I know I said I'd blog about the cat, so here she is.  Meet Scamper, our calico cat that we adopted from the Guilford County Animal Shelter.  We saw her beautiful picture on their website, and picked her up the same day.  Scamper is the best-behaved cat I've ever owned, and gets along beautifully with the 2,000 books and 500 lbs of rocks, and with us. 

Scamper is my second successful adoption through Guilford County Animal Shelter.  I had a beautiful Akita-Border Collie mix named Tessa for about 8 years who was completely trained, and the best dog a person could ever want.  Sadly, she passed away on Dec. 7, 2005.  My ex-husband and dear friend wrote a little song about Tessa, because she was like a little sentinel, always guarding and watching, but always obedient and sweet.  Here's the lyrics to his song about Tessa:

Outside there's a soldier who watches and waits,
She snoozes in shadows and watches the gate,
My stuff may not be worth much, but her heart palpitates
When I tell her she's guarded it well.

Home, little soldier, I'm home,
I'm home little soldier, I'm home,
I'm home little soldier, come waggle and lick,
For I'm home little soldier, I'm home.

Bring mud from the ditch where you played with your stick,
Leave pawprints on clothes so dark and so thick
That washing them twice simply won't do the trick
I am home, little soldier, I'm home.
 - by Herbert L. Vaughn

He sang that to Tessa as we had to put her to sleep.  Like so many pets, she was part of the family, and we miss her greatly.  Our lives were enriched beyond our wildest expectations because of Tessa, and we adopted her on an impulse that our golden retriever, Sadie, might need a pal. 

If you're thinking about getting a pet for the holidays, go adopt.  You'll be saving a little life from the Hot Shot.  And you might just get someone as wonderful as Scamper or Tessa.  Here's our Scamper at play on our deck:

Sunning Scamper

Ready for her closeup, Mr. DeMille
Scamper Stalking an Acorn
Resting but always alert