Light Notes: Cat finds ‘love nest’ in bluebird capital Bickleton
Can a cat find true love? A tomcat known to roam on nightly rounds, often courting mischief?
In spite of a few flaws — and engaged claws — one particular feline knew how to turn on the charm, even if at first there didn’t seem to be much allure.
“He might be a nice cat, but he comes with hair,” said Ada Ruth Whitmore of Bickleton, remembering her firm words to a daughter-in-law looking to place her late grandma’s kitty. “And we didn’t want all that hair. We’ve been through it with all our kids — so many kids and cats.”
All told she and husband Lawrence have born and bred five kids, each with a cat or two multiplying over the years — not to mention a crippled piglet that thought an open door was an invite, a couple of baby skunks missing a mama, and no shortage of various sized dogs. Add up that menagerie of kids and pets over time and it can leave a house echoing once they’re all gone.
“We lost one cat to old age and the others to coyotes,” said Ada Ruth, lamenting how cats skip a few of their nine lives on the ranch. “Now we don’t even have any more dogs to love on and so we said “yes” to the cat.”
A very reluctant “yes” at that, but then Mr. McGreagor waltzed in one day like a breath of fresh air, spring in his step.
“Now I wasn’t really happy about another animal at this stage of our lives,” said Ada Ruth about taking in the cat at their ages, 85 and Lawrence’s 87. “But we fell in love with him right off the bat. He was so smart.”
You might call it love at first sight. In a “wink” the big orange feline was cozying up to the retired wheat farmer and his wife, filling an empty lap at a moment’s notice.
“He took to me right off, but he’ll give me up for Ada Ruth,” said Lawrence about Mr. McGreagor’s finicky attitude. “Probably because he knows where the grub comes from. I just scratch his ears and rub his back.”
But like any honeymoon, some are shorter than others.
“He’s a good housecat,” said Ada Ruth, remembering his foray into the garden one day, “But the first thing he brought to our door was one of our bluebirds.”
Not a good thing to folks who live in a town billed the “Bluebird capital of the world,” a place where bluebirds nesting in the spring is revered.
Nevertheless, unconditional love — letting bygones be bygones — is part of any lasting relationship. In next to no time, Mr. McGreagor was on their good side and sleeping on the couch soon after; generally the place where one party in a falling-out ends up before all is forgiven.
“He leaves hair on every chair and daveno in our house,” Ada Ruth said, speaking about a habit not worth fighting about or losing sleep over. “We bought some towels to cover them, but he likes to have them washed often as he likes to sleep on something that smells nice and clean.”
It seems when Mr. McGreagor’s happy, everybody’s happy … except when the furry fat cat roams at night. On the Whitmore ranch, the howl of a coyote can be as close as the backyard.
“I get up and I ring the bell three times — got to time it right, spaced far enough apart so he hears it — and he comes running,” Ada Ruth said, her nights interrupted by worry, something she doesn’t mind a bit if it’ll keep Mr. McGreagor with them longer.
Caring about another just comes naturally to this couple who have been married for 68 years.
“I was looking out the window in study hall and I turned and saw her and I winked,” Lawrence said with a mischievous grin, remembering the beginnings of their Bickleton High School romance.
The moment is as fresh and sweet as a cat’s saucer of cream.
“It still makes me blush to think about it,” said Ada Ruth, reaching for Law-rence’s weathered hand, her smile easy, thoughts taking her back to only yesterday.
From love at first wink to years gone in a blink, Ada Ruth and Lawrence Whitmore took their marriage vow “until death do we part” to mean just that — forever through thick and thin.
True love.
Exactly what a big orange cat was looking for.
If you have a Light Notes story, contact Lucy Luginbill: 509-551-2191; lluginbill@tricityherald.com;
Twitter: @LucyLuginbill
This story was originally published October 4, 2015 at 1:23 AM with the headline "Light Notes: Cat finds ‘love nest’ in bluebird capital Bickleton."