The Feral Familiars

One of my daily guilty pleasures is caring for the feral cats that have come to treat the Jack the Spruce Grotto of Casa Claire as their home and/or oasis where they can find safety and sustenance.

I’ve always had house cats even when I had dogs. In the Bronx my stray black familiar, Lucky, lived with me into her teens and bore Bronx kittens that made their way west with Luke and I out to NoCo.

Hemingway’s Cats – The Wise Novelist

They are all buried out on Boot Hill in the back of Casa Claire.

My Bronx dogs lasted through Phoeby, Jeter and Blue who have, over the past decade, also found their final rest on Boot Hill, along with Maeve and Cairo, who were Luke’s huge family dogs from the Bronx.

Even The Rescued Fur Family Gets In The Literary Act – The Wise Novelist

When Blue passed, Lisa understandably said, “no more.” It was just too painful to repeatedly love and lose.

It killed me not to have fur family sentient familiars around me, but I begrudgingly respected Lisa’s wishes.

Strange thing was that after Blue passed I stopped writing.

I just lost my spark.

But the universe had other plans.

One night a few years back, I flicked on the front porch light and spotted this grey ghost sitting quite comfortably on the front porch like she owned the place. Respect.

So, I stole one of Lisa’s cans of tuna fish and went outside to offer it to my visitor. She loved it and decided to stick around. After a few more cans of tuna, Lisa finally let on she was onto the secret and named our visitor “Smokey” due to her color. (Many have wrongly concluded that Smokey was named after young Jimmy McCarthy – read Finding Jimmy Moran – but that nickname had long vanished before Jimmy met Gina). A few days later the huge insulated and heated Black Bunker arrived from Amazon,

And I was instructed set it up under the JTS canopy. Smokey had found her home.

Over time, word spread among the feral cats and barn cats in the area that Casa Claire ran a soup kitchen for wayward felines. You just had to ask Smokey’s permission,

And Smokey insisted that the Black Bunker was too large for just one cat, so Lisa bought Smokey another sturdy fully heated unit that was more suited to Miss Nibbs – and had me set it up on the other side of the JTS canopy so that Smokey could see who was entering from the driveway.

And the Black Bunker evolved into a Vacation Let that accommodates whatever visiting strays are looking for an extended stay.

Many have spent the night. Mittens a.k.a. Mike, was a long-term resident.

And while the fluid gatherings don’t quite constitute a colony,

Do feral cats stick together? – The Institute for Environmental Research and Education

The local ferals all know that they are welcome to come and go, or hang and congregate, for the same reasons that ferals colonize – safety, food and shelter. After all, it’s a dangerous world out there.

I’ve even sat for a deathwatch for one who I thought was ready to cross the veil – but didn’t.

Whitey AKA Lazarus – The Wise Novelist

Indeed, the feral food service here at Casa Claire has expanded to the extent that I easily go through 60 cans of Fancy Feast – the expensive food of choice among the ferals – in five days. When you factor in what I spend on Claire and Honey and the Beagle Brothers my fur family food budget far exceeds what Lisa and I spend to feed ourselves by a factor of four.

Anyway, over the years since Smokey arrived in the JTS Grotto, many others have followed her through the JTS Grotto entrance way. They come and go, as vagabond feral cats tend to do, and while I have only become emotionally attached to the hostess, Smokey, I deeply care for all of her guests and enjoy when they lose their fear of me and allow me to pet them during dining hours.

It’s gotten to the point that the ferals know that when I come outside around 3 am to bring the Beagle Brothers to the Toyota for their nocturnal walkies, the ferals just hide amongst the brush and statues until we pass either coming and going, and once we’re through, return to their meals. I always feed the feral cats first thing when I wake up.

Smokey’s latest crew are two barn cats from across the road, who I’m sure have given names but who I refer to as Midnight – a beautiful bushy Black male familiar – who has made himself quite at home in the safety of the JTS Grotto:

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1975RwUxBA/

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1F84t5Svuo/

And the much more-shy, fluffy cream-colored creature that I have dubbed Old Deuteronomy – borrowed from the namesake coined by CS Lewis –

Old Deuteronomy – Wikipedia

Who rarely appears in daylight but never misses the midnight mealtime.

I spend a lot of time cat-watching, and I can tell that Smokey favors Midnight, even allowing him to spend afternoons sleeping on her grotto’s bench. She checks on him to make sure he’s comfortable.

And once satisfied, leaves him to his rest.

And it warms my heart to see these creatures enjoying the safe space, food and comfort.

Someday I hope that they become as famous as another writer’s felines:

The Legendary Felines of Ernest Hemingway: Unveiling the Names and Stories of His Beloved Cats – JustCatCafe

And I have been on the lookout for my first polydactyl.

I already have his beard.

Anna The Barber – A Writer’s Beard – The Wise Novelist

But first, I need to get my name out there as a writer.

And this is where my fine, five readers can help by spreading the word over my existing works –

Marketing 101 – AI – Read the Claire Saga to Get Ready for Free R.A.D.I.C.A.L. and Spark of Faith – The Wise Novelist

Which hopefully will lead potential readers to pick up the two wonderful and quite different novels that are dropping during the first half of 2027.

If these latest two leap out of the gate as best sellers, I might be able to talk Lisa into letting me add another heated multi-cathouse I’ve had an eye on for a spot I’ve already selected under JTS:

https://a.co/d/0arVxhy1

Instead of just sneaking another addition to my whimsical sign collection

Signs – The Wise Novelist

Well, here we are again at another biblically mandated day of rest.

You fine, five readers take advantage of the resting mandate – it’s part of your First Amendment-Free Exercise Clause right.

But that doesn’t mean you need to do nothing – grab a book and read. It can be quite restful.

And no matter what else you get to, make today a great one.

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