Two Seaside Cats
posted in Cat Stories |A few days ago we had a trip to Whitby, a popular seaside/fishing resort on the north east coast of England, in the beautiful county of North Yorkshire. One of it’s many attractions is the ruined abbey on the cliff top and the 199 steps you can climb to get to it.
Not for the faint hearted I have to say, but quite spectacular if you make the effort. You can of course approach from a different direction, thus avoiding the climb, but that’s for wimps.
Every so often there is a bench so that those intrepid travelers, not in the first flush of youth, can catch their breaths, and that’s what I was doing.
Sat behind the bench, but above it and just out of reach, on the scrubby cliff face was a ginger cat with a blue collar. Eyes closed, relaxing in the sun of an Autumn afternoon.
No amount of effort by me, or any of the other passers-by could persuade him to move, or even open his eyes.
After a moment or two I heard the un-mistakable sound of a dog approaching. Looking back, I don’t actually know exactly what I heard, but whatever it was, the cat heard it too.
For a split second I saw alarm on his face, but this soon changed when he realised the dog was on a lead, perfectly well behaved, and no threat to his sunbathing.
His face took on an expression that can only be described as sheer contempt. In fact if looks could kill, the dog would have dropped where it stood, and been dead before it hit the ground. Yes, it was that bad, and all done without disturbing his sunbathing position.
In short I have never in my life seen a cat with such an expressive face. You were in no doubt as to exactly what he was thinking.
Later on the same day we came upon another cat. White with green eyes, and he was very different. Friendly, affectionate and purring. Don’t you just love cats, and their different personalities.
How nice it is to be a cat at the seaside.
