WELCOME HOME!

Welcome the newest addition to the Madjai family. His name is Ender. It's a poor picture, I know, but I promise to add a better one when my digital camera stops acting like a petulant stepchild. (listening to "Shy" by Ani DiFranco)

I was talking to Scorcho today online, and told him that I had to bail on him to go to my saturday ritual: Going to Petco to their "Last Hope" pet adoption day. I've been there a few times, and found kittens that I liked, but none of them had ever quite captured my attention like Ender. As I walked past his cage, he was napping. I walked around the corner of his little wire home and he perked up and looked up at me. I looked down at him, and knelt to get a closer look. He sat up, and extended a paw out of his cage. I couldn't help thinking that this was pretty strange behavior from a cat that must have seen dozens of kids sticking their chubby fingers in his cage all day. I let his paw come to rest on my finger, and he pulled it towards him. I rested my finger on the wire, and he nuzzled up against it, itching his whiskers on my outstretched finger. He and I spent a few moments like this, until he roller over on his back, a clear sign that he wanted his belly rubbed. Well, this was too much for me, so I asked one of the foster moms to come over and open his cage.

She came over, and little Ender walked over and allowed me to pick him up. I held him for a while, and he just laid on my arms, purring away, content with the world. I spoke to his foster mom for a while, and she told me that he loved to sit up on shoulders. So... of course I let him. As it turns out, she was right. He does indeed like the vantage point up there. After a while, I picked him off my shoulder, and moved to put him back in the cage. As he figured out what was going on, he turned around and latched his claws into my shirt, holding on to me for dear life. That was it for me. I was hooked. 20 minutes later, he was on his way home with me. He's now watching me blog from the top of the reclining chair back, staring at me as if to say, "Well, actlete, I'm home. What now?"

Good question, Ender. Let's find out.