"So," more than a few people write me to say, "what's up with those cats you feed in your backyard?" Well, they're all fine. Lydia (not pictured this time) kind of lives out there 24/7, departing only when the pool guy or the gardeners come by. Once the intruders depart her yard, she reclaims her rightful place as its monarch.
Murphy shows up about once a day whenever she feels like it and just howls and howls. I have been awakened around sun-up by the sound of her out there, demanding that I get up and put out food for her. I do this whenever I'm good and ready, which is often more like 10 AM. She howls before I feed her. She howls after I feed her. I never know what the hell she wants. Here's a photo I took of Murphy earlier today…
We also have occasional guest stars out there. The cat below has turned up out back more than a few times and I have no idea if it's a he or a she or where he or she comes from or who else feeds him or her. Someone must. As you can see, he or she has a tag but there's no way he or she will ever let me get close enough to find out his or her gender, let alone read that tag. I had about two seconds to take this photo before he/she sprinted off…
I'm calling this one The Mystery Cat, although I could have hung that moniker on about thirty others since I first turned my yard into a Hometown Buffet for homeless felines. You'll notice that The Mystery Cat and Murphy have pretty much the same expression on their faces. This is the way all feral cats seem to look…or at least, how they look at me. It's also the way I look when I watch the current President of the United States. I sometimes feel like sprinting away, too.