A doorway into summer

Affectionately known as Doggy.  Don't ask why.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Door_into_Summer

If you have never read this little gem by the late and very RAH, you should. It is a product of some of his softer, gentler fiction where the good guy gets the girl, saves his cat and lives happily ever after at the end. I enjoyed reading it as a kid and still love this book many many moons later in my middle years.

The reason this book came to mind this morning was because of the aforementioned cat in the book. The cat has a habit in the middle of winter of wandering to each door leading outside and demanding it be opened. The Cat is convinced that if enough doors are open, he will find a door back to the bright warm sunshine of summer. No matter how many times those doors are opened, he remains convinced that he will find what he loves.

Above is a picture of one of my five cats whose name is Ferrari. (BTW he is named for a cactus not the car. All but one of our 7 pets have plant based names. Didn't start out that way, but that is how it wound up.) He and his brother were “gifts” to us from a small feral Calico we rescued from outside. My wife always says she never wanted pets and certainly never wanted 5 cats and two dogs. “Those are your animals” is what she would always tell me. The only problem with her statement is no one told Ferrari. Since the time this bright orange tabby could see and walk, he decided that my wife was HIS person and has been absolutely devoted to her since.

We have recently moved across the country (Okay Eastern Seaboard) to a brand new house that is three levels of awesome. The Master Bedroom is on the top floor and we keep it closed up most of the time because one of our cats does not like the others so the top floor is hers exclusively. The only time the doors are open upstairs is when the other five cats are shut up in the lowest level for the night.

Ferrari is well aware that his Momma sleeps up there and spends a lot of time up there on her laptop. So he is convinced that she is behind those closed doors even when she is away at work. Every single morning after I let the Basement cats out to be in the rest of the house, he will trot up the stairs to the top floor and spend at least an hour or so Meowing at the top of his lungs for Momma to come out and play. Now I know the cat is bright enough to have learned her routine since he sees her come through the front door every afternoon, but deep down he is hopeful that if he sits and waits patiently at the door, she will miraculously appear to play and scratch him. I doubt that anything will ever change tha.

Sometimes I think the whole world would be better off if we all learned to have even a fraction of the hope, love and devotion of our dogs and cats. Ferrari keeps hoping for that “Door into Summer” and as the hero of the book ponders at the end, maybe one day he might just find it.

Brew Long and Prosper