Wild About Nature Blog

Cloud was a stray.  One of those barn-cats that wanders in during a dark and stormy night and meows so pitifully that you can’t resist letting them inside.  We called him Cloud because his appearance reminded us of a cloud leopard.  After attending to all the necessary veterinary ministrations, we set about finding a home for him.  A few weeks later, he moved into the city of Minneapolis and received a new name - Jack.

That was years past.  But not long ago, Kenton and I had the pleasure of meeting Cloud again.  We visited his home, and were able to watch him in his new environs.  He’s still allowed to go outside, but he sticks mainly to the small enclosed yard outside his house.  Though not always a successful hunter, his owner jokes that  “If he could, Jack would dine only on ‘Breast of Cardinal’.”

It was curious to see a country cat living in the city.  He once had a nearly endless landscape as his wandering ground.  Now his territory is composed of a space so small that you could walk its breadth in less than ten seconds.  And yet, Cloud remains out there for hours, chasing leaves, climbing trees, sniffing the ground, and eyeing the songbirds that flitter from branch to branch.  Watching him, we were reminded that nature is everywhere.

Nature has this magical way of re-establishing itself in the most unlikely places, whether it’s some grass pushing up through a crack in a sidewalk, a funnel-spider making its lair in an old aluminum can, or a feral cat finding plenty of ‘wildness’ in the space of a small city lot.  It’s nice to remember that we can look for nature everywhere we go - there are always wonderful surprises in wait for us.

Posted on April 4th, 2009 by Rebecca Whitman
Filed under: Nature Inspiration