by Dr. David Fialkoff, Editor / Publisher

My daughter lives one block from the Fair Grounds
here in New Orleans
a huge open space, with a grandstand
where there is horse racing
and the biggest musical event of all
in this very musical city
Jazz Fest
for eight days over two long weekends
where last year the Rolling Stones headlined.

When the horses are running
they bring in cats
to keep down the rats and mice.
When racing season is over
some of those cats get left behind
or choose to stay.
Skreetch is one of those,
a Fair Grounds cat.

He lived under the houses
and he still largely does
(they are built up on piers,
short pillars that create a crawl space beneath).
The old black woman two doors down the street
fed him.
Little by little
with patience, love and food
my daughter gained his trust.

It took a long time for her to be able to pet him.
Even then she had to chase him around the front yard
until she got a hand on him.
Just that first touch stopped him every time
as he realized
each time anew
"I like this."

He's still largely wild
but he comes to be fed every morning and evening
and, if you move his bowl inside
off the front porch,
close the door
and pet him a little while he's eating
he'll jump up on the couch when he's done
let you pet him some more
and maybe even take a short nap there.

That's my job
while my daughter is up visiting New England
to give Skreetch love and food
two times a day.
It's morning now
he just got down off of the couch
to examine Olive's food

(Olive,
a former full time resident,
comes some nights,
in through the back cat door
and upstairs to where her food is normally kept,
she loves nutritional yeast,
but now it's on the stairs)

and when he passed back
I got up
to deliver some more loving on the couch.

There are a lot of people
who swear they love their cat
but get very squeamish
when I tell them
and even demonstrate
how much a cat
their cat in particular
loves to have the inside of its ears rubbed
particularly deep inside
where the waxy cartilage folds over on itself
particularly hard and fast,
how they lean into the pressure
first of a knuckle
and then,
with deeper penetration,
of a fingertip.

If you are good at it,
like I am,
and if you have their trust,
it's a vulnerable position for the cat,
you can do both ears at once
with your thumb and ring finger,
then they don't know which way to lean.
You might not think they like it so vigorously
but just watch how
they scratch themselves,
so hard and so fast.
Sometimes crossing the line,
but only for an instant,
and never too long in the same spot,
it amounts to a very sensitive manhandling.

For the giver
it's a strange, greasy, rubbery sensation,
fingers must be washed afterwards,
but all that is a small price to pay
for giving such pleasure
to someone you love.

Along with its music
New Orleans is known for its food.
All in all
I prefer home cooking.
Somewhat a chef, I've found
that like stringing words together
to create a poem
there is a whole world of different cuisines,
an infinity of ways to cook a meal.
Still, as a general rule
the unexpected keeps it fresh,
and then
as with rubbing a cat's ears
sometimes one needs
to experience what is,
at least momentarily,
too much
to perfectly hit the spot.

I wish you were here.

**************

Dr. David Fialkoff presents Lokkal, public internet, building community, strengthening the local economy. If you can, please do contribute content, or your hard-earned cash, to support Lokkal, SMA's Voice. Use the orange, Paypal donate button below. Thank you.

Discover Lokkal:
Watch the two-minute video below.
Then, just below that, scroll down SMA's Community Wall.
Mission

Visit SMA's Social Network

Contact / Contactar