Today I want to post something totally random. I don’t have pets, and I find it curious that almost every place I’ve lived, a cat adopts me. At my current abode, there’s a beautiful cat that belongs to one of my neighbors. I’m not sure who, but I’m sure she belongs to someone. She’s shy but not wild.  Lately she has been a regular visitor to my patio. She usually arrives early in the morning, sprawls out on the table, and sunbathes. I don’t know her name, so I refer to her as, The Cat.
I was watching The Cat, playing with the leaves falling from a tree and I wondered, why my patio? What does she like about it? Being totally in the moment watching this cat, I recalled a comment a friend makes each time she comes to visit me.

“I love your patio. It reminds me of Italy.” Thank you Shannon.

Remembering this, I think I know why the cat likes my patio, and I think she’s trying to tell me something. If The Cat could talk, this is what  she’d say, “Relax. Enjoy the moment. Try a little “la dolce far niente.”

Perhaps my patio is her Italy, and the table is her piazza?  Italy is really a state of mind, and it’s wherever I am. I can choose to bring Italy with me everywhere I go. Coincidentally, Rome, my favorite city, is known for it’s cats. There’s a large cat sanctuary right in the center of the city, Torre Argentina.

The Cat

This is a photo of Luna. Luna is a Roman tabby cat and belongs to a musician friend, who lives in Trastevere. I think she must be a cousin of The Cat. What do you think? How do you enjoy life? Do you think animals can also be our teachers?

Luna