Advice from Prison

My constant correspondent, Leonard Pickard, who is serving two consecutive life sentences in federal prison, offered me very good advice about the cat and bird game. He wrote, “Next time, remove cat first.”

All I can say to that is: “Duh!”

This is evidence that I’ve never owned a pet or lived in a house with one before this moment.

But I wonder if I could have removed the cat. She’s a nasty creature. When I first moved here, I let her sit on my bed in the morning when I wrote. She snuggled up to my leg and I petted her, enjoying that low rev motor of her purr, the very picture of what I wanted as a young girl when I was desperate for a cat, or any pet, really.

I reached over to stroke her, and she swiped at me. She drew blood!

As her owner, the owner of The Barn Michael Hamman says, “Pet her and pull back a bloody stump.”

Makes me think, I might be the one lying stunned on the deck had I tried to drag her out of the living room.

The bell is to warn humans, as well as birds