra fluff on his head. If he looks a bit freaked, that’s because...

...when I went out to feed him this morning, he was on the roof!

This is a cat that generally comes when called and meows at your feet when he arrives. He meowed when I called his name alright. I didn’t find him though until I looked up and behind me. After I got the expletives and required photographs out of the way, it was time to get him down. 

Next to the backdoor, Shadow has a little house of his own with wobbly, uneven legs and a wide flat roof. I climbed on top and could get my hands over the gutter. He wouldn’t come close enough for me to grab him. The next step up was the porch railing. (Note to self: get a step ladder.) Running through my mind at this point was that scene in Dead Like Me where the woman is trying to coax a cat out of a tree with a can of food while standing on a fence post. Spoiler Alert, she slips and she dies. She was also dressed far better than I was in my hoodie, pajama pants and sock monkey slippers. All I could think was:

Oh God, I’m going to fall and die or be horribly injured and they’re going to find me hours from now wearing sock monkey slippers.

Then I climbed up on to the railing. I could actually reach Shadow now and he came over. Happy as he was too see me, he wasn’t particularly pleased when I grabbed him and lifted him over the edge. There was plaintive meowing and mad scrabble to latch his claws onto the gutters. You’d think he didn’t want to get down. After my third attempt to unhook him, I succeeded and stepped back down to the porch. Once Shadow was within a few inches of solid ground, he started purring instead of crying for his life. 

Then we both had breakfast and all was right in our little corner of the world. Still, I can’t help thinking that I could’ve died while wearing sock monkey slippers. Truth be told, I’m still wearing them. They’re comfy, warm, and rather cute. So it wouldn’t have been all bad, you know, except for the dying part. That would suck.