The Cat Story- finally!

Innocent, cute farm kitty.

Well! After snapping some pictures of a benign looking cat at my sister's, this family history of cat lore, seems to not be so scary. However, the cat above did scare Gma just by being around the porch when she went to visit once, and it startled her so badly that she fell. She was lucky to not have broken her hip!

But I got the cat story out of the bag for all posterity, because many of us in the fam had it wrong.
While trying to get some shots of this useful, mouse catching cat above, I did encounter something scary on the farm/ranch.:

These gals ARE truly scary.

Beady, blank look in the eyes. And one mean peck.

As I snapped the pics of the innocent tabby,

these stealthy, menacing looking chicks

quietly

 walked up to me and before I knew it,
were with in an inch from pecking my feet and legs.

AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do you get them outta the way anyway? I shoo-ed them and screamed, then chased.
But they are curious and kept coming back after I had composed myself!

I promised to tell about the origins of why CATS make certain family members squimish- which I always thought originated from Padre's mother;

NOT talk about these egg laying chickens!

So!
Without any more delay I will relay the investigating and interviewing
process to get to the bottom of this CAT
deal we have.

Asking my Gma to tell me about the time that the "cat jumped on her head", she said: "Oh, Mandy, that didn't happen to me. It happened to my sister."

You're kiddin'? I said astonished. All this time I thought it was you who had a cat jump on your head when someone opened a door, or something
to that effect.

(come to find out, many of the other cousins thought the same thing.)

"No, that was Aunt Betty and she has the details that I can't remember.
 you'll have to call her."
It seemed sort of anti-climatic with all the hullabaloo surrounding
the story of how it all began!

One phone call to soutern Utah later -I had the gruesome details and it became
climatic again.

It had been a warm evening in the small town of Preston, Idaho. Neighborhood kids were out playing night games.
In the dark night,
Aunt Betty went to hide and as she passed under a high pitched roof onto a porch bearing a small light,
a boy, perched atop this roof, threw a cat onto her back.

Yes, THREW.
As you can imagine, the cat was as equally horrified as Betty, and thus, sunk its claws into her back so it could climb to the top of her head, where it assessed the situation,
then lowered itself

ONTO her face where it sunk its claws in once last time in an effort to jump
off her face
 to safety.

(my reaction inside upon hearing the story)
Aunty Betty, who was 7 or 8 ,went on to explain that she fell to the ground after this horrific experience, doesn't even remember the little shister's name who threw the cat,
and that  shortly afterward, she got up and ran home where they
tended to all of the wounds
on her body.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The sight and story obviously scared her 'lil sis, and
 scaredy cat syndrome was born.

"After that," Aunt Betty said in a matter of fact tone, "I didn't care much
for cats."

I don't blame you, Aunt Betty!
I don't think many cat lovers would blame you either!

So her little sister, with this monstrously mean prank in her brain; a fear implanted so deep, caused us to think it was heriditary;
had
to carry this fear
around
for a good 65 to 70 years now. 

For Padre, it's really just the fact that they are bothersome when they get in
your garden, sit on your flowers,
poop in the dirt where you weed the garden and flowers
and otherwise just get on Padre's nerves.

He shudders at the thought of their hair possibly getting into food,
a kid's mouth or collecting somewhere that he is.

To his great fortune,

There is now a law  that citizens can be fined here in I.F.
if
their tabbies cause destruction
to your yard.

It's new this year.

So, now cats will have to go against their instincts
to roam- like their ancestors
in Africa
and
settle on being house cats.

One last thing- little kittens were NOT released during Lil Sis'
wedding.