CHAPTER 1 - Ms Kitty Kitty Kitty Goes to Washington

How did it all start? I really can´t answer that. All I know at this point is that my cute little black cat, Ms Kitty Kitty Kitty, is now in Washington, D.C. where she went having somehow been elected to Congress from my district. In a landslide, no less! "Preposterous!" you say. Well, let me finish first – THEN you decide.

Let me begin by saying that Ms Kitty Kitty Kitty was always a precocious little dickens. She was not mine from birth. She was once owned by a family with three little children. I live in a condo complex where we have a pool. At times, I would see the then kittenish Ms Kitty wandering around the pool – get this – with ´Barbie Doll´ clothes on! I thought it very cute at the time - all the neighbors did, too. We laughed every time we saw her dressed like that. Oh, there was nothing wrong with her wardrobe. In fact, she was quite the ´Bell of the Ball´ in them. No other cats in the neighborhood even came close. (To be honest, no other cats were wearing any clothes whatsoever.)

In retrospect, I do not think that the coquettish Ms Kitty really appreciated being the best dressed – the only dressed - cat in the complex. At least that´s what I believe knowing what I do about her now. While she pranced about with those frilly dresses with tassels and all, she did not appear distressed. No, she was quite ´cool´ as she visited the sun bathers each afternoon. However, their reaction – hilarity - must have caused her concern. Also, knowing her much better than in those days, I know that while she acted in control, aloof, and nonplussed about it all, deep down she was fuming. I suspect her thoughts were akin to, " How dare they laugh at me…I didn´t choose this garish dress…I´d have preferred the red satin - not this purple velour… and on a hot day….so out of fashion, too…. short skirts - HATE ´EM!...but I am just a kitten…what can I do when those urchins grab me, put these clothes on me, and throw me out the door thinking it´s a big joke…I´ll show them…I´ll show them all…( PA - LEEESE, lady! You´re laughing at me while wearing THAT bathing suit?)." Yep, that´s about what she was thinking!

Now, I have come to learn that Ms Kitty is a cat of action, not one to sit around sulking and moping whenever she finds herself in a fix. She´s one to initiate ´change´ when change is warranted. (Oh, she was like that long before Barack!) But not just any ´change´; change for the better, not change for change´s sake. She is a cat of solutions – not just words.

She scouted out the neighborhood and decided that height was the answer; height because those little buggers who had caused her predicament in the first place could not get to her on the second floor. That and a new home. A new home would cure having to deal with them in any fashion. She had come to not like children of any sorts. Children and cats, she concluded, are not compatible especially urchins with ´Barbie Dolls´. That would have to be considered in this ´change´ situation.

It just so happened that I live on the second floor. One day she breezed in, took a quick look around, and breezed back out. (No kids here, she determined, nor ´Barbie Dolls´.) She was known as the ´community cat´ so I took no notice of her sudden, short visit. She did that to a lot of people in the neighborhood. I guess she liked what she saw. I do have a nice, comfortable little place with a southern exposure complete with plush new carpet and fresh paint all around.

For the next several days – maybe a week – she appeared at my patio door early each morning wanting in and acted somewhat ravenous. I never owned a cat in my lifetime - had no real experience with them other than the barn cats and ´Little Tiny Pete´ on the farm in Belfast, Maine. Even those cats weren´t mine.

I had no idea what a cat even ate. But I figured tuna fish might do the trick. I opened a can and Ms Kitty ate it as if she hadn´t been fed for a week. This whole thing puzzled me especially the sideways glances she gave me as she seemingly enjoyed her breakfast of albacore.

After all, I knew she had a home somewhere in my condo area because she was well groomed and had a spiffy red collar around her neck. (I think she prefers red to this day.) I had seen her many times wandering around and she was a friend to all – in exchange for a little patting and scratching, that is.

After I determined that her morning visits were something I would have to adapt to – and owing to the fact that tuna was $1.49 a can - I visited the local super market and cruised the pet food section. Wow! So many choices and so many brands. (I have since learned that the pet food industry is a multibillion dollar business!) I had no clue what she would like; I reasoned "She´s just a cat, what difference does it make?" as I grabbed up several cans. They had red labels so I figured red being her favorite color and all, they would be fine. Not! (Her culinary preferences are a story for another day!)

Her morning breakfast visits continued for awhile until one day she moved in – toothbrush and all. I had become fond of her though not so sure I wanted a cat full time as a house guest. However, we soon ´bonded´, as they say nowadays. She made me laugh everyday owing to some antic she pulled. She mimicked me in many things I did. For instance, while taking a nap she would recline under my quilts in my bed with her head on my pillow facing the clock radio – just exactly as I slept!

I believe the start of her getting involved in politics began when she sat with me at the computer as I read the news online each morning. I would open up a file cabinet drawer, she would jump up to it, take her place, and we would read and talk about the news of the day for hours. (No, she can´t talk, and I´m not crazy! I talked, but she certainly paid rapt attention as you´ll later see.)

I´m a political junkie so I read all the editorials and comment out loud. At the same time the television is tuned to morning news on Fox, or MSNBC, or one of the networks inclined toward politics. I am not one to just listen to those clowns pontificating. I talk back, argue, scold and cajole. Heck, Olbermann and Mathews have nothing on me. I can out Rush, Rush, too.

It later dawned on me that Ms Kitty was listening to every word, theirs and mine. That´s how she became interested in politics; I´m certain of it.

(To be continued…see CH 2: Ms Kitty Kitty Kitty Does Politics online!)