Visit from a spirit

Rock's hallowed bowl

Trotting by three summers ago

During the 18 years that I shared with my Maine Coon cat Rachmaninoff, I always placed an extra water bowl outside for him. Drinking from this large ceramic saucer was something he loved to do and the fact that many birds and animals enjoyed sharing it with him made it all the more alluring. Taking the bowl inside around the first of November always made me feel forlorn.

Though it's surrounded by two traditional stone bird baths, the ground-level bowl is much appreciated by chipmunks, mice, turkey poults and young birds, and so I have kept it in its rightful place for them to enjoy and, of course, to honor Rock's memory. When I fill it, I sometimes wonder if he can enjoy his favorite water bowl in spirit.

After today, I will wonder no more.

As I was spraying out a bird bath nearby, something streaked by the bowl, a dark flash that I caught in my peripheral vision. A feeling of him suddenly overwhelmed me and I began to cry. For a moment I wondered, and then I knew that it was Rock, in spirit, come to visit. And why not? He lived his entire life here and his happiest days were spent in the garden.

Later, I found a photo of him trotting past the brick planter in a computer file dated 2006 and labeled, "A Long Time Ago." Though it was only three years ago, it does seem like a long time ago now that's he's gone. The blurred look in this photo is akin to what I saw streaking by me today.

I miss my boy. The girls are a comfort, but I really, really miss him.