June 2012: Candes-St.Martin, confluent of the Loire River and the Vienne.

Wednesday, 6 April 2011

Mystery cat ... or cat mystery?

Moving into a new home also means moving into a new neighbourhood and getting used to new views. In my case the change is minimal, as I only moved 50 metres up the road. So the view from my window is practically the same as it was before. Except that I’m now one story up, where I used to live on the ground floor before. This gives me a bird’s eye view of the area.

The main difference, however, is the two story apartment building across the road. As it’s situated slightly to the right from where I live, it’s impossible to look straight inside, but I can see when somebody or something is moving by the windows.

The other day I saw a nice white cat snoozing in the sun on the windowsill of the first floor apartment on the left side of the building. It seemed to enjoy the warmth of the sun and was lying there peacefully, until it was disturbed by something. A split second later it was jumping up and down clawing with its front paws in the air, in an attempt to catch what I guess must have been a fly that was buzzing over its head. It was a delightful little scene and I stayed and watched it for several minutes, until the cat got tired of chasing the fly. Or maybe the fly got away, out of reach of the cat.




Photo: courtesy google images.

The next day, at about the same hour the cat was back, snoozing on the same windowsill. It lay there for well over an hour, until the man who lives in the apartment pulled down the blinds.

During the next two days there was no sign of the white cat. And then, on the third day, it suddenly reappeared. Not in its usual place though, but on the windowsill of the ground floor apartment on the right side of the building. It followed its usual ritual: lying in the sun and snoozing. From time to time it sat upright, looking out of the window, watching the traffic in a rather aloof way, as if it was extremely bored by what the outside world had to offer.

I was beginning to wonder about the cat’s real home. Was it the first floor apartment or rather the one on the ground floor? Or maybe it was THE resident cat that roamed through the whole building, in an attempt to keep the mice population under control. The latter seemed to be the most likely solution, although the building looks too clean and well kept to be infested by rodents.

And then, yesterday the mystery was solved … Any idea what the outcome is?

8 comments:

Mark said...

You're so mean! You always leave these little cliff hangers at the end of your posts. I would have no idea about this little mystery. But if I had to guess... Because it's the same time everyday, perhaps someone comes in to assist someone else and puts the cat out of the apartment. Am I close?
Don't leave me waiting too long for the answer. m.

Olga said...

Throughout two and a half years, one sneaky cat ate in two of my friends' houses. I'm glad your move went well.

The Beaver said...

The cat belongs to the janitor on the ground floor. The first floor must be either empty or the janitor or someone/repairman is working inside the apt and the cat followed him there during those first two days

Autolycus said...

Two cats that just happen to look alike?

Leon and Sue Sims said...

Cats create their own home and allow you to look after it for them. Its the way of cats.

Carolyn said...

I'll be thinking about this overnight and will have to check your blog first thing tomorrow for the solution.

Word verification is "rocato"--short for roaming cat. Is that a clue?

Jean said...

Cats are very good at having more than one home - its owner may be out some days so it moves to its second home. I don't know how they get away with it, but they do !!

ladybird said...

Sorry to have kept you waiting ... especially as one of you guessed the right answer. There are indeed TWO almost identical cats! Congratulations Autolycus!

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